Dangerous Packages

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Not necessarily talking HAZMAT here. How about methadone shipments to drug clinics, or the unknown material we regularly deliver to military bases? I, for one, don't appreciate toting a large box of methadone into some clinic in a sketchy part of town. I also don't like carrying weapons or highly classified material on my vehicle that might get me killed because some bad guy wants it. FedEx simply says. "deliver it". Or else.

We need to be told what we have onboard, and have appropriate security. A lot of the "brown boxes" we carry are full of nasty stuff, and I recently had a co-worker get exposed to some very dangerous HAZ from a plain brown box coming from a very reputable shipper.

Anyone else had similar experiences?
 

Goldilocks

Well-Known Member
I use to deliver Methadone to a rehab and only one person could sign. When I walked in the door, it was like Vampires waiting for their blood. CREEPY. The recipient name I entered was wrong and within 10 min, Memphis was calling wanting to know who I delivered to. I had no idea it was drugs.....
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I use to deliver Methadone to a rehab and only one person could sign. When I walked in the door, it was like Vampires waiting for their blood. CREEPY. The recipient name I entered was wrong and within 10 min, Memphis was calling wanting to know who I delivered to. I had no idea it was drugs.....

I get the same reaction when I deliver scratch-off lottery tickets to a convenience store in the poor part of town.
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
I don't care what's in the box. For all I know, it's a box full of sand.
Just the other day I del'd a $10K diamond ring to a jewlery store. A store I del and pup everyday. It was just in a "FedEx" medium box.

When I'm getting in and out of my truck and there might be someone around, I act like I own the place. No one intimidates me.
 

TUT

Well-Known Member
Not necessarily talking HAZMAT here. How about methadone shipments to drug clinics, or the unknown material we regularly deliver to military bases? I, for one, don't appreciate toting a large box of methadone into some clinic in a sketchy part of town. I also don't like carrying weapons or highly classified material on my vehicle that might get me killed because some bad guy wants it. FedEx simply says. "deliver it". Or else.

We need to be told what we have onboard, and have appropriate security. A lot of the "brown boxes" we carry are full of nasty stuff, and I recently had a co-worker get exposed to some very dangerous HAZ from a plain brown box coming from a very reputable shipper.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

Is the cold water cold over there? Just wondering if there is anything going your way at all.
 

MaineGroundDriver

Well-Known Member
I don't care what's in the box. For all I know, it's a box full of sand.
Just the other day I del'd a $10K diamond ring to a jewlery store. A store I del and pup everyday. It was just in a "FedEx" medium box.

When I'm getting in and out of my truck and there might be someone around, I act like I own the place. No one intimidates me.

Damn straight
 

jmeti000

Well-Known Member
How bout those wooden crates with nails poking out all over, or the 148lb (ya right) packages in boxes that cant contain them and the pallet they are sitting on thats falling apart?
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Is the cold water cold over there? Just wondering if there is anything going your way at all.

I guess you've never had the experience of having a "plain brown box" spill something on your skin that:

1. Smells toxic

2. Might kill you

3. You have no idea what it is

4. Management doesn't know, doesn't care, and is willing to let you convulse or die just so you don't slow down the sort.
 

Doc Sorting Dude

Well-Known Member
My manager told me one morning that when delivering oxycodine take a quick look around and see if anyone's hanging around. This is called the "poor man's heroin" and these low-lifes would love to separate you from that box. Stupid thing about it is that it says OXYCODINE right on the side of that box.
 

TUT

Well-Known Member
I guess you've never had the experience of having a "plain brown box" spill something on your skin that:

1. Smells toxic

2. Might kill you

3. You have no idea what it is

4. Management doesn't know, doesn't care, and is willing to let you convulse or die just so you don't slow down the sort.

Right, same as it ever was. You need to get out of package delivery in the worst way, for your own good.
 

HomeDelivery

Well-Known Member
good thing we are only allowed to ship ORM-D stuff...

most dangerous package I had in my vehicle = rifles/guns:nervoussmiley:

a gunshop owner would have one or two per week being shipped to his home. Adult sig.

When I was training the help & we both were loading/sorting, i emphasis to always lock up your vehicle at every stop if you're not within eye-sight of your package car until we got it delivered... & since he was a temp getting paid by the hour, to call the customer's number on the box & try to reattempt delivery on the first day.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
I don't care what's in the box. For all I know, it's a box full of sand.
Just the other day I del'd a $10K diamond ring to a jewlery store. A store I del and pup everyday. It was just in a "FedEx" medium box.

When I'm getting in and out of my truck and there might be someone around, I act like I own the place. No one intimidates me.
I'm pretty sure I do own the place.
 

CJinx

Well-Known Member
good thing we are only allowed to ship ORM-D stuff...
Hm. Our HD drivers are certified to and do carry hazmat on occasion. Even when they weren't, I had to be hazmat certified because Fedex considers ORM-D = hazmat when its damaged/leaking. That turns a 10 minute report into an hour long report. bleh
We need to be told what we have onboard, and have appropriate security. A lot of the "brown boxes" we carry are full of nasty stuff, and I recently had a co-worker get exposed to some very dangerous HAZ from a plain brown box coming from a very reputable shipper.
You're supposed to be told in the form of OP-900 tags and appropriate placards on the package. If these are not present, then the shipper is to be held accountable in a big way. As for security, well.. Use your head. If you're on a military base or in a gun shop, I'm pretty sure they got security covered. If there is a crowd outside of a clinic, try calling ahead or asking if you can deliver to the backdoor, or use the security delay code. You have options.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
No thanks, I didn't stop at machine shop laborer back in the 80's.

Neither did I. I'm also willing to bet I'm more educated than you are...surprise. 2 college degrees. You'd also be surprised how many really bright employees there are at FedEx...most of them hourlies.
 

TUT

Well-Known Member
Neither did I. I'm also willing to bet I'm more educated than you are...surprise. 2 college degrees. You'd also be surprised how many really bright employees there are at FedEx...most of them hourlies.

You have way more then me. But face it we know people really ass-backwards that are millionaires. The game of life works much different then a chart in a book. Why did you stop advancing yourself in employement? Over the past 20 years there have been fabulous opportunities for you to follow your dreams or education? Was Fedex so good, it make you weak and fearful of change? Now you see the end of the line, based on supply and demand and you point at everyone and anything else. Why didn't you make the change? Why aren't you know? I have one kid old-enough, now 2 for 2 in his pursuit for employment as he works his way up. I've updated him in the case he didn't get the memo, jump companies as there are very very few that you can count on, nor expect raises that matter. It's tually a bit strange sometimes on how it's reported as "no jobs out there". That is only correct if you are looking for a $25/hour a job pressing a button in a factory, where you can leave your brain parked at home. Yeah those are gone to China. But there are jobs that pay, if you work for them, more then pushing a button.
 

HomeDelivery

Well-Known Member
i see temps coming in that are overqualified to be "box monkeys" but that saying, "no jobs out there" is true in the north east... at least in my state

one has an advance degree in chemistry & he had a nice cushy job with a town that had to downsized the workforce due to budget cuts... another had a CDL!!! & I was saying WTF are you doing here?!?

others are still "looking" but are coming into the temp help section of HD because they need something to hold them over...

is Express hiring because the only public job sites i'm seeing are for Ground/ HD branches only.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
You have way more then me. But face it we know people really ass-backwards that are millionaires. The game of life works much different then a chart in a book. Why did you stop advancing yourself in employement? Over the past 20 years there have been fabulous opportunities for you to follow your dreams or education? Was Fedex so good, it make you weak and fearful of change? Now you see the end of the line, based on supply and demand and you point at everyone and anything else. Why didn't you make the change? Why aren't you know? I have one kid old-enough, now 2 for 2 in his pursuit for employment as he works his way up. I've updated him in the case he didn't get the memo, jump companies as there are very very few that you can count on, nor expect raises that matter. It's tually a bit strange sometimes on how it's reported as "no jobs out there". That is only correct if you are looking for a $25/hour a job pressing a button in a factory, where you can leave your brain parked at home. Yeah those are gone to China. But there are jobs that pay, if you work for them, more then pushing a button.

I'm one of those people that hates being inside, even when it's raining or snowing, so in many ways, I limited myself in terms of career opportunities. At one point, I thought I would stay with FedEx and go into management. That changed when I got to see how management had changed at this company, and I knew I could never stomach their games ethically. FedEx used to be a very good company, so good that many of us thought (incorrectly) that it was a long-term quality company. You're right about education. Bill Gates is a college dropout, and I believe Mr. Jobs also never finished college. There are lots of people with GEDs' that make millions. What is happening at Fedex now goes far beyond just a changing Express marketplace. It has a lot to do with greed, over-compensated executives who think they're God, and sheer incompetence. Some of our top people have made horrendous decisions, yet they're kept around to make even more bad ones. If I look sideways at a customer, I could be gone tomorrow, yet they decide on things like a completely "wrong" aircraft fleet, and they get promoted.
 
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