How crummy is OnTrac shipping?

[holden j caufield]

Amazon uses them when I order stuff for same day shipping. It gets scanned as delivered that day but I never get it the same day.

 

[deadlyapp]

I've had really good success with them. The only bad time I had was when I had a package that was supposed to be delivered before 9pm via Amazon same day. It ended up coming like 10 or 11 pm which was more than good enough for me.

 

[Sukhoi]

I love OnTrac. Get everything overnight. They do use seemingly random independent contractors for delivery, that can have trouble getting into places like locked apartment buildings.

 

[uhohs]

A few weeks ago they delivered my Staples order of cases of copy paper to a location ~10 miles away in a different city. They never caught the error and I had to have Staples replace the order.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I can tell you one thing. I called their corp offices to report a driver. This dude was a complete psycho, doing 90 in the car pool lane alone. Cut me off making a freeway transition by waiting until the last moment.

 

[Mike64]

So far I only had Prime for the 30-day trial and got to use it only once, but I got my package when expected, though I did place the order in the wee hours of the AM the day of, not during "normal" business hours, so maybe that had something to do with it. But in addition to getting what I ordered with same day delivery, they even managed to include another item from an order I'd placed the "day before" (6 or 8 hours earlier) which I was expecting by 2-day delivery, which I thought was pretty cool...

Also, while I had to call them to accomplish it (since their website doesn't let you provide specific delivery instructions like UPS and more recently the USPS lets you do), they didn't bat an eyelash when I did call to ask them to tell the delivery person to leave the package without a signature when it turned out I wasn't going to be home.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Ontrac has replaced DHL as the worst shipper in the US. I've had drivers lie and steal from me. Their customer support and tracking is a joke. Thank goodness Newegg made it right.

 

[Crusty]

The drivers around here suck and can't get into my locked apartment complex like USPS/UPS/FEDEX manage to do all the time. They will just leave shit on the sidewalk in plain view of a major street....

 

[ViRGE]

Ontrac has replaced DHL as the worst shipper in the US..

Aye. The problem is that they just hire randoms who do deliveries in their own vehicles. It's not a proper business with trained employees and a well-maintained fleet.

 

[Mike64]

The drivers around here suck and can't get into my locked apartment complex like USPS/UPS/FEDEX manage to do all the time. They will just leave shit on the sidewalk in plain view of a major street....

You really can't blame OnTrac for not being able to get into your apartment complex. USPS almost certainly has a key, and given their volume of shipping, Fedex and UPS both likely have multiple deliveries to almost any apartment building at any given time, which dramatically increases their odds of getting a foot in the door in the first place. But all 3 of those services practically want your first-born child to deliver something the same day (even just down the street), so they're not exactly a practical alternative. And it's not like you're forced to use same-day delivery, after all - if you (or a neighbor, or superintendent, etc) aren't going to be available, you can always just request 2-day and get it via one of the shippers that doesn't have the same access problem...

 

[QueBert]

Ontrac has replaced DHL as the worst shipper in the US. I've had drivers lie and steal from me. Their customer support and tracking is a joke. Thank goodness Newegg made it right.

I ordered something from GERMANY, $15 shipped and I got it in 4 days via DHL. I ordered something from FL, it took UPS 9 days to get it here.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I ordered something from GERMANY, $15 shipped and I got it in 4 days via DHL. I ordered something from FL, it took UPS 9 days to get it here.

There's a huge difference between DHL in Germany and the US. I once had a DHL driver say he couldn't deliver a package to me because our business was closed that day. I was working at a prison.

 

[Crusty]

You really can't blame OnTrac for not being able to get into your apartment complex. USPS almost certainly has a key, and given their volume of shipping, Fedex and UPS both likely have multiple deliveries to almost any apartment building at any given time, which dramatically increases their odds of getting a foot in the door in the first place. But all 3 of those services practically want your first-born child to deliver something the same day (even just down the street), so they're not exactly a practical alternative. And it's not like you're forced to use same-day delivery, after all - if you (or a neighbor, or superintendent, etc) aren't going to be available, you can always just request 2-day and get it via one of the shippers that doesn't have the same access problem...

There is a literal keybox next to the front door, everyone else has access to the keybox, but not OnTrac. I asked a driver what I needed to do to get them access to the building and they shrugged like they didn't care.

In addition, when you order from Amazon you don't get to choose the carrier. Sometimes its USPS, sometimes its UPS and others its OnTrac. It is not my fault the OnTrac drivers can't get their shit together, but it certainly is my problem that they can't and it sucks.

 

[Mike64]

There is a literal keybox next to the front door, everyone else has access to the keybox, but not OnTrac. I asked a driver what I needed to do to get them access to the building and they shrugged like they didn't care.

Rather than asking the driver, you should direct that question/comment/suggestion to their corporate offices (and/or Amazon.) If previous posts are correct that they're not regular, full-time employees, expecting them to give a shit is more than a little overly-optimistic. For that matter, it's not very realistic even if they are - ever complain to a USPS/UPS/FedEx employee about one of their corporate policies/issues? (And if so, did they do anything but shrug, or in the case of your typical USPS employee, literally laugh in your face?)

And more to the point, if OnTrac delivery agents aren't in fact direct, bonded, and insured employees, I can't seriously imagine that any sane property manager would hand over the codes for access to on-site keyboxes anyway.

In addition, when you order from Amazon you don't get to choose the carrier. Sometimes its USPS, sometimes its UPS and others its OnTrac. It is not my fault the OnTrac drivers can't get their shit together, but it certainly is my problem that they can't and it sucks.

True, you don't get to choose the carrier, but do they ever use OnTrac for anything but "same day" deliveries? I won't swear to that, but I don't think so...

 

[Crusty]

Rather than asking the driver, you should direct that question/comment/suggestion to their corporate offices (and/or Amazon.) If previous posts are correct that they're not regular, full-time employees, expecting them to give a shit is more than a little overly-optimistic. For that matter, it's not very realistic even if they are - ever complain to a USPS/UPS/FedEx employee about one of their corporate policies/issues? (And if so, did they do anything but shrug, or in the case of your typical USPS employee, literally laugh in your face?)

And more to the point, if OnTrac delivery agents aren't in fact direct, bonded, and insured employees, I can't seriously imagine that any sane property manager would hand over the codes for access to on-site keyboxes anyway.

True, you don't get to choose the carrier, but do they ever use OnTrac for anything but "same day" deliveries? I won't swear to that, but I don't think so...

1-day and 2-day gets picked up by them out here as well. Literally depends which warehouse the stuff comes from. If its the one down the street usually UPS will grab it, but if its from out of the area usually OnTrac/USPS will do the final delivery.

I have a feeling that OnTrac simply can't accommodate this because of they way they operate with their independent drivers. It is definitely NOT the same driver every time like it is with UPS/USPS so I can't imagine the logistical nightmare it would be to manage the master keys.

FWIW I complain to Amazon when this stuff happens and they are more than accommodating. Complaining to OnTrac will do nothing since Amazon is the one paying them.

 

[Artdeco]

The OnTrac employees I've seen look just a level above homeless

And the service is the worst I be ever experienced, lost, undelivered, every mistake I've ever heard of. I thought Fed Ex Ground was the worst till OnTrac started in my area.

 

[Mike64]

1-day and 2-day gets picked up by them out here as well.

Ah, it seems to be different over here on the East Coast - that sucks.

I have a feeling that OnTrac simply can't accommodate this because of they way they operate with their independent drivers.

Well, OnTrac could handle it easily enough, just by giving each driver the key code as needed, but I don't see property owners/managers handing the codes over to OnTrac in the first place, if their drivers aren't direct employees of OnTrac, and bonded and insured.

 

[jlee]

OnTrac in Phoenix has been pretty good.

 

[Crusty]

Ah, it seems to be different over here on the East Coast - that sucks.
Well, OnTrac could handle it easily enough, just by giving each driver the key code as needed, but I don't see property owners/managers handing the codes over to OnTrac in the first place, if their drivers aren't direct employees of OnTrac, and bonded and insured.

It's a physical lockbox, each carrier has a key that opens the box that contains a key that opens the gate.

Managing a 'keycode' for an electronic lock should be well within their capabilities, just make it a part of their tracking system, but managing a physical key for multiple independent drivers just sounds like a hassle that requires some sort of central office that all drivers report to.

 

[Mike64]

It's a physical lockbox, each carrier has a key that opens the box that contains a key that opens the gate.

Huh. How convoluted... any idea why there's that "extra step" with the lockbox, then? Why don't they just have the key to the door/gate itself?

Here anyway, the regular USPS carrier for the route just has the key to the front door, but different people deliver stuff like Priority/Express Mail packages and I'm pretty sure they don't all have keys... But like the UPS and FedEx deliverers who (who definitely don't have keys), they do usually have multiple deliveries to any given apt building, so odds are fairly good that at least one of the recipients (or a building employee, if they notice them) will be around to let them in the front door...

Managing a 'keycode' for an electronic lock should be well within their capabilities, just make it a part of their tracking system,

Well, yeah, except for what I've mentioned now a few times, that I can't imagine the property owner/manager being willing to turn over a key or key code to an outfit that would in turn hand it over to an "independent" delivery agent that isn't bonded and insured (and probably background-checked before being hired in the first place.) I guess if it were a physical key, there are ways to avoid having it get copied, but that would mean rather expensive locks/keys, since stamping "Do Not Copy" on an ordinarily copy-able key only gets you so (and not very) far...

 

[Crusty]

Huh. How convoluted... any idea why there's that "extra step" with the lockbox, then? Why don't they just have the key to the door/gate itself?

The property manager gives them one key for all the properties, it opens all the lockboxes. Could you imagine having to carry around 20+ keys for the 20+ different buildings?

 

[Mike64]

The property manager gives them one key for all the properties, it opens all the lockboxes.

I guess our real estate ownership isn't quite so monopolized, that couldn't work here...

Could you imagine having to carry around 20+ keys for the 20+ different buildings?

That's what our USPS carriers do, they have these big (huge, actually) 'ol rings of keys...

 

[Crusty]

I guess our real estate ownership isn't quite so monopolized, that couldn't work here... That's what our USPS carriers do, they have these big (huge, actually) 'ol rings of keys...

Right, except I imagine the delivery area that a single OnTrac might cover in a given day is a LOT larger and a LOT less predictable than USPS, especially in the Bay Area. Any given OnTrac driver around here probably drives past hundreds if not thousand+ of apartment complexes every day that they could potentially be delivering to...

Their delivery routes are nowhere near as planned out as UPS/USPS, it doesn't make sense with the small panel vans and super fast 'delivery' times.

 

[Mike64]

Right, except I imagine the delivery area that a single OnTrac might cover in a given day is a LOT larger and a LOT less predictable than USPS, especially in the Bay Area. Any given OnTrac driver around here probably drives past hundreds if not thousand+ of apartment complexes every day that they could potentially be delivering to...

Their delivery routes are nowhere near as planned out as UPS/USPS, it doesn't make sense with the small panel vans and super fast 'delivery' times.

Well, I guess the bottom line is that it sounds like it does really suck having OnTrac pick up anything but same-day deliveries - glad they don't seem to do that here, at least not for the 2-day shipments...

 

[QueBert]

There's a huge difference between DHL in Germany and the US. I once had a DHL driver say he couldn't deliver a package to me because our business was closed that day. I was working at a prison.

Uh, no there's not, besides the shit I order from Germany once it gets here it's DHL USA that handles it. Have 2 orders coming today. They were shipped from Germany on 1/18 and were suppose to be delivered tomorrow. But, both will be here today. I've placed probably 50 orders from overseas that used DHL. It's always cheaper, and always faster. Meanwhile I ordered from somewhere on the east coast and it cost me more to ship via UPS than the shit from Germany. It shipped on the 18th also, but won't get here until Monday.

The Germany shit was in Ohio @ 12:42AM and it's out for the delivery in So Cal the same day. If this was UPS it would no doubt arrive at a hub and for some unknown reason sit in the hub for 1-2 days before anything happens. This is how it always goes with me with DHL, can't say it's ever gone like that with another shipper on any sort of regular basis. Even if my package arrived at the local UPS HUB with plenty of time to spare, it still won't be out for delivery for at least another day typically.

Ontrac SUCKS, UPS sucks, FedEx can be all over the place. I wish everyone offered DHL. Ontrac's the worst, I had an Amazon package I paid extra for same day shipping take longer to get here than a DHL order shipped from Sweden.