Economy shipping

[JimG]

I wanted to order an impeller today, and the lowest cost shipping was UPS Ground for $20. Seems like small items ought to have a method such as 1st class mail or Priority Mail? Other companies seem to be able to get lower rates from UPS - have you asked?

[The Garbone]

You should call Ken, he likes to talk on the phone....

[ArtJ]

I wanted to order an impeller today, and the lowest cost shipping was UPS Ground for $20. Seems like small items ought to have a method such as 1st class mail or Priority Mail? Other companies seem to be able to get lower rates from UPS - have you asked?

UPS has something called SurePost which has USPS complete local delivery
but is a couple days slower than UPS ground and a little cheaper.
I passed this on to Steve Moyer who I believe does all Moyer shipping.
He said he would check into it. Steve also mentions that the area where
he ships from gets larger charges from UPS by not being located close to
a large city.
UPS also charges less for shipping from companies such as Defender

[JimG]

Sure Post is slower, but a small Priority Mail flat rate box can hold a lot of things that are in the catalog and is quicker than UPS. Maybe the Post Office isn't nearby...

[ArtJ]

Some shipments are sent in quite over sized boxes. For Example,
Impellers sent in a nearly 1 foot box. That could affect cost.

[Administrator]

Sure Post is slower, but a small Priority Mail flat rate box can hold a lot of things that are in the catalog and is quicker than UPS. Maybe the Post Office isn't nearby...

I recently had something shipped which used some sort of combo of UPS and USPS. It took USPS longer to go the last 17 miles than it did UPS to go from Idaho to Maryland. Don't think it was "priority mail" though.

There are probably a lot of variables at play which determine whether one is faster than the other.

Bill

[hanleyclifford]

We are becoming aware of this pernicious problem here, too. I think it goes something like this: The supplier (the ones who offer free shipping) makes a deal with UPS to deliver to local post offices without regard to street addresses. The post offices usually gives notice of packages on hand but in this case don't do so because they have been bypassed. Since UPS delivers to a central point here on Chappaquiddick, even if the post office gave such notification the delivery point contractor is under no obligation to pick up the packages. Beware of free shipping.

[ArtJ]

I think a Island is a especially difficult destination regardless of method

[toddster]

I ship a lot of packages for my small business, which is located way out in the boonies. I always use USPS priority mail. The base charge is almost always less than half the cost of UPS or FedEx, the service is two to four times faster, and it's comparatively hassle-free.

Maybe this is a case where being in (well... near) a tiny remote town is an advantage. The postmaster knows everyone and knows where everything belongs.

FedEx, is fast, I'll give them that. Sometimes I get three trucks a day (regular, priority, and ground). But it's a colossal hassle to send anything out through them, and expensive.

I'm not really sure how UPS stays in business. They're outrageously expensive, slow, and the service is terrible. Sometimes they even just dump packages out at the intersection of the county road, and provide no notice. I find them days later, after tracking the missing package.

[Administrator]

I wonder if UPS service is driver-specific. I know ours by name.

Bill

[JOHN COOKSON]

I wonder if UPS service is driver-specific. I know ours by name.
Bill

I know UPS used to be driver specific for a given route unless that driver isn't working that day. I presume they are still that way. If the same driver has the same route assigned every day then he (or she) is familiar with the territory and can make the delivers quicker.
Also UPS pays by the route ie deliver this many packages this day on this route and you will earn this much money. This is why they are always in such a rush. They are playing a "beat the clock" game. The sooner they get the route done the more per hour they earn. I don't know if they are independent contractors or not. Probably not since they drive a company truck and wear a company uniform.

TRUE GRIT

[sastanley]

I just bought a bunch of stuff from Moyer today directly thru Ken, and my shipping cost was $14.90. The bulkiest part of the package is the spare manifold gasket and water jacket side plate gasket. I got some other small, heavy things, so I am guessing the total weight is probably 6 lbs.

I certainly understand that buying a $3 gasket would probably cost more than it is worth to ship, so I grouped my order and bought 6 gaskets, plus the exhaust manifold flange along with the bronze mixer.

Seems reasonable to me, but I am also in Maryland where Moyer ships from, generally.

I do think it would be nice for Moyer to offer to jam stuff into a flat rate USPS box for those farther away that aren't in a rush for parts like me.