USPS, FedEx, UPS, or other shipper. What is your opinion of each?

[eyoungren]

UPS has improved since I finally (in exasperation) got an account and picked their "rear door" option as the closest approximation to "Back Porch"-- so at least the newish route driver has quit dropping stuff on the front porch no one has used since the 1860s. Last winter he actually walked through more than a foot of unblemished snow to put a 15# package on the porch also covered with same amount of unblemished snow. The door is rarely used and never in winter. That he chose to do instead of picking between two relatively short plowed driveways with shoveled pathways to the back porch, door to which I had even left open, mystified me. So that was when I called up to complain about having to break open a parcel and lug its contents back to my kitchen in shopping bags, bothering first to shovel a pathway to that porch... and why would he leave a package on a porch visible from the county highway??! But they just suggested I sign up for an account. Now sometimes he puts the parcel on the back porch if I leave the door open and sometimes he drops it in the grass by the door no matter if the porch door is open or not. There are no gutters on the deck roof and no way to tell UPS "I mean the rear PORCH dammit" so that's my problem LOL and I try to be there on delivery day.

Back in September 1999 my wife and I managed to outmaneuver the sort manager and get our vacations scheduled together. He and his lackey had taken an insane delight in denying us vacation at the same time while allowing it for the rest of the bulk drivers.

So, we didn't feel that bad when we gave our two week notice on our return.

Management was plenty pissed though so they played games with our final paychecks trying to force us to come in and pick them up (at the time the sent them to you).

A quick reminder that we were still Teamsters in good standing and were quite willing to get the shop steward and business manager involved set that straight.

We had our final paychecks delivered Next Day Air the following day.

So, not really surprised that your local delivery driver chose the path of greatest resistance. They don't really think too far ahead at UPS.

 

[LizKat]

^ Buy a bigger mailbox

If still buying a lot of fabric I would do that for sure. The post it's set on now can certainly take a joke, since while this township was still dry (didn't sell even beer), there were a few times my earlier mailboxes apparently just served as "you're almost home now" signals to a former neighbor coming back from a pub in the next county over.

I got tired of that the second time it happened. So my bro acquired a length of the stuff they make railroad ties out of, from a flatbed full of them he was hauling someplace one day... aka "the unloading fee", not that he stole it but he did trade labor for a length of the stuff... and sawed that thing to code height above ground but left a goodly chunk for a reality check: he dug a deep, deep hole and sank the new post into two bags of Redi-Mix. "Escalation" he called it: "Anyone hits this they'll know they got connected to some reality, and be lucky not to hear Chinese if driving something good enough to knock it over."

The first time the USPS carrier saw the new setup (he happened to show up about the time my bro was finishing it up) he grinned and said "well I can certainly respect that, hope your neighbor up the road can manage it too."

So, not really surprised that your local delivery driver chose the path of greatest resistance. They don't really think too far ahead at UPS.

Your experiences sort of confirm my impression that the employees used to figure higher in the business plans at UPS. I felt that the longtime UPS driver we had until sometime in the early 00s here was proud to work for UPS and knew his own work got respect from above for being part of the reason anyone could be proud to work for the company, and anyone could be happy to use them for shipping, and anyone happy their vendors delivered via UPS.

Now the way a lot of corporations treat people even if there are unions, it's probably hit or miss how anyone perceives any one of these courier services. Anyone tries to make a good impression on first getting a job. After awhile when you realize you're just a cost item on their balance sheet, well... it gets hard to keep caring.

The customer side of the equation matters too. People are different today as customers (corporate or individual), and more of them are rude and demanding of perfections they are perhaps not likely to be rolling out on their own end of how to earn a paycheck. I don't excuse poor service but I try to hold up my end of the deal as a customer. It all matters, on both sides of all the fences...

I'm not going to complain too much about a package dropped by the door to the back deck since "rear door" was the closest option to "back porch" on their menu... and at least it did resolve my dismay over a front porch delivery, leaving aside the "path of greatest resistance" that that one guy did take to get there in winter.

In a way as long as he had tall boots on, I can even more or less understand why he elected to do that: sometimes shortcuts just start looking good at the end of the day. Also, at that point there was nothing attached to my info that obliged him to bring the parcel around back. It was his "front porch despite all that snow" decision on that day that caused me to sign up for a UPS account and make my preference clear.

But I've provided feedback a few times to UPS that they could improve that menu by offering "rear porch". Plus you know, golden rule wise, I don't think that driver would want a package dropped off on the front porch of his own place so it's visible from the road.

 

[Centaurr]

in my experience, in my area (FL) - UPS and USPS sucks big time. ups always comes real late like at 6pm or later and usps is just a mess and they come late as well. i would like for my regular mail to come by 3pm but that never happens, usps usually comes around 5pm and i live in a big city. once in a blue moon usps comes early but its rare. the only good carriers for me in this area is Fed Ex and Laser Ship (amazons carrier) they always come early and fast.

 

[Matz]

As a couple of others have mentioned, I use USPS, UPS, and FedEx for receiving packages. DHL is a rarity in my experience.
Each of the three has provided less than stellar service on maybe one or two occasions. The majority of deliveries for me have been on time and in the correct place. So no complaints with delivery, really.
I recently had to ship four large, heavy boxes across the country via USPS, and the experience was surprisingly painless, from start to finish. Of course I deal with a small, rural post office. Friendly staff, very helpful, and the packages arrived when or before promised.
When I think of the sheer volume of packages and mail that all three handle on a daily basis, I’m surprised there aren’t more problems. My experience has been very good across the board.

 

[DC3400]

In reality many deliveries are being accomplished by multiple carriers.

USPS does not have its own fleet of planes so it contracts with FedEx to move its time sensitive packages on its planes. USPS does the initital pickup, delivers the package to FedEx, and retrives the package from FedEx for final delivery.

Both UPS and FedEx use USPS to make the final delivery of packages as its is cheaper than doing it themselves.

USPS uses private contractors to move mail between post offices and sorting centers via a bidding system.

I worked for a wholesaler who was UPS's largest regional customer in the 1990s. We had 400 UPS packages a day on average for UPS plus packages shipped out via out own trucking firm. I was a order packer and then moved to the UPS clerk. I finished as a order picker responsible for my own zone in the warehouse that included anything from computer parts to full pallets of of computer paper weighing over a ton. As I put all the inventory away it was easier to know from memory where every single one of the tens of thousands of items were located in my zone.

I've also had 20 years experience selling online before there were online payment systems and payments were sent via 1st Class mail. These include eBay, Amazon, my own site, and various other sites some of which are not in business such as a Yahoo Auctions. I've moved most sales to retail outlets in a two-state area as I can otain much high pricers than eBay and Amazon and not pay their fees or deal with their utterly corrupt and evil management.

Never had a lost or damaged package with USPS. I live within walking distance of a P.O. To get rid of entire load of packages I don't have to wait inline. I ring the service door bell at the back and they let me upload them on a mail cart. A larger post office in a nearby town of 30K has a similar setup - they have a rear entrance that is under heavy video surveillance whre one can drop entire pickup loads of packages off at a time.

I haven't used UPS in at least 10 years. UPS is only open a couple times a day and is a 12 mile one way drive. Back then they were still using small multiple part sheets on which you had to physically write the customers name and adress that would later be keyed by a UPS employee. The clerk would use the zip codes from these sheets to print stickers from their scale setup. Only three addresses per sheet. One had to then wait in line to see the clerk.

Then UPS installed computers in the waiting area of the local office. Now you were expected to establish a UPS account with its own password and key in your own packages before taking them to the clerk behind the scale. So now you had to wait to use the computers, likely being stuck behind someone who never had used a computer before which would cause the scale clerk to come out form behind the counter to help them. Then wait to use the scale. This told me that UPS management does not have a clue how to run a business! They were also Windows computers which is like using a stone tablet.

The only damaged package I've had was from UPS - it was pierced by a forklift.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have had good and bad experiences with USPS, UPS and Fed Ex.

I will be shipping a $18K+ item next week via USPS. Once the item arrives at the destination and the service is performed, it will be sent back to me. Needless to say, I will be on proverbial pins and needles, until the item is back in my possession for good.

 

[oldhifi]

Where I live in TN I like UPS and USPS, Fedex has dropped of my pkgs at the wrong address several times with my address on mail box..

 

[borgranta]

Stealing mail is a federal offense which makes it more dangerous for thieves to steal from US mail than from FedEx or UPS. A seller would not necessarily care that a package was stolen after delivery but USPS would and they would investigate. USPS would investigate if the recipient reported package theft. I remember hearing that FedEx will not even talk to recipients that complain about stolen packages under mysterious circumstances such as phony signatures from unknown names.

 

[maflynn]

I've had fantastic luck with all shipping companies, I can't say I was ever disappointed with USPS, UPS, or FedEx

 

[Huntn]

Thursday 25Apr19, I mailed a package of photos from my local USPS facility, via Priority Mail because I wanted it to get there by the weekend. Estimated delivery date Saturday. I paid $8 instead of $1.80 for First Class Mail.

On Saturday late in the day I called my friend who had not received the package. I checked tracking and it showed a label had been created, but was not in the system. This was the estimated delivery date and I am assuming the package was still sitting in my local Post Office. It finally tracked at shipping facility on Sunday, which sounds like it finally was shipped out on Sunday.

My beef is that I called the local office and asked a manager for a price adjustment, which she refused because deliveries are not guaranteed by a certain date. I asked her if the package was supposed to sit there for 2 days? She said she did not know about that. So besides sending a letter to the USPS customer service, in the future, I’ll reserve expedited mailing to UPS or FedEx.

 

[PracticalMac]

Thursday 25Apr19, I mailed a package of photos from my local USPS facility, via Priority Mail because I wanted it to get there by the weekend. Estimated delivery date Saturday. I paid $8 instead of $1.80 for First Class Mail.

On Saturday late in the day I called my friend who had not received the package. I checked tracking and it showed a label had been created, but was not in the system. This was the estimated delivery date and I am assuming the package was still sitting in my local Post Office. It finally tracked at shipping facility on Sunday, which sounds like it finally was shipped out on Sunday.

My beef is that I called the local office and asked a manager for a price adjustment, which she refused because deliveries are not guaranteed by a certain date. I asked her if the package was supposed to sit there for 2 days? She said she did not know about that. So besides sending a letter to the USPS customer service, in the future, I’ll reserve expedited mailing to UPS or FedEx.

That's pretty miserable, complaint time.
But I can tell you for certain USPS is over worked, under staffed, and low moral. Really sad.

If you wanted guaranteed delivery, then "Priority Mail Express"

From experience, UPS and FedEx has also failed me in delivery dates.

 

[trillionaire]

USPS: Very good experience. Ship a lot through them and lost packages are rare. The customer service can be really difficult to get a hold of but I rarely need them. Best to go through Twitter. For the pricing within the US, they are a very solid shipping company.

UPS: I've had a few recent instances where the shipments had issues. Delivered to incorrect address and took like two weeks to retrieve. Items were then missing from the packages. They would constantly deliver a part of the shipment and then the rest of the boxes would be delivered a week later because they couldn't find them. Not a good experience overall.

FedEx: Never had any issues with them. They always call if they have delivery issues. They take care to make sure the shipment is properly delivered. Granted, I only ship with them through their Express International service, which is very expensive, but also very quick and no issues at all.

 

[dk001]

Thursday 25Apr19, I mailed a package of photos from my local USPS facility, via Priority Mail because I wanted it to get there by the weekend. Estimated delivery date Saturday. I paid $8 instead of $1.80 for First Class Mail.

On Saturday late in the day I called my friend who had not received the package. I checked tracking and it showed a label had been created, but was not in the system. This was the estimated delivery date and I am assuming the package was still sitting in my local Post Office. It finally tracked at shipping facility on Sunday, which sounds like it finally was shipped out on Sunday.

My beef is that I called the local office and asked a manager for a price adjustment, which she refused because deliveries are not guaranteed by a certain date. I asked her if the package was supposed to sit there for 2 days? She said she did not know about that. So besides sending a letter to the USPS customer service, in the future, I’ll reserve expedited mailing to UPS or FedEx.

You can get express guaranteed delivery and dates or a refund depending on how you choose to send it. Done that a few times. Have had a couple of refunds too.

 

[iPhonemaster5S]

USPS: Always had a good experience with them as long as it wasn't anything that needed to go within the state. For some reason sending anything through them throughout Colorado is just an entirely miserable experience.

UPS: Shipping things with them usually goes well the only sore spot is that deliveries are almost always later than anticipated and on top of that very late in the day. This doesn't go down very well when you're working with banks and need things to arrive on time.

FedEx: I'd say they would be my favorite as they are consistently early and have never lost a package. I also appreciate the sheer speed they have when getting packages to and from Europe which is particularly critical for my work. All that being said I've never used fedex ground so this is just FedEx first overnight.

 

[Huntn]

That's pretty miserable, complaint time.
But I can tell you for certain USPS is over worked, under staffed, and low moral. Really sad.

If you wanted guaranteed delivery, then "Priority Mail Express"

From experience, UPS and FedEx has also failed me in delivery dates.

I did not know about Express. I’ll have to see how much more that is.