In case you ever need some evidence to support your claim that your item was damaged in transit, even though the package looks okay, or if you're packing something for shipping, be sure to pack it to withstand some mishandling. After all, regardless of the logo on the sleeve, you never know when a goober like this is going to come into contact with your goods.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG5EaAT8cFU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q6_9A90cUk

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Did I see a black man drinking in public complete w/ brown paper bag?? No way, how did that get through the Hollywood PC filter?

UPS is sometimes known as bearing the moniker '"OOPS'.

There is a reason for this.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

They won't lose it, but they might break it.

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'83 300D, 126K miles.

Believe it or not, that vid doesn't look too bad! If the contents can't survive a drop like that, they're not packed well enough.

You should see some of the packages that get delivered to us or returned to us as being undeliverable for whatever reason! We spend about $15K/yr with UPS so we ship (and receive) a fair amount of packages. Some of what we ship are products for high-multi-million or billion dollar companies with huge logistics and packaging departments. These departments work directly in conjunction with UPS, FedEx and USPS to ensure their packaging exceeds all standards, especially when liquids are involved.

And they still manage to destroy product. And deny claims because "Packaging Not Up to Standards".

BTW we used to ship with FedEx and they're no better.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Do they publish specs as to PSI and g-forces a package should be able to withstand?

That is only true to a limited extent, and it ultimately just allows the carriers to shirk their responsibility. Two simple examples: try and pack a set of wineglasses to put up with that abuse and you'll end up with double boxes and a large carton that costs you three times the value of the wine glasses because of size. Or order a 3000 KVA UPS. Due to weight, very expensive to ship, and our vendor had to ship THREE of them to get us one that was undamaged. They are very heavy, so they simply need to not be dropped or flopped. It doesn't matter how you package them (well, I suppose if you really wanted to get crazy with it you could) they cannot survive the kind of abuse you see in that video.

I'm the other way than you on this, Bill. If carriers would treat each package as though it was something meaningful to them, in the long run we would all be better off. For one thing, they would see less damage claims. Sellers would save money on not having to overpack things (and replace goods damaged by carriers). And recipients would be happier because they wouldn't have to fuss with claims and additional delays. All down the line it would work better to everyone's benefit.

Laziness and indifference (which I'd submit is at the root of what's exhibited in the video) are simply too common in our society. Excusing it only breeds more of it. Hold people accountable for such actions, like making the guy personally pay for good he damages (rather than simply firing him or ending up in a fight with the union) would change all of that very quickly.

I don't disagree at all with anything you said, G! I just accept it as the norm, which is pretty sad. It's almost as if there's a niche to be filled there (a gentle parcel carrier). But alas, I don't have the resources.

Or a niche service. UPS White Glove or FedEx Special Care. (Maybe there already is?)

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

UPS "recommends" a box with 200psi burst strength.

Does that equate to crush?

I'm a Packaging Engineer, every packing configuration at work gets run through ISTA-3A before UPS is asked to handle it. Makes claims really easy to determine who caused the damage.

Insidious-Burst strength is a measurement of basically puncture strength. As for the crush rating, this a simplification but basically put a flat even load on top of the box to 200# isn't terribly uncommon. Try it at home with a new box and a piece of plywood. We usually spec by board weight and size, and extrapolate out to the strength we need. Prevents suppliers from going cheap on you and switching to something that's "technically rated" but isn't practically rated(think of a HF trailer that's rated at 2000#)

Can't Know-It's a PITA, but if you really want it delivered safe and sound strap it to a pallet. When I've sent expensive delicate test equipment it goes pallet->3" foam->eqpt->ratchet straps->4 wall corrugated "crate" screwed to the pallet. Just make sure your crate outer can take compression-if it can be stacked, it will be stacked.

Swampy-Private carriers can do that. They charge a premium, but if it's irreplaceable that's the way to go.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

http://www.ista.org/forms/3Aoverview.pdf

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

You probably know what all these numbers mean then.


Total weight on all of these are less than 62 lbs./case, Class 60.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Are you one of us too?

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment