You can look at the tracking info so I will skip the play by play. How does it benefit the retailer? The cost is somewhat lower then usps, maybe. Your goods arrive to your customer timely, not by a long shot. Your customer is happy with the results, hell no. Your customer will buy from you again? when your the only store that has what they need, maybe. or more likely when hell freezes over.
How does it benefit fedx? They send it by the least used routes, thus allowing more valuable packages to travel sooner. They drive it instead of fly it, maybe. They make their customers happy? I don’t think so. They don’t have to listen to any shit because they dump it in the post offices lap to deliver..big win for fedx.
How does the USPS benefit? I would say labor costs but I don’t believe that’s true. They need every dime they can get to just keep running. Off topic but my mailman has been coming here for about 4 years now and he does not have any uniforms.
How does it benefit the customer? The contention is paying less or no shipping for your products. I’m quit sure that the money men of these companies have built in shipping costs to the retail by now. Free shipping is no more then bait and click. So in the end I see no benefit to the customer what so ever...I’m sure I missed a bunch of stuff,feel free to add or disagree.

I have no idea how it benefits anyone, aside from being slightly cheaper. It's the spawn of the devil and the delivery times are absolutely horrible.

I did it once when it first came out. Fedex got it to my local post office in 3 days. It sat at the local post office for 12 days (so long that I contacted the retailer, they sent another order 3 day fedex and that got to my house several days before the original one did). Nobody at the local post office could even answer if it was there and therefore I couldn't just drive to the PO and pick it up. It sucks.

If you notice on the tracking it skipped Tennessee on the way south...another fun part it went north to Wisconsin then back down to Chicago

I am not sure of the costs, since I rarely ship FedUp,

they postively, absolutely, suk in this area,


I do however receive stuff shipped by them, including some 'smartpost' stuff the wife orders,


Fedex and UPS have partnerships with USPS,

I think Fedex helps USPS ship/transport Priority and Express mail,

UPS partners in a way similar to 'Smartpost' for some retailers/distributors,


must be some cost benefits to all the partnerships for each party or they would not do it,



I ship mostly (99.5%)USPS thru XPS Shipper, which is a company for Business Accounts that was recommended, and set up by (for me) USPS,

no drama, no worries, and a faster claim time for damaged goods (shipping related) than standard USPS at the post office

USPS just delivered it. I didn’t mention my mailman is my son in laws first cousin...so I don’t gripe at him...

I think in the end, all of these cheap 'smart ship' options are simply ways to optimize shipping as a whole by using excess space on trucks and planes.

So your stuff may get right on a truck and speed away, or it may sit since other people paid for service and filled up the truck / plane and you stuff has to wait until there is excess space.

Good, fast, cheap. Pick 2.

I think of it as an anticipation-builder.

A SmartPost package showed upon my porch on Saturday. The box looked like it was tossed out of a low flying aircraft. I was expecting a package so I brought it in and opened it. A bunch of weird crap was inside that I did not want or order. Check the label and surprise! It was for an address a half mile away. I returned the weird crap to its rightful owner with explanation about why I opened his package.
There was nothing smart about this post.

Cheaper. I suspect it benefits lots of shippers who are too small to get really good deals from UPS. Which in turn saves the buyer a few bucks.

And while it isn't two days, it is still a five to seven day delivery service, which not so long ago would have been great.

Cost savings for FedEx (UPS also does this) a little extra revenue for the USPS. Shippers get a little discount.

quote:

Originally posted by BadDogPSD:
Cost savings for FedEx (UPS also does this) a little extra revenue for the USPS. Shippers get a little discount.

Cost savings for the shipper/customer

Mail carriers haven't worn uniforms for years.

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
Mail carriers haven't worn uniforms for years.

The USPS mail carriers here in South Florida all wear uniforms. Otherwise, how would they not get shot by some paranoid home owner when the mail carrier walks through their gated front yard?

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
Mail carriers haven't worn uniforms for years.

The USPS mail carriers here in South Florida all wear uniforms. Otherwise, how would they not get shot by some paranoid home owner when the mail carrier walks through their gated front yard?

I haven't seen a uniform in my area in 25 years or so.

It benefits FedEx, which will not have to make a special stop at your place. USPS stops there every day anyhow.

But yes, I too was annoyed the first time Midway did this, but I got over it after remember I checked cheapest delivery.

I never ship that way but receive some from eBayers.
My least favorite method. Must be a lot cheaper but seems to incorporate the worst of both worlds. Slow, poor tracking, highly irregular routing and could be delivered by anyone although it's usually USPS.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
Mail carriers haven't worn uniforms for years.

The USPS mail carriers here in South Florida all wear uniforms. Otherwise, how would they not get shot by some paranoid home owner when the mail carrier walks through their gated front yard?

Must vary by Post Office. Urban vs rural.
Here at the largest PO in the county they only wear uniforms and drive Official USPS vehicles. All the others at the smaller PO drive personal vehicles and wear whatever they like.

Still see a uniformed postal carrier in the streets of a nearby small town (called a village here.)

Here's tracking for a package I ordered from RTIC in Texas. Note that the Fedex location listed as "Independence, KY" is roughly 5 miles straight line and 6.6 miles via road from my house and is 9.2 miles via road from the Erlanger post office. Someone thought it was a good idea to send it more than 100 miles away to Indy before returning it to Erlanger.

Fed EX ,USPS ,UPS all lack Customer Service they have us buy the Short Hairs , Unless somebody else Steps up and Starts A Parcel Delivery service we are at their Mercy.
I had A Package Delivering today According to FED EX Tracking , So I made Arrangements for it to be signed for but now it is Tomorrow WTF All they can say is I can pick it up at the Fed Ex location WTF