UPS efficiency

[jhansman]

My latest tracking info from an Amazon order:

Track your package

Date Time Location Event Details
October 26, 2011 07:03:00 AM Monterey CA US Arrival Scan
October 26, 2011 04:07:00 AM Oakland CA US Departure Scan
October 25, 2011 06:59:00 PM Oakland CA US Arrival Scan
October 25, 2011 06:39:00 PM Oakland CA US Departure Scan
October 25, 2011 05:42:00 PM Oakland CA US Arrival Scan
October 25, 2011 03:48:00 PM Louisville KY US Departure Scan
October 25, 2011 11:22:00 AM Louisville KY US Arrival Scan
October 25, 2011 05:17:00 AM Phoenix AZ US Departure Scan
October 24, 2011 07:51:00 PM Phoenix AZ US Shipment received by carrier
October 24, 2011 05:50:34 PM Phoenix AZ US Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit

Kentucky? How does a package that starts off 650 mi. from it's destination travel travel that far in the wrong direction to ultimately get there? Anyone else had this happen with a package?

 

[rcpratt]

The vast majority of UPS packages go through their central distribution center in Louisville.

 

[guyver01]

Kentucky? How does a package that starts off 650 mi. from it's destination travel travel that far in the wrong direction to ultimately get there? Anyone else had this happen with a package?

easy

Worldport is the worldwide air hub for UPS (United Parcel Service) located at the Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

[jhansman]

Ah, I see. Still, it seems counterproductive and wasteful to run packages through a hub so far from the destination. So be it...

 

[guyver01]

Ah, I see. Still, it seems counterproductive and wasteful to run packages through a hub so far from the destination. So be it...

so.. what would you do?
the package doesnt just leave the shop and magically appear at your house.

it has to be routed. and rather than route it thru 50 different processing facilities... they send it to one.

 

[vshah]

Ah, I see. Still, it seems counterproductive and wasteful to run packages through a hub so far from the destination. So be it...

it would be more wasteful to have a plane just going back and forth between AZ and CA. Shipping companies survive on efficiency, you can bet that they've figured out that this is the most efficient way of doing things.

 

[sactoking]

I'm more interested in the 4 Oakland scans...

 

[Old Hippie]

easy

Worldport is the worldwide air hub for UPS (United Parcel Service) located at the Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky.

Should be a stickie?

 

[guyver01]

Should be a stickie?

probably. once a month we get a thread "why did my ups package go thru Kentucky??"

 

[LTC8K6]

Why do people think their package is the only one on the truck or plane?

 

[Sixguns]

I had this same issue. My order shipped from southern CA going to NM where I live. It went thru Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and then to me. I looked on googlemaps and from the shipping address to me was about 700 miles. The trip it took was over 1900 miles! Dont see how that is very cost effective.

 

[LTC8K6]

I had this same issue. My order shipped from southern CA going to NM where I live. It went thru Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and then to me. I looked on googlemaps and from the shipping address to me was about 700 miles. The trip it took was over 1900 miles! Dont see how that is very cost effective.

It was probably extremely cost effective, actually...

 

[jhansman]

I'm not complaining about the time factor or method of transport, just trying to understand the logic and efficiency. I love UPS; they always deliver on time (well, almost always).

 

[ElFenix]

I had this same issue. My order shipped from southern CA going to NM where I live. It went thru Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and then to me. I looked on googlemaps and from the shipping address to me was about 700 miles. The trip it took was over 1900 miles! Dont see how that is very cost effective.

UPS is a company that has developed software to route their drivers with fewer left turns. they know efficiency. just because it'd be cheaper for 1 single thing being delivered to go straight doesn't mean it's cheaper for a million little things being delivered to a million places for them all to go in a straight line.

 

[guyver01]

just trying to understand the logic and efficiency.

the ups software is called WORLDSHIP

Here it is

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/techsupport/worldship/index.html

Backtrace the program, and attempt to understand the logic and efficiency of shipping 15.6 million packages daily.

 

[chusteczka]

I absolutely hate UPS.

• They are overpriced for their services.
• For packages shipped to a wrong address, the packages are returned to the sender; rather than holding the package at a distribution center in the area and asking the sender for an updated address.
• For overseas shipments, they are unable to plan ahead. When I make an order from a foreign manufacturer, I know four months in advance of the freight shipment. I just do not know the exact date it will be ready or the dimensions and weight of the packaged freight. UPS will not start processing the shipment until it is ready. This is when they start their paperwork and let the freight sit a week before pickup.
• The customer interface to contact UPS and inform them of a shipment is faulty. When I contact UPS about a shipment, my freight sits for two weeks and they tell me that I must have contacted a different department.
• UPS does not have process instructions informing their customers how best to inform UPS of a freight shipment.

UPS is fail all around and I have trusted my last shipment to them.

 

[Gibson486]

"They are overpriced for their services"

Compared to who? Fed Ex usually cost more. USPS costs less, but they are always jacking up prices in response to fears of never making money and not being able to survive without govt intervention. Also, for international, USPS blows unless you pick their overnight service.

 

[alfa147x]

One of my business classes had a guy from ups visit. The Kentucky route is most efficient

 

[LTC8K6]

I absolutely hate UPS.

• They are overpriced for their services.
• For packages shipped to a wrong address, the packages are returned to the sender; rather than holding the package at a distribution center in the area and asking the sender for an updated address.
• For overseas shipments, they are unable to plan ahead. When I make an order from a foreign manufacturer, I know four months in advance of the freight shipment. I just do not know the exact date it will be ready or the dimensions and weight of the packaged freight. UPS will not start processing the shipment until it is ready. This is when they start their paperwork and let the freight sit a week before pickup.
• The customer interface to contact UPS and inform them of a shipment is faulty. When I contact UPS about a shipment, my freight sits for two weeks and they tell me that I must have contacted a different department.
• UPS does not have process instructions informing their customers how best to inform UPS of a freight shipment.

UPS is fail all around and I have trusted my last shipment to them.

I use UPS Worldship every day, and most of what you wrote is untrue, imo.

Also, UPS Freight has never let anything sit for a week when I ship.

It sounds like you don't know how to ship packages and freight.

Been using UPS for packages for more than 30 years, and for freight since they started UPS Freight.

Are they perfect? No. No one is.

 

[guyver01]

I just do not know the exact date it will be ready or the dimensions and weight of the packaged freight.

so.. you dont know when it's gonna be ready... how big it is... or how much it weighs... and you expect UPS to cater in advance to a big unknown???

what are they supposed to do... hold an empty plane aside for you alone???

when you know how big it is, and how much it weighs... then call 'em.

calling them four months ahead of time and saying "i wanna ship something but i dont know how big it is or how much it weighs" ..and getting pissed at THEM.. smacks of elitisim bullshit.

drag it around in your prius then.

 

[Jeff7]

UPS is a company that has developed software to route their drivers with fewer left turns. they know efficiency. just because it'd be cheaper for 1 single thing being delivered to go straight doesn't mean it's cheaper for a million little things being delivered to a million places for them all to go in a straight line.

Some of that stuff is interesting to learn about. At least for some people.

For example, if you work with resistors (electronic component) by the reel, they're cheap. Really cheap. As in half a cent each, or less.
So if you drop one as you're pulling from the reel, it's more expensive to stop what you're doing and pick it up than it would be to just get another one right off the reel. Low-end assembly job, $10/hr = $0.00278/second of salary, plus the value to the company of whatever job you're performing. So if you know exactly where the resistor landed, and can pick it up extremely quickly, it's still probably going to be cheaper to have it swept up at the end of the shift, along with the rest of the debris on the floor.

 

[chusteczka]

"They are overpriced for their services"

Compared to USPS. USPS can ship a small 1 pound package to another country in 10 days for $15-20. UPS requires the unneccessary expense of express to ship the same package for $70.

It sounds like you don't know how to ship packages and freight.

Very true, I do not know how to ship freight. How do I learn this? There are no process instructions on the UPS website for how to interact with them and who to contact. I have used them 4 times and asked questions for how to better interact with them and they do not answer. Their customer service is awful and they expect customers to inherently know how to interact with their system processes.

so.. you dont know when it's gonna be ready... how big it is... or how much it weighs... and you expect UPS to cater in advance to a big unknown???

what are they supposed to do... hold an empty plane aside for you alone???

when you know how big it is, and how much it weighs... then call 'em.

calling them four months ahead of time and saying "i wanna ship something but i dont know how big it is or how much it weighs" ..and getting pissed at THEM.. smacks of elitisim bullshit.

drag it around in your prius then.

There is a large amount of paperwork that can be completed ahead of time if they were able to plan ahead. Instead, they wait until the freight is ready to work on the paperwork. This paperwork easily takes a week to complete. This means my freight sits for a week until they finally pick it up.

 

[wiredspider]

wonders what kind of paperwork takes a week to complete, it takes less than an hour to do paperwork for buying a house...lol

 

[guyver01]

Very true, I do not know how to ship freight. How do I learn this? There are no process instructions on the UPS website for how to interact with them and who to contact.

none huh?

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/freight/

https://www.ups-scs.com/transportation/expresscritical_form.html

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/freight/road_freight.html

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/freight/index.html

 

[rudder]

Kentucky? How does a package that starts off 650 mi. from it's destination travel travel that far in the wrong direction to ultimately get there? Anyone else had this happen with a package?

They could be like DHL and wait until the van fills up before it leaves for Phoenix (stopping enroute to Las Vegas to sort). Then you might get your order in 7-10 business days.