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Nov. 11th, 2006 01:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2So I ordered a battery for my laptop on Sunday. I specified 2nd day air. They shipped with UPS. I calculated that it would ship Monday and arrive on Wednesday.
I got paid Tuesday, and Tuesday night I decided to order a second, backup battery. This was a refurbished battery from a different place -- and cheaper of course. They didn't charge nearly as much for shipping but as it happens they also shipped 2nd day air. They used FedEx. Their order, of course, would ship out Wednesday, so I could expect it Friday.
Just for comparison, I think the shipping on the first order was as much as $29, which on the second order it was less than $10.
Wednesday I went to work at 2pm, having heard nothing. When I got home there was a note on the door saying UPS had attempted delivery and would attempt again tomorrow.
Thursday when I left for work I had heard nothing. I left them a note explaining that I worked evenings and if they couldn't arrive in the morning, to leave it with the Apartment Manager. Which they really should have done Wednesday.
When I got home, there was a note saying they'd attempted delivery again, and would leave with the Apartment Manager if she was in. Of course, by the time I got home her office was closed.
So I got up Friday morning knowing that I probably had my battery waiting for me at the manager's office (I did). I went over there just after Noon. As I went out the door, I noticed something hanging on the handle. It was a note from FedEx. They'd apparently attempted delivery in the morning while I was asleep, and had delivered my battery to the Apartment Manager.
So I got both batteries at the same time, despite the fact that the one shipped UPS was supposed to be delivered to me on the same day (Wednesday) that the one shipped FedEx was just being shipped out.
For about one third the cost, mind you, although I realize that has a lot more to do with what the company I ordered from charged me than what UPS vs. FedEx normally costs.
But I do detect a clear difference here in speed of service. ^_^
Speaking of UPS and FedEx, here's an interesting aside... in the freight business, in the United States, everything is rated based on a freight class system, which corresponds roughly to cubic density but also has a lot of other factors figured in such as whether the product is easily damaged, etc. This is a complex system governed by a book called the National Motor Freight Classification Guide, or NMFC. To put it in simple terms, most LTL freight (Less Than Trailerload freight) is rated on a per hundred weight basis -- so many dollars per hundred pounds. But of course, a hundred pounds of steel takes up far less space than a hundred pounds of, say, styrofoam peanuts, so the peanuts are rated at a higher class and a higher rate per hundred pounds. And the NMFC book defines what class to apply to each type of freight, and customers argue over what class their freight is really supposed to be, or work out deals with carriers to rate all their freight at a certain class (an "FAK" or "Freight of All Kinds" class, for example, Joe Shipper's products will all be rated as if they were class 70 regardless of what the NMFC might class them as).
Anyway in other places like Canada they often skip all this tomfoolery and just rate things at a cubic density -- working the dimensions of the frieight into the equation so that how much space the shipment takes up in the trailer is not an issue -- because it's already figured into the price.
The reason this is interesting is that apparently, UPS and FedEx are talking about doing away with the whole freight classification system and rating everything on a cubic density system. In case you weren't aware of it, UPS and FedEx are the two biggest freight transportation companies not just in the US but probably on the planet -- and have gobbled up several of the largest LTL carriers in recent years, including Yellow, Roadway, Overnite, and Motor Cargo, just to name the ones I know of off the top of my head.
So the upshot of all of this is, if UPS and FedEx do away with freight classification, then the whole NFMC system may just cease to exist. Whatever they decide, all the smaller carriers will probably have to follow suit.
Which will affect my job quite a bit. It's kind of scary how big those two companies are.
I got paid Tuesday, and Tuesday night I decided to order a second, backup battery. This was a refurbished battery from a different place -- and cheaper of course. They didn't charge nearly as much for shipping but as it happens they also shipped 2nd day air. They used FedEx. Their order, of course, would ship out Wednesday, so I could expect it Friday.
Just for comparison, I think the shipping on the first order was as much as $29, which on the second order it was less than $10.
Wednesday I went to work at 2pm, having heard nothing. When I got home there was a note on the door saying UPS had attempted delivery and would attempt again tomorrow.
Thursday when I left for work I had heard nothing. I left them a note explaining that I worked evenings and if they couldn't arrive in the morning, to leave it with the Apartment Manager. Which they really should have done Wednesday.
When I got home, there was a note saying they'd attempted delivery again, and would leave with the Apartment Manager if she was in. Of course, by the time I got home her office was closed.
So I got up Friday morning knowing that I probably had my battery waiting for me at the manager's office (I did). I went over there just after Noon. As I went out the door, I noticed something hanging on the handle. It was a note from FedEx. They'd apparently attempted delivery in the morning while I was asleep, and had delivered my battery to the Apartment Manager.
So I got both batteries at the same time, despite the fact that the one shipped UPS was supposed to be delivered to me on the same day (Wednesday) that the one shipped FedEx was just being shipped out.
For about one third the cost, mind you, although I realize that has a lot more to do with what the company I ordered from charged me than what UPS vs. FedEx normally costs.
But I do detect a clear difference here in speed of service. ^_^
Speaking of UPS and FedEx, here's an interesting aside... in the freight business, in the United States, everything is rated based on a freight class system, which corresponds roughly to cubic density but also has a lot of other factors figured in such as whether the product is easily damaged, etc. This is a complex system governed by a book called the National Motor Freight Classification Guide, or NMFC. To put it in simple terms, most LTL freight (Less Than Trailerload freight) is rated on a per hundred weight basis -- so many dollars per hundred pounds. But of course, a hundred pounds of steel takes up far less space than a hundred pounds of, say, styrofoam peanuts, so the peanuts are rated at a higher class and a higher rate per hundred pounds. And the NMFC book defines what class to apply to each type of freight, and customers argue over what class their freight is really supposed to be, or work out deals with carriers to rate all their freight at a certain class (an "FAK" or "Freight of All Kinds" class, for example, Joe Shipper's products will all be rated as if they were class 70 regardless of what the NMFC might class them as).
Anyway in other places like Canada they often skip all this tomfoolery and just rate things at a cubic density -- working the dimensions of the frieight into the equation so that how much space the shipment takes up in the trailer is not an issue -- because it's already figured into the price.
The reason this is interesting is that apparently, UPS and FedEx are talking about doing away with the whole freight classification system and rating everything on a cubic density system. In case you weren't aware of it, UPS and FedEx are the two biggest freight transportation companies not just in the US but probably on the planet -- and have gobbled up several of the largest LTL carriers in recent years, including Yellow, Roadway, Overnite, and Motor Cargo, just to name the ones I know of off the top of my head.
So the upshot of all of this is, if UPS and FedEx do away with freight classification, then the whole NFMC system may just cease to exist. Whatever they decide, all the smaller carriers will probably have to follow suit.
Which will affect my job quite a bit. It's kind of scary how big those two companies are.
