UPS Mail Innovations - I think it sucks

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
This is not a slam against UPS or its employees but I'm at a loss why UPS would even want to get their deliveries involved with the Postal Service. For me the result is crappy service. UPS does their part but once the the post office gets their hands on it a package can just sit at their station or hub and grows mold on it. I recently had a birthday gift ordered by my wife from Amazon.com and unfortunately was shipped via this method. I tracked it and UPS delivered it to a regional post office and there it sits like it's trash or forgotten (over a week now.) I called the 800 number for the Postal Service 3 days after their "estimated delivery date" and after a lengthy wait I was connected to some know-it-all who had nothing but a song and dance and "we can do no wrong reply." In other words my package might as well be lost. Wouldn't it just be easier for UPS to deliver the damn thing themselves? FedEx Express used to have something like this called Smartpost (not real smart either) and it was nothing but a hassel. I could have delivered that stuff just as easily. I guess the Postal Service can do as they please and there's no justifying involved. Your thoughts?
 
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Justaname

Well-Known Member
FedEx still has smart post which is why we still have sure post. We have it to stay competitive. Is it abused? Yes. But, from what I see, it's abused by the shippers as well. They send gigantic items via sure post that should of had ground service. From what I've heard on bc it's being addressed at negotiations. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 

burco8080

Well-Known Member
i am in rural area were postoffice are cutting there hours to be open only 4 hours a day with more office doing this in Feb 2014. Told sup. that i cant get to these postoffice in their time window was told to just deliver to the home.The basic was brought in to save miles now the customers are getting their packages a day early and were running the miles so how much longer will ups be using basic if they continue to lose money on the delivery.
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
Smartpost these days is being handled by Ground and they can have it. When Express had to deal with it we had dropboxes on many post office properties. That sucked too 'cause a lot people thought you could drop mail off in those. Once again not a good idea.
 

Borderline 9.5

Well-Known Member
i am in rural area were postoffice are cutting there hours to be open only 4 hours a day with more office doing this in Feb 2014. Told sup. that i cant get to these postoffice in their time window was told to just deliver to the home.The basic was brought in to save miles now the customers are getting their packages a day early and were running the miles so how much longer will ups be using basic if they continue to lose money on the delivery.

I'm in the same situation, if the po is closed I deliver to the customers house.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
The OP is confusing Mail Innovations and SurePost----one has nothing to do with the other. SurePost is our version of SmartPost. Mail Innovations is part of Supply Chain Solutions where UPS goes in to a business which primarily ships out small items (2 lbs or less) and sets up their distribution and processing of these packages using UPS employees, which are then delivered in bulk to the Post Office for further sorting and then delivery. We had a very large box full of packages from Mail Innovations in my center the other day---they were all in yellow shipping envelopes and each weight about 1 lb. They were already labeled with a USPS shipping label and were in the process of being loaded on to a feeder to be delivered to the USPS Processing Center. Mail Innovations is a growing segment of our business.
 

Bagels

Family Leave Fridays!!!
I whined about UPS Maill Innovations earlier in the month: I had three packages arrive this method, and it took at least three weeks for each to arrive -- two were coming less than 250-miles, the other 750. Ironically, my most recent package from MyCokeRewards arrived in less than a week... and several days BEFORE the other MyCokeRewards package that arrived in SIX weeks, both coming from the same distribution facility.

SurePost differs since UPS hands it off to my local post office, whereas UPS Mail Innovations transfers it to various local post offices (as far away as 200-miles).
 

Brown287

Im not the Mail Man!
This past Christmas out of all my items I ordered on line, 2 came FedEx 5 came UPS and the rest all came USPS with UPS mail innovations printed at the top of the label. This seems to be a much larger part of our business then we realize.
 

PippSqueak

New Member
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the fact that postal service is completely a waste of time in the sense of handing off packages to them when UPS is fully capable of delivering on time. I have noticed this many times when ordering packages. I do know that FedEx still has the same system going as well with Smartpost. From what my husband (Package Driver for UPS) has been told is that the Postal Service is contracted to have a certain amount of packages are required to be sorted by them. To compensate for that UPS is required to give packages to the Postal Service. Why this is? I have no idea. I'm guessing the Postal Service was losing sales and close to closing down that they got their way. All I know is that they are a lazy company and my husband has delivered packages to the Postal Service Office and gone back two days later and they are still sitting in the same spot he left them. You have no control over this happening unless you pay for two day delivery or sooner. I also have watched the Postman decide not to get out of his little truck and bring my package to the door and instead leaves a note in the mailbox requesting that I come down to the office to claim my package. I can see the package in his hand! So I agree completely with your frustrations and wish that there was a way to reverse this situation but, until the collapse of the Postal Service does happen, I think we are stuck with the late and slow receiving times of packages. Definitely something UPS would frown upon.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the fact that postal service is completely a waste of time in the sense of handing off packages to them when UPS is fully capable of delivering on time. I have noticed this many times when ordering packages. I do know that FedEx still has the same system going as well with Smartpost. From what my husband (Package Driver for UPS) has been told is that the Postal Service is contracted to have a certain amount of packages are required to be sorted by them. To compensate for that UPS is required to give packages to the Postal Service. Why this is? I have no idea. I'm guessing the Postal Service was losing sales and close to closing down that they got their way. All I know is that they are a lazy company and my husband has delivered packages to the Postal Service Office and gone back two days later and they are still sitting in the same spot he left them. You have no control over this happening unless you pay for two day delivery or sooner. I also have watched the Postman decide not to get out of his little truck and bring my package to the door and instead leaves a note in the mailbox requesting that I come down to the office to claim my package. I can see the package in his hand! So I agree completely with your frustrations and wish that there was a way to reverse this situation but, until the collapse of the Postal Service does happen, I think we are stuck with the late and slow receiving times of packages. Definitely something UPS would frown upon.

Your husband appears to be misinformed as to how SurePost actually works.
 

overallowed

Well-Known Member
I have moved away from ordering online because of Surepost/Smartpost. Where I live, our mailman is a dick. He is a contractor. He looks like Charles Manson's son and drives a car that is old enough to vote in the last 2 elections. They apparently don't make parts for it anymore because it has no muffler. If package doesn't fit in mailbox, he throws it out in the driveway, where it can be a security issue, weather issue, or I have to get out of the car and pick it up when I get home so I don't run over it.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
I've never had any problems with post office deliveries. I order stuff on ebay and Amazon all of the time. My stuff always comes quick.
 

Bagels

Family Leave Fridays!!!
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the fact that postal service is completely a waste of time in the sense of handing off packages to them when UPS is fully capable of delivering on time. I have noticed this many times when ordering packages. I do know that FedEx still has the same system going as well with Smartpost. From what my husband (Package Driver for UPS) has been told is that the Postal Service is contracted to have a certain amount of packages are required to be sorted by them. To compensate for that UPS is required to give packages to the Postal Service. Why this is? I have no idea. I'm guessing the Postal Service was losing sales and close to closing down that they got their way. All I know is that they are a lazy company and my husband has delivered packages to the Postal Service Office and gone back two days later and they are still sitting in the same spot he left them. You have no control over this happening unless you pay for two day delivery or sooner. I also have watched the Postman decide not to get out of his little truck and bring my package to the door and instead leaves a note in the mailbox requesting that I come down to the office to claim my package. I can see the package in his hand! So I agree completely with your frustrations and wish that there was a way to reverse this situation but, until the collapse of the Postal Service does happen, I think we are stuck with the late and slow receiving times of packages. Definitely something UPS would frown upon.

The OP is referring to UPS Mail Innovations, you're referring to UPS SurePost -- two completely different operations.

And your assumptions of SurePost are inaccurate. The USPS has long offered deeply discounted rates to consolidators as part of its Parcel Select program; UPS is taking advantage of these rates. Airborne was the first mainstream delivery company to do so (late 1990s), UPS quickly followed suit -- but only for rural delivery -- and when FedEx acquired & expanded SmartPost, UPS expanded what's now SurePost to include nearly all residential addresses. Some sources speculate that SurePost is a money-losing program for the USPS, since the little revenue earned isn't enough to offset the costs of increased handling (but status quo, updating the Parcel Select program to exclude UPS, FedEx, etc. would be challenging).
 

'Lord Brown's bidding'

Well-Known Member
I hope the OP and Pip read Bagels' post.

Kudos to the person who is actually changing their buying habits because of Surepost. That is walking the walk, though it probably doesn't mean much now.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Your husband appears to be misinformed as to how SurePost actually works.

I doubt it. Yours is a typical response from someone who thinks they have all the answers.

The OP is referring to UPS Mail Innovations, you're referring to UPS SurePost -- two completely different operations.

And your assumptions of SurePost are inaccurate. The USPS has long offered deeply discounted rates to consolidators as part of its Parcel Select program; UPS is taking advantage of these rates. Airborne was the first mainstream delivery company to do so (late 1990s), UPS quickly followed suit -- but only for rural delivery -- and when FedEx acquired & expanded SmartPost, UPS expanded what's now SurePost to include nearly all residential addresses. Some sources speculate that SurePost is a money-losing program for the USPS, since the little revenue earned isn't enough to offset the costs of increased handling (but status quo, updating the Parcel Select program to exclude UPS, FedEx, etc. would be challenging).

I guess I'm not the only who thinks her husband may be misinformed as to how SurePost works.
 

Integrity

Binge Poster
This is not a slam against UPS or its employees but I'm at a loss why UPS would even want to get their deliveries involved with the Postal Service. For me the result is crappy service. UPS does their part but once the the post office gets their hands on it a package can just sit at their station or hub and grows mold on it. I recently had a birthday gift ordered by my wife from Amazon.com and unfortunately was shipped via this method. I tracked it and UPS delivered it to a regional post office and there it sits like it's trash or forgotten (over a week now.) I called the 800 number for the Postal Service 3 days after their "estimated delivery date" and after a lengthy wait I was connected to some know-it-all who had nothing but a song and dance and "we can do no wrong reply." In other words my package might as well be lost. Wouldn't it just be easier for UPS to deliver the damn thing themselves? FedEx Express used to have something like this called Smartpost (not real smart either) and it was nothing but a hassel. I could have delivered that stuff just as easily. I guess the Postal Service can do as they please and there's no justifying involved. Your thoughts?
Cactus,

There was a time in our country, a time in our company, and a time in our Union that having a UPS Teamster deliver your package to your door was important.

This is no longer important. Things that used to matter to most matter very little except to a few.

The country, the company, the Union and many who post on this site will justify much worse for the sake of money than who makes the final delivery on a package.

The love of money and materialism has done much damage to this great country, great company, great union and many of the wonderful people who post on this site.

Sincerely,
I
 

Bagels

Family Leave Fridays!!!
Cactus,

There was a time in our country, a time in our company, and a time in our Union that having a UPS Teamster deliver your package to your door was important.

This is no longer important. Things that used to matter to most matter very little except to a few.

The country, the company, the Union and many who post on this site will justify much worse for the sake of money than who makes the final delivery on a package.

The love of money and materialism has done much damage to this great country, great company, great union and many of the wonderful people who post on this site.

Sincerely,
I

What the heck are you babbling about? Most people don't give a dang who delivers their package, as long as it's received undamaged and in a timely fashion. The fault most people have with SurePost, and equivalent services, is that it's slow. As a consumer, SurePost is the most timely service -- at least one day longer than ground, occasionally two. FedEx SmartPost travels to a SmartPost hub about 60 miles from me, which then sorts & bags the packages, dropping them off at the local USPS mega hub -- which adds at least two days to the transit time. The worst is DHL's Global Mail; DHL has few facilities, so it's not uncommon for packages traveling 500-miles to flow double that through DHL, taking an excessive two weeks for delivery. Heck, I ordered something from a company directly across the street from my UPS hub, thinking it'd arrive within a couple days. Instead, it flowed to a DHL Global Mail hub several hundred miles from my house, ultimately arriving nearly two weeks later. Honestly, I'd pay an extra few bucks to get my stuff faster through UPS/FedEx Ground, but rarely is that option offered. Instead, it's typically second/next day upgrades.

Yes, UPS employees are partially to blame for SurePost, since high compensation packages figure into the high cost of shipping. But UPS management exploited the USPS's Parcel Post program, at a time when Airborne was floundering with it. One has to wonder if UPS didn't jump on board, if FedEx would've acquired SmartPost... ultimately bleeding to the monster today.
 
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