Suppose you had to ship something. What would you choose?

Sure I could make this a poll but posting from iPhone to I take the easy path. Al also there is DHL, TNT, and a dozen or so if smaller carriers I never heard about.

If shipping a 15 ounce package or less, then USPS First Class (generally gets to either coast from my location in the middle of the country in 2 days).

5 pounds and less than 12"x12"x12" then USPS Priority Mail (2 days to either coast).

Anything bigger and it's a toss up between UPS Ground and FedEx Ground/Home Deliver (though UPS is usually cheapest for me, but FedEx is faster by a day or two).

I'm not sending anything by USPS now, given the colossal delays we've encountered recently. I did send something FedEx the other day and it seems to have arrived a day early, although they did screw up for me a few months ago.

I’ve been doing a lot of lightweight shipping lately. All by USPS. I’ve had no problems.

USPS unless it is heavy like a computer, then UPS because I have a UPS Store nearby.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

I've had the most success with UPS.
USPS has had substantial delays, and FedEx refused to ship a package because it contained a lithium battery. UPS knew what sticker to apply to the package, but the FedEx guy looked like I had just asked him to ship a rabid elephant.

A friend just received a Xmas card mailed Dec 24th!

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S. Pupp
I've had the most success with UPS.
USPS has had substantial delays, and FedEx refused to ship a package because it contained a lithium battery. UPS knew what sticker to apply to the package, but the FedEx guy looked like I had just asked him to ship a rabid elephant.

The Post Office didnt blink an eye when I asked where to put a Lithium label ,...nada...didn’t need one. Big surprise.

USPS unless your shipping old cars full of dead body parts.
Then it's a toss between Fed and UPS. I've had good luck/bad luck with both. Shrink wrap the car. Stinky.

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!#$@@$#!

Anything BUT USPS. They refuse to deliver anything to my house that doesn't fit in the mailbox because they don't want to walk up my less than perfect stairs and are too stupid/lazy to drive around and drop them off by my garage.

No other delivery service has problems making deliveries to my house and that includes at least half a dozen services. I am all for pulling the plug on the USPS in favor of private companies that can actually do the job they are paid to do.

Space,

UPS. Fedex Express and Fedex Ground (treat them as different entities since different vehicles handle the pickups and deliveries). Fedex Home Delivery. Lastly, _anything_ related to the USPS including deliveries done by UPS and Fedex where they give an item to the USPS for the last portion of delivery. The reason? The USPS had way too many issues prior to the pandemic. Now? Even worse.

Robert

USPS is an absolute junk show in my area. Things arrive a week late much of the time. Some days there's just no deliveries at all, reportedly due to snow. Snow was not an issue more than one or two days a year until the last three years or so.

If you have to actually go to the PO to mail something? Fugheddaboutit. The last time I was there, the line was about 45 minutes...indoors.

Nobody can afford to live in our area on USPS wages, so they are super short staffed.

UPS is my preferred choice.

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

I pretty much ship everything USPS Priority Mail these days. Beyond my eBay and forum sales (visit! your fellow forumites want to sell you or give you stuff!), most of my shipping/mailing is between where I currently live (outside of Little Rock in AR) and near New Orleans in LA.

Until that fuc[redacted to keep this on the non-political side]mp made certain changes to the USPS, I had regular-stamp making it there in a day. Now it's usually about 2 or 3 days, which is the same with Priority Mail.

As far as cost & shipping, it's hard to beat the USPS for Priority Mail rates IMO. Flat rate stuff is great as well, esp when you factor in the free supplies. For heavyweight items, it's almost a given to go with USPS. Again, though, I can only speak from experience, and my experience using it has been good to great.

[ADDED] Reading a few posts that I missed, I guess I'm in a lucky area. I've got a great Post Office about 10 minutes from me; staff is friendly and helpful. I have a PO Box there. Our local mail delivery has improved greatly in the last half decade (our old mail lady from when I first moved here used to cram stuff in the mailbox like she was loading a cannon). Shipped USPS packages (that are too big for my curbside mailbox) are always at my doorstep, and usually placed behind a plant or out-of-sight in some way.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2021 09:30AM by Zoidberg.

I ordered a pocket knife from a shop in Germany. It took the USPS over two months to get it to me.

Who do you want to be mad at?

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There was a thread on this a few days ago that might have more information for you. You can probably find it by searching "USPS."

I'm agnostic between UPS and FedEx for shipping.

But when I receive things that need to be signed for I really like FedEx because I can divert things to local Walgreens for free.

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Wags
I ordered a pocket knife from a shop in Germany. It took the USPS over two months to get it to me.

That may be a delay at the Deutsche Post, customs, etc. Not necessarily a USPS delay.

As noted above, USPS first class up to a pound (cheapest, now tracked too).

For things that fit, Priority Mail standard packages. (Also insured).

For larger boxes, FedEx ground is cheapest.

I seem to get things quickly via UPS, however nobody seems to use UPS these days except my pharmacy.

We are still having TERRIBLE problems with usps and I am still waiting for a couple of packages. Christmas cards still trickling in. I wouldn't use usps if you paid me.

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[www.wikihow.com]

First, the USPS has a long, long record of never losing a package, either sent to me or sent by me.

That's huge.

Second, they've almost always had an option that was either cheaper than the other guys, or faster but only slightly more expensive.

It would do one well to just call all three and get a quote.

Over the last few months, both FedEx and UPS have managed to screw up deliveries, though it's not been a loss for me, just a huge inconvenience.

Today I picked up a could of hard drives and a Belkin charging stand from my POB, from both FedEx and UPS, and they got this right.

I realize that getting things right this time doesn't mitigate their past poor performance, but I do give them credit for doing the right thing despite past experience.

My my dollar(s) are on and with the USPS.

But one has to do what works best for them.

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I am that Masked Man.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

RAM,

POB means Post Office Box, correct? If so, then how are UPS and Fedex delivering to it? Neither Fedex nor UPS deliver to USPS PO Boxes. Yes, if the sender used UPS Mail Innovations or Fedex Smartpost but no if they used regular UPS or Fedex. Do you have a box at a mailbox store like The UPS Store or another PO Box provider? In that case, UPS and Fedex can deliver to the box. UPS and Fedex can delivery to my apartment but that isn't the same as delivering to a PO Box.

Robert

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Robert M
RAM,

POB means Post Office Box, correct? If so, then how are UPS and Fedex delivering to it? Neither Fedex nor UPS deliver to USPS PO Boxes. Yes, if the sender used UPS Mail Innovations or Fedex Smartpost but no if they used regular UPS or Fedex. Do you have a box at a mailbox store like The UPS Store or another PO Box provider? In that case, UPS and Fedex can deliver to the box. UPS and Fedex can delivery to my apartment but that isn't the same as delivering to a PO Box.

Robert

I get things delivered via UPS and FedEx to my PO Box every week; sometimes several times a week. I did this by signing a signature allowance at my local post office, and then using the alternate address for the post office itself; e.g., instead of PO Box 1701 Anytown USA 123456, I use the address 1440 Main Street Unit 1701 Anytown USA 123456.

Been using it for years at this point. I just picked up two FedEx letters from my PO Box today, in fact.

[ADDED] Also very handy when I'm going to get something and they say "NO PO BOXES" but don't offer (or I don't want to pay extra for) UPS or FedEx; I'll just use my alternate PO Box address. Saves a lot of hassle.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2021 04:20PM by Zoidberg.

Zoid,

You aren't using the actual PO box address. You're using the Post Office's address and the USPS branch has been kind enough to deliver the packages to you. That isn't common and it is definitely not the same thing as using a PO box as the shipping address. If you entered the PO box address as the shipping address, UPS and Fedex would not deliver packages to it.

Robert

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Robert M
Zoid,

You aren't using the actual PO box address. You're using the Post Office's address and the USPS branch has been kind enough to deliver the packages to you. That isn't common and it is definitely not the same thing as using a PO box as the shipping address. If you entered the PO box address as the shipping address, UPS and Fedex would not deliver packages to it.

Robert

Indeed; maybe I mis-explained it. Still and all, my PO Box can serve as a courier shipping address, per se. Just wanted to clarify that.

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