UPS testing lab

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
And yet, no matter how well our customers comply, UPS still fights, tooth and nail, to deny most damage claims. Obviously, they only spend this money as a PR scam.
 

brown_trousers

Well-Known Member
And yet, no matter how well our customers comply, UPS still fights, tooth and nail, to deny most damage claims. Obviously, they only spend this money as a PR scam.

Have you seen the "requirements" ups sets. They are very strict, and I doubt anything packaged to these standards would have much of a chance of getting damaged. Some of the standards UPS requires for insurance;

-new or like new box
-approved edge crush rated boxes, depending on weight of contents
-drop test (must be able to surive a drop and collision of x amount of feet)
-minimum padding requirements around edge of box and between items in box
- im sure there are more that I dont know about

Having been a hazmat responder for many years Ive processed hundreds of damages. Only a very few actually meet all the ups packaging requirements
 

ORLY!?!

Master Loader
Have you seen the "requirements" ups sets. They are very strict, and I doubt anything packaged to these standards would have much of a chance of getting damaged. Some of the standards UPS requires for insurance;

-new or like new box
-approved edge crush rated boxes, depending on weight of contents
-drop test (must be able to surive a drop and collision of x amount of feet)
-minimum padding requirements around edge of box and between items in box
- im sure there are more that I dont know about

Having been a hazmat responder for many years Ive processed hundreds of damages. Only a very few actually meet all the ups packaging requirements

Oh yea, I've seen preloaders load hazmats on shelves, leaking and otherwise unfit to travel. Yet the driver seems to keep on going without disregard.

As for the testing, I've alwasy knew it was necessary. People ship off packages with a few strans of tape, rated under 70 cardboard and expect it show up like new each and every time. Its like they know of how that these pieces end up like this. I get the 110 pound vacation packs that have one or two strans of tape, in a box rated for 40 pounds. Stuff is falling out, cans of soda have been opened etc etc.

Its a joke it made it here in the first days without fallingout at 100%. This buiding is needed for testing. I always stated it as of fact on this forum.
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
The worst of the worst, IMO, is Amazon. Especially during peak.

The Amazon seasonal wage-slaves herded in have no idea what they're doing -and damages seem to be at an all-time high.

Many boxes I have been seeing have no packing contents, just air and a small item. Yeah, good luck with that. Just another example of American cheapness and mediocrity.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
That's by design. One of the best examples of this happened to me over ten years ago. I was a cover driver. One week, one of the routes I covered was this good old boy who made alloy rivets. He made them by the order, so every order had a slightly different size. He would ship out these rivets in boxes about the size of a cigar humidor. About 12X12X4, roughly, and these boxes were heavy for their size. Usually around 40 to 45 pounds. Well, this guy learned his lesson. He was tired of losing his personalized merch to our system.

So what does he do? He makes his own boxes out of wood and rivets. He would put 10 screws to a side, on the top and bottom of each box. So he was using about 50 to 60 screws to each box. He would pass the cost on to his customers, but they were only screws. The real cost was the time making and assembling the boxes.

But, this being UPS, we still managed to smash and destroy his boxes. Not all of them, but enough to create a hiccup in his business.

But the real kicker? UPS sent out a small team of Loss Prevention drones to examine his boxes. Now, when I picked-up these packages, I could see that he went over and above what should be required of a shipper to protect his freight. I was hard to imagine how those packages could be damaged. But damaged, they were.

Anyway, out LP crew checked out what he was doing and left. About a week later, they called him, and told him that all of his claims were denied. The reason? Improper packing.

Needless to say, we lost his account. It was a shame, because all of us drivers couldn't explain why he was getting the scroogie.

It's not in UPS's interests to inform their customers, because no matter what, in the end, we will not pay.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
One more example: I met my wife on one of my routes years ago. She worked for an organic fertilizer company. After many, many damages, her company had UPS come out with suggestions on what types of cardboard and packing to use. UPS came out show what needed to be done, which my wife's company did. They had a lot of money, and did what UPS suggested. But the damages continued. And UPS continued to insist that the packages were packed improperly. We didn't lose their business completely, but we did lose their business with the fertilizer. They shipped as much as they could with LTL trucking companies.

All I could do was apologize while I scratched my head.
 

tardus

Well-Known Member
Anyone who has seen packages compressed when the secondary backs up will know that any box can be damaged in the UPS system no matter how well it is packaged. Of course, the usual cause for the secondary backing up is that UPS is trying to save money by running the operation with fewer employees. I would love to know how much UPS pays out annually in claims.
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
That's by design. One of the best examples of this happened to me over ten years ago. I was a cover driver. One week, one of the routes I covered was this good old boy who made alloy rivets. He made them by the order, so every order had a slightly different size. He would ship out these rivets in boxes about the size of a cigar humidor. About 12X12X4, roughly, and these boxes were heavy for their size. Usually around 40 to 45 pounds. Well, this guy learned his lesson. He was tired of losing his personalized merch to our system.

So what does he do? He makes his own boxes out of wood and rivets. He would put 10 screws to a side, on the top and bottom of each box. So he was using about 50 to 60 screws to each box. He would pass the cost on to his customers, but they were only screws. The real cost was the time making and assembling the boxes.

But, this being UPS, we still managed to smash and destroy his boxes. Not all of them, but enough to create a hiccup in his business.

But the real kicker? UPS sent out a small team of Loss Prevention drones to examine his boxes. Now, when I picked-up these packages, I could see that he went over and above what should be required of a shipper to protect his freight. I was hard to imagine how those packages could be damaged. But damaged, they were.

Anyway, out LP crew checked out what he was doing and left. About a week later, they called him, and told him that all of his claims were denied. The reason? Improper packing.

Needless to say, we lost his account. It was a shame, because all of us drivers couldn't explain why he was getting the scroogie.

It's not in UPS's interests to inform their customers, because no matter what, in the end, we will not pay.
related, have also have seen damaged wood crates coming from one particular company. They are infrequent, but the solid body (usually 18x6x6 but often larger) and 20-30 nails doesn't always make it.
 
S

serenity now

Guest
those crushing machines are as tame as a ride at the kiddie fair when compared to a bunch of pissed off, underpaid preloaders
 

ORLY!?!

Master Loader
Dracula brings up a good point to me. Its all about competition. Why should some company spend a few more seconds preparing a box better for travel. When they just pack, tape and ship over and over again. It doesnt matter how it gets there or condition, its all in the purchase and attempt to get it there. Why not have the shipping company take on the responsibility of those goods, pushed out as fast as possible. Its starting to make sense to me.

They dont need to be better packing experts, we just need to be better at tapping.

I dont like it, but it is what it is. Its all a huge inconvenience, damn unfortunate. No sir, I dont like it!
 
Top