UPS,USPS vs. Fedex

I intend to ship my Zambuto mirror and other parts to Florida. I just checked today on charges and insurance as well as time in transport issues with all three of these. USPS wins hands down in all categories as well as have no limits on proper packaged fragile items. The costs is about 1/3-1/2 by shipping USPS Priority vs, UPS and Fedex ground plus much faster transport. Insurance charges with Cerified mail ammount to $19 on $1600 worth of insurance. Weight of 20# total price of $55.80 for the package with insurance and cetified protection. You can send it overnight for the same amount that UPS or Fedex wants for ground.

Floyd Blue said:

I intend to ship my Zambuto mirror and other parts to Florida. I just checked today on charges and insurance as well as time in transport issues with all three of these. USPS wins hands down in all categories as well as have no limits on proper packaged fragile items. The costs is about 1/3-1/2 by shipping USPS Priority vs, UPS and Fedex ground plus much faster transport. Insurance charges with Cerified mail ammount to $19 on $1600 worth of insurance. Weight of 20# total price of $55.80 for the package with insurance and cetified protection. You can send it overnight for the same amount that UPS or Fedex wants for ground.

Certified mail is used mostly for sending documents or notices (eviction, you owe money, etc,) whereas Registered mail is for sending valuables up to a value of $25,000. Registered mail is the most secure and safe way of sending items through the mail. At every point of travel, the item is inspected and signed for by each person that handles it. The cost is a bit more than Certified and then the insurance fee is figured above that. Registered mail parcels require that all edges of the parcel be sealed using a paper tape.

Don W
Rural Letter Carrier and Instructor for new hires.

For whatever reason ZOC used FedEx to ship my mirror to me. (Just arrived yesterday).

Floyd Blue said:

I intend to ship my Zambuto mirror and other parts to Florida. I just checked today on charges and insurance as well as time in transport issues with all three of these. USPS wins hands down in all categories as well as have no limits on proper packaged fragile items. The costs is about 1/3-1/2 by shipping USPS Priority vs, UPS and Fedex ground plus much faster transport. Insurance charges with Cerified mail ammount to $19 on $1600 worth of insurance. Weight of 20# total price of $55.80 for the package with insurance and cetified protection. You can send it overnight for the same amount that UPS or Fedex wants for ground.

I have been pleasantly surprised many times using USPS priority. They are helpful, a good price, my stuff gets there usually in 2 days (they promise 2-3), I had seen no damage, their delivery seems a little more controlled.

UPS is overpriced, they take a surprisingly long time, weekends don't count on the clock (I've mailed items on Saturday USPS priority and they arrived Monday), I have had packages really banged up, they show up really late in the day (i.e. in the middle of dinner) and if you do not respond in under 3 seconds to their one tap knock, they just leave it on the porch in the easiest view possible from the street.

I haven't used fed ex much but I almost got run over by a truck in front of my house, see them constantly run the stop sign on my street, and the one delivery I had, he pulled up with wheels in the grass, leaving grooves about 2/3 the length of my property (yes, I'm a yard geek - don't mess with my lawn).

On Don's comment abut the tape, if you forgot to tape or missed a spot, the person working the window would have a big roll of tape and do it for you - you probably wouldn't notice. At UPS they would sell you the tape, charge you for applying it ($10.95 an inch), declare themselves free of any shipping damage due to improper packaging and lecture you for 10 minutes about proper packing techniques. Then they would drop kick the box into a wall to see if the tape holds.

Ed