Logistics and Saturdays

[G Snap!]

Lately I have been noticing companies like UPS have reduced their services.

For example, @ ordered a text book he needed thursday afternoon from amazon. He requested overnight delivery because he really needed it friday. Since he used my amazon account, I got the email stating the expected delivery date was monday. Knowing his need, I look at their shipping policies and such, and it states (I do not quote directly) that just because you request (and pay) for overnight delivery, it may not get delivered overnight. Apparently UPs no longer delivers on saturdays, and the last few things I have mail ordered show no movement in transit over the weekend.

I tell @ this and we talk about it a little. The company he works for warehouses parts for another company (and also trucks daily orders) and since the other company pays for it, they dictate how items are shipped, and want @'s company to use UPS because they are cheapest. When they need to expedite something, @'s people relied on UPS to come get the package. If they had several rush orders in one day, they relied on UPS to be there to get each rush item, even if it meant the brown truck had to drive over several times in one day.
Lately UPS changed their policy, and will only drive to their facility once per day to pick up, and if there are any pick-ups needed after that they are SOL and have to drive it to the rearest UpS shipping facility. By the way, it does not cost any more to have them come get it, nor any less if you bring it there.
So now @ has to send an employee off sight every time their customer needs something rushed. That means loosing the work of an employee for the travel time and the expense of travel to and from (which I am waiting to hear has become an issue because the employee uses their own vehicle for it.)

In a nutshell, apparently UPS is no longer about customer service and has cut a few corners. One pickup per location may not hurt many, but not moving parcels or doing anything on saturdays for that matter is a big deal.

Has anyone else noticed shipping companies cutting corners and reducing services? Does anyone know of or has heard any announcements UpS has made regarding cutbacks?

[ruffryder]

I 've noticed this for some time. The USPS is in jeopardy because of all the options of shipping and making internet mailing so accessible and easy. As for shipping, when I order something I always just do basic ground cheap and free and notice it gets here in less than a week anyway and sometimes just a couple days.

Apparently now companies won't pay for shipping if you want to return something too . .

[Zimmeh]

I bought a dress for the Reunion and after paying almost $13 in shipping charges to have it delivered to my house; I had to pay almost another $9 to ship the dress back from the XYZ company. So for a a dress that cost me $49; it cost me almost half of that amount to ship it. So I ended up paying almost $70 for this dress. Good thing, I love the dress or I would have had the money refunded to me.

Zimmeh

[princessbelle]

Yes.

I order supplies for patients to be shipped overnight a lot. Sometimes it is imperative that the supplies get to the patient the next day, such as IV supplies.

My company has stopped using UPS for the very reason you state...they do not guarantee actual overnight and they don't deliver on Saturdays anymore.

We now ship with Fed X only. They are more expensive, but they are also more reliable and they DO deliver on Saturdays.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by G Snap!

Has anyone else noticed shipping companies cutting corners and reducing services? Does anyone know of or has heard any announcements UpS has made regarding cutbacks?

I knew someone about 3 years ago who worked for UPS. He had been there for about 15 years. He spoke of cut backs and the amount of pressure put on the drivers that were left. They only had so much time to deliver so many packages. They were timed from stop to stop. He said it was overwhelming and they were quick to cut you if you fell back or made any mistakes. He was hoping to just hang in their for another 5 years so he could get some sort of pension before moving on to a different job.

I believe he said that it was a function of the post office beginning to pick up packages and this was cheaper for companies. However, I also think there were less residential packages to deliver due to the economy and people spending less. Again, this was about 3 years ago when I knew this person.

[clay]

Gas prices have also played a huge part of cutbacks for UPS! and other companies.
Even food delivery places have begun to add on a "delivery fee" of $2.00, with a disclaimer this is in no way part of the delivery person's tip.
Take one of those famous pizza delivery places...running a special of "any pie, any number of toppings, any size" just $10...
extra cheese $2
delivery fee $2
taxes an add'l $1-$2
driver's tip $2- $3
that $10 "special" now has cost you almost $20......IF you go and get the pie yourself, it will cost you about $12 to $14.....plus your cost of the gas to get said pie....

[Kobi]

I dont know about other parts of the country but I dont remember UPS ever delivering on Saturdays here.

Have noticed stuff sitting untouched if it hits the system close to a weekend. Thus, I try to order early in the week and usually get the package within a couple of days. Ordering later in the week seems to guarantee it will take a week or so.

Did send something via UPS recently and would never do so again. It was incredibly expensive and took about 10 days to arrive. Plus, I had to provide a photo id at the drop off which was scanned into the system.

I also noticed, for some reason, that some packages are delivered via UPS to the local USPS for final delivery. Not being a logistics person that doesnt make sense to me but I am sure there is a reason for it.

Seems to me it is cheaper and more reliable to use the USPS "if it fits it ships" boxes. Plus the boxes are free and the postmen here carry them in their trucks.

Overnight mail via the USPS isnt guaranteed to arrive overnight either I discovered.

[weatherboi]

My company uses RnL carriers for all of our product shipping needs. We manufacture our own products, many of them are liquids that are all shipped in 5 gallon buckets or larger. We have changed all of our ordering policies to accommodate RnL's needs. We can no longer receive anything on Saturdays and around holidays so we have to plan our ordering more strategically. They also increased their shipping costs by one percent.

[Corkey]

Not in a company but...
When ordering off the net I try to select USPS and they use Fed Ex as their ground shipping source. I tend not to order next day as it's so damned expensive to do so with stuff that has any kind of weight.