Chris Rupp on fri 22 aug 03
> In my observation, here in the US the Postal Service appears to me to
>take better care with fragile packages than UPS.
I agree with Dave here...I have had several packages arrive nearly
completely crushed by UPS. I looked at them thinking the piece HAS TO BE
broken! Fortunately, due solely to great packing a piece has not been broken
yet. The outer box has been completely crushed to the inner box.
However, the USPS has GREAT service. I have had tons of packages from them
and they always arrive in good shape. They respect the "fragile" stickers
and treat your item like is a bunch of loose eggs inside. Also, they are far
cheaper, especially when you are shipping a large package. I did have a cup
break one time due to VERY POOR packing, but it was insured and they paid
the $125.00 no questions asked and I got to keep what was left of the piece!
Chris
Sunny Santa Barbara
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Catherine White on fri 22 aug 03
Yep. Several years back, in fact, the postmaster warned me that workers
often shoved packages off the backs of trucks and, also, all packages should
be capable of having a 70# item dropped on them.
Regards from
Catherine's Studio
(aka the garage)
in Yuma, AZ
==============================================
----- Original Message -----
> informed us that all packages would now have to be able to withstand a
> four foot vertical drop which was now part of their shipping system. We
> went ahead and shipped the pot and it did arrive safely. That the postal
> service is now informing us of this is worrying. Has anyone else heard
> of this?
Spencer Wilson on fri 22 aug 03
Hello all,
Recently we took a package with a large piece of pottery to
be shipped to the post office. When we got to the counter we informed
them that it was a piece of pottery we were shipping. The attendant then
informed us that all packages would now have to be able to withstand a
four foot vertical drop which was now part of their shipping system. We
went ahead and shipped the pot and it did arrive safely. That the postal
service is now informing us of this is worrying. Has anyone else heard
of this?
Spencer Wilson
141 E. College Ave.
Cedar City, Utah 84720
1-435-867-0176, cel. 1-435-590-7687
cmceramics@accesswest.com
Dave Finkelnburg on fri 22 aug 03
Dear Spencer,
The USPS requirement you cite, "....that all packages would now have to
be able to withstand a
> four foot vertical drop...." is news to me...but it is similar to what
UPS requires in the US...and is a good criterion for packaging by. If you
double box, with 3-inches more or less all around between the inner and
outer boxes, and use packaging material appropriate for the weight of the
item being packaged, you generally comply with the 4-foot drop criterion.
In my observation, here in the US the Postal Service appears to me to
take better care with fragile packages than UPS.
Regards,
Dave Finkelnburg, enjoying thunderstorms in Idaho
----- Original Message -----
From: "Spencer Wilson"
> Recently we took a package with a large piece of pottery to
> be shipped to the post office. When we got to the counter we informed
> them that it was a piece of pottery we were shipping. The attendant then
> informed us which was now part of their shipping system. We
> went ahead and shipped the pot and it did arrive safely. That the postal
> service is now informing us of this is worrying. Has anyone else heard
> of this?
Richard Aerni on fri 22 aug 03
On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 09:30:06 -0600, Spencer Wilson
wrote:
> Recently we took a package with a large piece of pottery to
>be shipped to the post office. When we got to the counter we informed
>them that it was a piece of pottery we were shipping. The attendant then
>informed us that all packages would now have to be able to withstand a
>four foot vertical drop which was now part of their shipping system. We
>went ahead and shipped the pot and it did arrive safely. That the postal
>service is now informing us of this is worrying. Has anyone else heard
>of this?
>
Spencer,
I would not find this information worrying...in fact, it is reassuring that
they are telling you what may happen to the package. Call it being an
informed consumer.
Back in the dark ages, when I was attempting to learn my craft, I worked
for the Postal Service for several years. Most of my time was spent in the
parcel post division, and I worked pretty much every machine and every
station from unloading the trucks to sorting the parcels to loading the
trucks back up and dispatching them. Along the way, the packages are taken
from trucks, put on rolling carts (they can fall off if they are stacked
improperly or a corner is taken too fast) and thence to the conveyor
system, where the address is read by the operator and it is then placed
upon a moving conveyor (approx 12-15 feet above floor level) and then
diverted to the proper stainless steel chute for dispatch. I have seen
packages snagged and then fall at the entry level to the chute, back up and
then overload, spilling packages willy nilly, or have a queue of packages
at the end of the chute get scattered when a particularly large or heavy
package comes skidding full speed down the chute and slams into them.
Think of any or all of these parcels as your particular parcel, and pack
accordingly.
It's not that the Postal Service, or UPS, or Fed Ex, or whatever shipper
you choose doesn't care about your package, it's just that your parcel is
but one of thousands which pass through the system on an hourly basis
and "things happen". I myself have had excellent luck shipping with the
Postal Service, and I'm glad that you had a clerk (not attendant ) who
had a clue and passed the info on to you.
best,
Richard Aerni
Bloomfield, NY
Earl Brunner on fri 22 aug 03
Now the story I'm going to tell doesn't meet all of the criteria for
safe shipping by any means. And it wqasn't all within the U.S. My
middle son was in Japan a few years ago, He isn't a potter and knows
little about pottery, but he decided to send us some things as presents.
He sent me a porcelain laughing Buddha (about cantaloupe size). He sent
his mother two porcelain lion bookends, with all of these little
porcelain points and edges. He packaged them both the same, that is,
hardly at all. Have you ever seen that stuff that looks like corrugated
cardboard from Asia? It's not as stiff or strong. Anyway he sent them
in their original soft cardboard boxes, with little or no padding.
My box was slightly bigger than the mailbox when it arrived, but fit
nicely into the mailbox, easily conforming to ANY shape you wanted to
put it in. The Buddha poured out of the box. Now the two lion bookends
arrived in perfect condition, not a point or edge chipped. Same
packing, same boxes. Go figure.
I swear someone drove a truck over my Buddha, or an elephant sat on
it......
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Dave
Finkelnburg
In my observation, here in the US the Postal Service appears to me
to
take better care with fragile packages than UPS.
Regards,
Dave Finkelnburg, enjoying thunderstorms in Idaho
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on fri 22 aug 03
Hello Spencer,
What is surprising, is that the Clerk mentioned it...
Too...one does well to interpret this as including something
else, and possibly heavier, falling on one's Parcel from the
hypothetical 'four feet'...this also implicitly includes
that one's Parcel may be thrown, and as well 'land' as it
may...
This should be considered the standard situation for ALL
Parcels being shipped by either the U.S.P.S., 'fed-ex' or
the U.P.S.
Allthough, with the latter two ( I do not know about the
United States Post Office in this regard, but...) one may
for a $5.00 additional fee, consign the Parcel to a "Hand
Carry" status, for which one writes "Hand Carry Only" on the
Parcel in (preferably) large Lettering...
Phil
Las Vegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Spencer Wilson"
> Hello all,
> Recently we took a package with a large piece
of pottery to
> be shipped to the post office. When we got to the counter
we informed
> them that it was a piece of pottery we were shipping. The
attendant then
> informed us that all packages would now have to be able to
withstand a
> four foot vertical drop which was now part of their
shipping system. We
> went ahead and shipped the pot and it did arrive safely.
That the postal
> service is now informing us of this is worrying. Has
anyone else heard
> of this?
> Spencer Wilson
John Rodgers on sat 23 aug 03
Once I had a production studio in Alaska...............
Porcelain figurines were what we made. Shipped all over the USA. Always
by the USPS Priority Air method. Always arrived in good shape. In ten
years, we had only two or three potential claims. The value of the time
we could have spent chasing paper was so great that we just wrote it
off the loss rather than fool with it. Otherwise the USPS service was
great. Hard experience with UPS and even FEDEX dictated that we use
USPS. Theirs was excellent compared to the others.
Packaging was always by the individual piece. We used paper cut from
newsprint end-rolls. 1st, a high quality shipping box was selected. Then
wadded newsprint paper was put in the bottom. next all pieces were
individually wrapped in 5 sheets of news print. The piece was placed on
the paper, then the paper was folded, rolled and tucked, sort of the way
old time meat butchers would wrap their work in the old buthcer
markets. Fully protects. Then eached piece was packed into the box,
snuggly agaist the other pieces. Wadded newsprint was placed on top
sufficiently thing that the box top had to be squeezed down tight to
fit. The box was then strapped shut with nylon strapping tape, labeled,
and delivered to the postal mail receiving section. All boxes were sized
and weight checked to ensure they would go as Priority Mail. Each box
was insured for a minimum of $51.00. This way, a tracking tag could be
attached. Otherwise not.
Very few problems. Proper packaging was/is the key.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Birmingham,AL
Spencer Wilson wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>
>
> Recently we took a package with a large piece of pottery to
>be shipped to the post office. When we got to the counter we informed
>them that it was a piece of pottery we were shipping. The attendant then
>informed us that all packages would now have to be able to withstand a
>four foot vertical drop which was now part of their shipping system. We
>went ahead and shipped the pot and it did arrive safely. That the postal
>service is now informing us of this is worrying. Has anyone else heard
>of this?
>
>
>
>Spencer Wilson
>
>141 E. College Ave.
>
>Cedar City, Utah 84720
>
>1-435-867-0176, cel. 1-435-590-7687
>
>cmceramics@accesswest.com
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
>
BeardiePaw on sat 23 aug 03
Whenever I ship, and I got this tip years ago on ClayArt, thanks much, I
always double box, and between the boxes I put rolled up pieces of
cardboard, or shards of thick styrofoam as shock absorber between the inner
and outer box. Never lost anything again.
Sherry Morrow
Catherine White on sat 23 aug 03
John's packing instructions are a primer in how to do it. I use one
additional step nowadays. Place the original box in a larger one that allows
foam peanuts to cushion it on all sides. This cushion absorbs almost all
shocks that occur in handling. I've had no breakage.
Regards from
Catherine's Studio
(aka the garage)
in Yuma, AZ
----- Original Message -----
> Packaging was always by the individual piece. We used paper cut from
> newsprint end-rolls. 1st, a high quality shipping box was selected. Then
> wadded newsprint paper was put in the bottom. next all pieces were
> individually wrapped in 5 sheets of news print. The piece was placed on
> the paper, then the paper was folded, rolled and tucked, sort of the way
> old time meat butchers would wrap their work in the old buthcer
> markets. Fully protects. Then eached piece was packed into the box,
> snuggly agaist the other pieces. Wadded newsprint was placed on top
> sufficiently thing that the box top had to be squeezed down tight to
> fit. The box was then strapped shut with nylon strapping tape, labeled,
> and delivered to the postal mail receiving section. All boxes were sized
> and weight checked to ensure they would go as Priority Mail. Each box
> was insured for a minimum of $51.00. This way, a tracking tag could be
> attached. Otherwise not.
> John Rodgers
Cindi Anderson on sat 23 aug 03
Just a note about USPS... we saw them get significantly worse after 9/11
(packages taking a long time, getting lost). I don't know if it has
improved since then.
Cindi
Chris Schafale on sat 23 aug 03
Speaking of packing, does anyone have a lead on
where I could get sheet styrofoam (1" thick), preferably
free? A friend gave me a bunch of this stuff several
years ago -- it had been used by the moving company
that shipped furniture across the country for her. It has
been wonderful for shipping pots -- I line the boxes with
it and then don't have to double box -- but now it's all
gone at last. I'm sure people out there are getting
things shipped, just like my friend did, and throwing the
stuff away, but I have no way to locate them. What
kind of business might receive and discard this kind of
packing material? I don't really want to go buy this
stuff and add to the world's waste stream, but if I could
re-use it one more time before it gets thrown in the
landfill, that would be OK with me....
Chris
On 22 Aug 2003 at 18:47, Dave Finkelnburg wrote:
Dear Spencer,
The USPS requirement you cite, "....that all
packages would now have to
be able to withstand a
> four foot vertical drop...." is news to me...but it is similar to what
UPS requires in the US...and is a good criterion for
packaging by. If you
double box, with 3-inches more or less all around
between the inner and
outer boxes, and use packaging material appropriate
for the weight of the
item being packaged, you generally comply with the 4-
foot drop criterion.
In my observation, here in the US the Postal Service
appears to me to
take better care with fragile packages than UPS.
Regards,
Dave Finkelnburg, enjoying thunderstorms in
Idaho
----- Original Message -----
From: "Spencer Wilson"
> Recently we took a package with a large piece of pottery to
> be shipped to the post office. When we got to the counter we informed
> them that it was a piece of pottery we were shipping. The attendant then
> informed us which was now part of their shipping system. We
> went ahead and shipped the pot and it did arrive safely. That the postal
> service is now informing us of this is worrying. Has anyone else heard
> of this?
____________________________________________
__________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your
subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
(south of Raleigh)
candle@intrex.net
http://www.lightonecandle.com
Lee Love on sat 23 aug 03
This was a requirement for UPS too, when I worked there: a drop from
shoulder height.
People aren't likely to drop your package this way, but when the are
moved on rollers, conveyer belts and slides, they are exposed to this level
of stress.
Lee in Mashiko
Lee Love on sun 24 aug 03
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cindi Anderson"
> Just a note about USPS... we saw them get significantly worse after 9/11
> (packages taking a long time, getting lost). I don't know if it has
> improved since then.
When I ordered my Fluke pyrometer from Minnesota Clay, it was shipped
from Seattle clay. When I asked it be shipped USPS, they refused and
insisted on UPS. They said that the USPS was loosing too many shipments
for them. My pyrometer arrived from Seattle to Mashiko in 3 days!
Lee In Mashiko
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