What is the strangest thing you have ever delivered?

[overallowed]

I thought in 27 years I had seen it all, or most of it. Today in the 7000 section, there it was. A stick. I thought it was trash until I saw it had a label and a barcode.



The education is ongoing....

 

[dilligaf]

I thought in 27 years I had seen it all, or most of it. Today in the 7000 section, there it was. A stick. I thought it was trash until I saw it had a label and a barcode.

View attachment 4229

The education is ongoing....

Sooooo, how many of those freaking flower boxes did you have today? Out of the 164 stops I had I bet 40-50 of them were FLOWERS. OMG!

 

[over9five]

Sooooo, how many of those freaking flower boxes did you have today? Out of the 164 stops I had I bet 40-50 of them were FLOWERS. OMG!

And they all said "Please ring doorbell or knock". Don't remember seeing that before.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I used to deliver to our local community college and about once a month the biology lab would get their shipment of cats. When I was on my country run I would pick up and deliver bull semen canisters.

 

[probellringer]

plus...i noticed vases werent filled with water=less breakage=good idea....guess they (shipper) proflowers learned their lesson

 

[ups79]

Probably, apple court, please rush////.

 

[rod]

2 styrofoam coolers full of dead rattlesnakes -one of which broke open after falling off the shelf.

 

[iowa boy]

Never delivered it, but I saw, smelled, and witnessed the responder open a box of ziploc baggies with little piles of chicken poop in each one. Man did that one smell good!!!! Luckily I never had to handle that box.

 

[Dagoof]

I used to deliver to our local community college and about once a month the biology lab would get their shipment of cats. When I was on my country run I would pick up and deliver bull semen canisters.

Those canisters, When we got a new loader they would always ask what they were. some one would tell them and then later squirt lotion all over the handle. Gets some interesting reactions

 

[NHDRVR]

And they all said "Please ring doorbell or knock". Don't remember seeing that before.

Yeah. I had about 30 or 40 of those. And out of the 30/40 only a few people seemed happy to get them....go figure

 

[soberups]

I once delivered a wooden and wire-mesh cage full of BEES. They were buzzing and crawling around in there and I couldnt wait to get rid of the damn thing.

Another time, I delivered a target mannequin to a martial-arts studio. It was basically a 100 lb life-sized humanoid dummy encased in shrink-wrap with its feet sticking out. It was wearing shoes and it looked like I had a dead body laying there on the shelf.

I once delivered fetal pigs in formaldehyde to a biology lab. I have also delivered urine samples, and those mushroom-shaped containers of bull semen.

I have a pickup account that ships out stainless steel cams for heavy duty vibratory conveyor belt systems. Basically, they are round solid steel bars about 8" in diameter and 48" long. They weigh 145 lbs. They just roll around on the floor all day going BANG BANG BANG against the wheel wells every time I turn a corner.

 

[bigbrownhen]

It isn't that strange, but made me wonder what this older couple was ordering. It was a small shoe box shaped package that started making this vibrating noise. Loud enough I could hear it while driving down the street. It turned out to be one of those toe nail grinders for a dog. Some how the on switch go bumped.


The stinkiest package was sea shells a cutomer shipped back home in August from Florida, ground. By the time I delivered the box it smell like rotten hamburger. Made my truck stink all day.

A broken box of wine doesn't smell very good by the end of the day in August either.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I love coffee but not 50 lbs of it--that smell lingers for the day, too.

 

[trplnkl]

This time of year, until next fall, we get boxes of fly wasps to the feed lots and dairies. These things stink pretty bad.

The bovine and swine semen are pretty common here.

Apple Court packages have come to be pretty common also.

I had a consignee in a small town that was a distributor of "adult toys", she held parties every week in the same manner as tupperware. I tried to get her to tell me who was on her client list, but she declined.lol

 

[Shortimer]

A live 24" albino boa constrictor, the cnee could not wait to show me.

 

[NHDRVR]

A live 24" albino boa constrictor, the cnee could not wait to show me.

When I was on local sort we had a milk snake get loose on the air belt...

The medical stuff is always a wonder. I know I have delivered parts of cadavers to different labs in the area but I always felt I am better off not knowing what is in those coolers. To tell the truth, I don't care what's in any of the packages I deliver. Why get involved...

 

[browndevil]

I got a phone call at work one morning from a small town funeral home. A family was embarrassed to admit they had shipped their loved one's cremains UPS to save money and were afraid he wouldn't make it to the services. I assured them he would arrive safe and on time. He rode in the cab with me so we could chat on the way, and delivered as promised. How's that for strange?

I did the same thing. One of my customers mother died and she was cremated here in NorCal and they shipped her back down to SoCal to spread her ashes. I actually felt honored to do that for them since I had just met mom for the first time that previous Thanksgiving

 

[soberups]

I love coffee but not 50 lbs of it--that smell lingers for the day, too.

One of my P/U accounts is a coffee-roasting business that ships to latte booths and specialty stores around the Pacific NW. On Mondays, they will ship out 800-1000 pounds of freshly roasted coffee. They often give me a 1 lb bag of whole beans as a gift. They ruined me, I am now a coffee snob who grinds my own beans at home and brews with a French press. Folgers makes me wanna puke, it would be like making a collector of fine wines drink Mad Dog 20/20.

 

[Babagounj]

eye balls, box of crickets ( for lizard food, but since it was my last stop on a very hot day, mostly dead crickets).
Had a Beacon Hill restaurant that liked to get french truffles, nasty things, again on a hot day they really stink, smells like your car is full of bad milk, they went from being my last stop to being the first. During a drug sniffing dog search one day, the dog hit upon a box, so the cops opened it. Not one cop had ever seen a fungus truffle before, they were shocked when I told them it was probably worth several thousands $ per ounce.
Several shipments of illegal drugs, sometimes with cops making raids. They insisted that I stay in the car.
A special order uniform for a firefighter's funeral .
Once had a case of embalming break open, could only find 23 bottles so I replaced the missing one with a can of baked beans.

 

[overallowed]

I got a phone call at work one morning from a small town funeral home. A family was embarrassed to admit they had shipped their loved one's cremains UPS to save money and were afraid he wouldn't make it to the services. I assured them he would arrive safe and on time. He rode in the cab with me so we could chat on the way, and delivered as promised. How's that for strange?

I've delivered creamated remains to the city-owned cemetery office on my route. Didn't know it at the time, for if i had known what it was, I'd have moved him up front, like you did. Would have been a more pleasant company than I had a few days before (space and visibility training).