Expanded Delivery Options

sheepherder · 10-09-2020, 04:57 PM

I recently received a delivery from a company I never heard of. Their tractor-trailers go by my house daily but I had no idea they delivered residentially. I'm talking about parcel delivery.

My recollections reflect my upbringing in the 50's onward. Small towns mostly, some of the delivery options started earlier in large cities. Talking about the cheapest delivery, not next-day or overnight.

Back in the 50's only USPS delivered to your door. There was a short-lived experiment of delivering twice a day sometime in the 70's; mail in the morning, parcels & anything else in the afternoon. Didn't last long.

UPS followed in the mid-50's although I wasn't aware of them until the 60's. "Big Brown Truck'. In my area now, they only deliver four days a week.

FedEx trucks & deliveries started appearing in the mid 70's. I hated FedEx. They would only make one attempt, after that you had to drive to their local terminal [airport usually] and pick up your package. No re-deliveries.

DHL only appeared here in the 80's IIRC, although they started in 1969. I only got a few parcels from DHL, mostly overseas deliveries. Purple & red name on their trucks.

Amazon trucks only started appearing here this year, although their trucks started delivering in the big cities in 2019. Long gray trucks. The ones I see around here are not tagged as electric. Guess there aren't enough charging stations yet.

Now, the company I got the delivery from last week was XPO Logistics. I had thought they were long distance carriers, tractor trailers. And that's what stopped in front of my house, a tractor with a 90 foot trailer. I've gotten a couple deliveries before from tractor-trailers, big stuff - refrigerator, garage lift, heavy stuff. But XPO was new to me. The driver seemed as confused as I was.

That's six delivery services. And I live in a rural area. Have since I moved out of the big city in '77. All six presumably competing. Although when I worked at USPS both UPS and FedEx sloughed off their base rate parcel deliveries to us. Probably more nation-wide delivery services that I don't know about deliver now, although I'm sure their trucks must pass by here (I live on the most-traveled North/South thoroughfare in Western New York State). RelCo is the most common carrier I see go by, but I've never seen them delivering.

I don't have any particular point to make. Just an observation on the growth of delivery services.

Mac Cat · 10-09-2020, 05:20 PM

I get delivered from unmarked and rented trucks now, not from the branded store trucks and vans. For a while, Amazon was using people in personal cars to fill in.

Today I got a delivery from a commercial Trucking company (Hunt) doing local work for a big box store.

We have an HOA rule the prohibits home businesses because 50 years ago, people feared a home business would have lots of clients cars, trucks and deliveries. Today, almost every other house in the neighborhood is getting something delivered.

I use a private post office - they seem more interested in being helpful.

Clustered Mail boxes are becoming targets for thieves more often now, even in the rural areas. And once your mail box is broken, you usually have to pickup mail at the post office. They take years to fix broken mail boxes and the rarely purées the mailbox bandits. If you still have mail brought to your house, you're very lucky.

G.T. · 10-09-2020, 07:39 PM

To me, there are only three options? The first is FedEx which is hard for me, as I would only use them to send guns, and the satellite locations won't send guns or ammo in the Phoenix area. So, you need to go to a hub location, and then jump thru the necessary hoops, and I'm assuming pay a fairly steep fee.
The second is UPS, still have to go to the hub location, then it's an overnight fee, which the last time was $90.00 bucks, and it arrived ten days later! They really suck, in just about every respect!
The third option and by far the best, is to go to an FFL dealer, pay the $20.00 transfer / shipping fee, and the USPS postage, $8.00 Priority flat rate and be reasonably sure it will arrive on time! I would rather pay the dealer to keep him alive, then toss the money down a rat hole with some company that doesn't even like us????

..... Of all the gun laws, I wish they would ease restrictions on shipping first!.... Best to all, til....lat'r....GT...

sheepherder · 10-09-2020, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G.T.

.. Of all the gun laws, I wish they would ease restrictions on shipping first!...

Here's something I don't understand. I had a S&W Model 15 that needed work; I contacted S&W, got their instructions to send it in to the factory for repair. They told me to mail it direct, no FFL needed, no USPS notification, just include their form. I did. They mailed it back directly to me, again no FFL. And no special marking.

No checking of state permit, no NICS, no FFL. Either way. No clerk ever asked me what it was (addressee was 'cloaked').

WTF???

Fla.Mallard · 10-09-2020, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Here's something I don't understand. I had a S&W Model 15 that needed work; I contacted S&W, got their instructions to send it in to the factory for repair. They told me to mail it direct, no FFL needed, no USPS notification, just include their form. I did. They mailed it back directly to me, again no FFL. And no special marking.

No checking of state permit, no NICS, no FFL. Either way. No clerk ever asked me what it was (addressee was 'cloaked').

WTF???

You can send your gun that needs repair to a gunsmith or the factory with no FFL involved .. even through USPS. It's a law. However, if you get caught abusing the law, mucho dinero and bad trouble with los federales.

Mac Cat · 10-10-2020, 06:43 PM

When I was in college, we used to send stuff on the bus. It was really cheap, but there wasn't much security. I shipped bicycles with Trailways.

lugerholsterrepair · 10-10-2020, 08:11 PM

I remember lots of flowers and newspaper bundles shipped on Trailways.

Edward Tinker · 10-10-2020, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Cat

When I was in college, we used to send stuff on the bus. It was really cheap, but there wasn't much security. I shipped bicycles with Trailways.

I once bought an old steamer trunk about ten years ago and she sent it via bus, worked out well.
Because of Amazon, fedex or ups come more often and ship that way many times.
Ammo should be allowed to ship - see YouTube

https://youtu.be/3SlOXowwC4c

gunbugs · 10-10-2020, 11:50 PM

Be aware that ATF and "The Feds" don't restrict sending guns through the mail. It's all in the postal regulations. Specifically, In the Domestic Mail Manual, Chapter 24.

Zorba · 10-13-2020, 10:08 PM

I saw my first Amazon truck in a nearby town a week or so back...

But "UPS" stands for "United Package Smashers", USPS is "United States Package Smashers", FedEx is "Manages to break it even though it was double boxed", and USPS just *LOST* an inbound shipment to me...

I'm not happy with any of them right now...

sheepherder · 10-19-2020, 11:04 AM

I exected to be fairly busy today, putting a transmission back together. I found a NOS part I needed on eBay. USPS TRacking said it would be here last Friday. I followed the tracking each day from Smiths Creek MI/Detroit MI/Columbus OH/Hyattsville MD/Buffalo NY. That was Thursday. Columbus is only maybe a 5 hour drive. Why it got mis-sent to Maryland is anybody's guess.

USPS Tracking said it would be arriving late, Saturday 17th. It didn't arrive. I hoped it would be here today, Monday 19th. It's not.

I have gears and shafts spread out on my workbench and my press is set up too press bearings on. Can't do anything else until the trans is sealed up. "Clean room" conditions. Open bearings, gears, shims, etc. Can't do any grinding, cutting, or milling on other projects until this one is finished. Won't take long. Everything has been measured three times and cleaned twice.

Three days wasted.

On the bright side, Seasons 5 and 6 of Bosch arrived some days ago. And the latest Longmire book arrived from Amazon. Pretty interesting; I read it over the weekend. Made me want to read more about the 'Battle of the Greasy Grass', so I ordered several other books that Craig Johnson recommended.

10-09-2020, 04:57 PM	#1
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,182 Thanks: 1,398 Thanked 4,440 Times in 2,328 Posts	Expanded Delivery Options I recently received a delivery from a company I never heard of. Their tractor-trailers go by my house daily but I had no idea they delivered residentially. I'm talking about parcel delivery. My recollections reflect my upbringing in the 50's onward. Small towns mostly, some of the delivery options started earlier in large cities. Talking about the cheapest delivery, not next-day or overnight. Back in the 50's only USPS delivered to your door. There was a short-lived experiment of delivering twice a day sometime in the 70's; mail in the morning, parcels & anything else in the afternoon. Didn't last long. UPS followed in the mid-50's although I wasn't aware of them until the 60's. "Big Brown Truck'. In my area now, they only deliver four days a week. FedEx trucks & deliveries started appearing in the mid 70's. I hated FedEx. They would only make one attempt, after that you had to drive to their local terminal [airport usually] and pick up your package. No re-deliveries. DHL only appeared here in the 80's IIRC, although they started in 1969. I only got a few parcels from DHL, mostly overseas deliveries. Purple & red name on their trucks. Amazon trucks only started appearing here this year, although their trucks started delivering in the big cities in 2019. Long gray trucks. The ones I see around here are not tagged as electric. Guess there aren't enough charging stations yet. Now, the company I got the delivery from last week was XPO Logistics. I had thought they were long distance carriers, tractor trailers. And that's what stopped in front of my house, a tractor with a 90 foot trailer. I've gotten a couple deliveries before from tractor-trailers, big stuff - refrigerator, garage lift, heavy stuff. But XPO was new to me. The driver seemed as confused as I was. That's six delivery services. And I live in a rural area. Have since I moved out of the big city in '77. All six presumably competing. Although when I worked at USPS both UPS and FedEx sloughed off their base rate parcel deliveries to us. Probably more nation-wide delivery services that I don't know about deliver now, although I'm sure their trucks must pass by here (I live on the most-traveled North/South thoroughfare in Western New York State). RelCo is the most common carrier I see go by, but I've never seen them delivering. I don't have any particular point to make. Just an observation on the growth of delivery services. __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...

10-09-2020, 07:39 PM	#3
G.T. Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Chandler Arizona Posts: 3,486 Thanks: 1,283 Thanked 3,583 Times in 989 Posts	sending stuff! To me, there are only three options? The first is FedEx which is hard for me, as I would only use them to send guns, and the satellite locations won't send guns or ammo in the Phoenix area. So, you need to go to a hub location, and then jump thru the necessary hoops, and I'm assuming pay a fairly steep fee. The second is UPS, still have to go to the hub location, then it's an overnight fee, which the last time was $90.00 bucks, and it arrived ten days later! They really suck, in just about every respect! The third option and by far the best, is to go to an FFL dealer, pay the $20.00 transfer / shipping fee, and the USPS postage, $8.00 Priority flat rate and be reasonably sure it will arrive on time! I would rather pay the dealer to keep him alive, then toss the money down a rat hole with some company that doesn't even like us???? ..... Of all the gun laws, I wish they would ease restrictions on shipping first!.... Best to all, til....lat'r....GT...

10-10-2020, 08:11 PM	#7
lugerholsterrepair Moderator Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Arizona/Colorado Posts: 7,760 Thanks: 4,850 Thanked 3,100 Times in 1,426 Posts	I remember lots of flowers and newspaper bundles shipped on Trailways. __________________ Jerry Burney 11491 S. Guadalupe Drive Yuma AZ 85367-6182 lugerholsterrepair@earthlink.net 928 342-7583 (CO & AZ) Year Round 719 207-3331 (cell) "For those who Fight For It, Life has a flavor the protected will never know."

10-19-2020, 11:04 AM	#11
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,182 Thanks: 1,398 Thanked 4,440 Times in 2,328 Posts	I exected to be fairly busy today, putting a transmission back together. I found a NOS part I needed on eBay. USPS TRacking said it would be here last Friday. I followed the tracking each day from Smiths Creek MI/Detroit MI/Columbus OH/Hyattsville MD/Buffalo NY. That was Thursday. Columbus is only maybe a 5 hour drive. Why it got mis-sent to Maryland is anybody's guess. USPS Tracking said it would be arriving late, Saturday 17th. It didn't arrive. I hoped it would be here today, Monday 19th. It's not. I have gears and shafts spread out on my workbench and my press is set up too press bearings on. Can't do anything else until the trans is sealed up. "Clean room" conditions. Open bearings, gears, shims, etc. Can't do any grinding, cutting, or milling on other projects until this one is finished. Won't take long. Everything has been measured three times and cleaned twice. Three days wasted. On the bright side, Seasons 5 and 6 of Bosch arrived some days ago. And the latest Longmire book arrived from Amazon. Pretty interesting; I read it over the weekend. Made me want to read more about the 'Battle of the Greasy Grass', so I ordered several other books that Craig Johnson recommended. __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...

10-09-2020, 05:20 PM	#2
Mac Cat Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 672 Thanks: 2,012 Thanked 542 Times in 292 Posts	I get delivered from unmarked and rented trucks now, not from the branded store trucks and vans. For a while, Amazon was using people in personal cars to fill in. Today I got a delivery from a commercial Trucking company (Hunt) doing local work for a big box store. We have an HOA rule the prohibits home businesses because 50 years ago, people feared a home business would have lots of clients cars, trucks and deliveries. Today, almost every other house in the neighborhood is getting something delivered. I use a private post office - they seem more interested in being helpful. Clustered Mail boxes are becoming targets for thieves more often now, even in the rural areas. And once your mail box is broken, you usually have to pickup mail at the post office. They take years to fix broken mail boxes and the rarely purées the mailbox bandits. If you still have mail brought to your house, you're very lucky.

10-10-2020, 06:43 PM	#6
Mac Cat Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 672 Thanks: 2,012 Thanked 542 Times in 292 Posts	When I was in college, we used to send stuff on the bus. It was really cheap, but there wasn't much security. I shipped bicycles with Trailways.

10-10-2020, 11:50 PM	#9
gunbugs Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Fairbanks, Alaska. Home of the best moose. Posts: 636 Thanks: 335 Thanked 1,141 Times in 379 Posts	Be aware that ATF and "The Feds" don't restrict sending guns through the mail. It's all in the postal regulations. Specifically, In the Domestic Mail Manual, Chapter 24.

10-13-2020, 10:08 PM	#10
Zorba User Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Merritt Island, Fl Posts: 951 Thanks: 776 Thanked 526 Times in 289 Posts	I saw my first Amazon truck in a nearby town a week or so back... But "UPS" stands for "United Package Smashers", USPS is "United States Package Smashers", FedEx is "Manages to break it even though it was double boxed", and USPS just LOST an inbound shipment to me... I'm not happy with any of them right now...