I swear, man, he's here and he vanishes, just *snap* like that.

I got an email saying that UPS is bringing me goodies today. Cool, I'm looking forward to it. I check the porch periodically throughout the day... no joy. But it's the holidays, and these fellas are busy. No worries.

Then I thought, "Hey, y'know what? I've got a ten-buck Chick-fil-A card on the counter... I'm gonna give it to the UPS driver when he shows up. I'll hear the truck, and have time to get to the porch."

So 6:15 rolls around and I'm thinking "it's pretty late now, compared to usual delivery time." The dog wants out, so I head off to put her outside for a bit, checking the porch on the way.

While Miss Wondermutt is out, I figure I'll check tracking on UPS' web site. Web site tells me the package has been delivered. Wait... what??

Clock says 6:18. In the span of these three minutes, I haven't ventured more than 20 feet from the front door. I've even been outside (taking the dog out) for a moment -- even looked out front -- and I didn't see or hear the truck. But sure enough, there's a box on the porch... and a CFA card still sitting here waiting.

He's a ninja, man. I swear it.

My UPS guy must be in the same guild. He is stealthy and just like Santa. I am in the same boat. Trying to give him a gift for the holidays and haven't been able to catch him yet.

We have been having UPS deliveries from someone in a minivan. It may not have been your usual delivery driver that was the ninja.

I'm worried about your dog. My UPS driver stands back from the door about 15 feet and takes a picture of Clark enthusiastically announcing his arrival before dropping the package and sprinting away. I thought it was a union thing (the dog not UPS).

^^^
No worries on Miss Wondermutt, but I appreciate your thinking of her... and our UPS driver.

Blunderbutt -- I mean, um, Wondermutt -- hangs out in the fenced back yard when she goes out.

She might approach him if he had a pork chop in his hand... otherwise, she's just lazy.

I love it when they claim to have delivered to my office stating it is closed. When I catch them we have a polite Clint Eastwood type conversation. BTW authentic UPS workers wear UPS socks.

My "regular" driver is The Man. I'd buy/make him lunch if he'd hold still long enough. He will take a half-minute and chat some days, but beyond that he's full-go.

Now, a substitute we had one day was a bit of a loudmouth, practically announcing to the world that my rifle was fixed and back home. Yeah, I'm serious about that. He hopped off the truck with a long white box in-hand and shouted, "who wants a new rifle today?!"

All I could say was, "thank you for bringing it, and -- oh, by the way -- shut the heck up, man. I don't need all my neighbors knowing what you're bringing me."

My regular guy is great. And today's sub was a ninja.

It went over real big when the sub UPS guy announced got your bullets right here. Those are some great Remington sluggers!! Real funny. I am the boss but still....

It takes a while for the scan to register and be updated on the site. He could have delivered it anywhere up to 2 hours beforehand.

Understood. I'm looking at it the other way, though -- the web site update was just about instant (relatively).

I checked the porch and the web site at 6:15 and there was nothing there. At 6:18, the site told me the package had been delivered and -- sure enough! -- it had.

Just before Christmas, A U-Haul truck came full throttle into my driveway and u-turned in front of my townhouse. The rear door was open with two dudes in UPS uniforms inside, along with a big pile of boxes. The two dudes deployed instantly and put packages on several porches and then disappeared.
Elapsed time on scene: less than 30 seconds.
If I had not been outside, I would not have seen it.

I've seen the local FedEx guys (and gals) running U-Haul trucks.

I've wondered -- with the increase in shipment quantities over the last months, perhaps there's a shortage of trucks? Maybe it's cheaper to rent from U-Haul than to buy additional trucks? What's the lead time on a standard delivery truck?

It's a creative way to solve the problem -- assuming I understand the problem correctly.

They been doing this for sometime. I have several friends that drive for UPS. They have had to rent Uhauls and the like when their trucks break down or get stuck. As you might guess the big brown trucks are not extremely well maintained. FedEx does the same. A greater volume of packages contributes as well.

I did see something hilarious today. I was behind a white van with flashers that I later determined to be a USPS vehicle by the lettering on the side. He pulled half off the busy highway so I was stuck behind him with oncoming traffic and walked back to the mailbox to put in the mail. That was about one pm. I suspect he is still working the route. My dictation got lost in the mail today as well. Maybe 2020 will be different.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
I've seen the local FedEx guys (and gals) running U-Haul trucks.

I've wondered -- with the increase in shipment quantities over the last months, perhaps there's a shortage of trucks? Maybe it's cheaper to rent from U-Haul than to buy additional trucks? What's the lead time on a standard delivery truck?

It's a creative way to solve the problem -- assuming I understand the problem correctly.

Trucks can take months to prep for delivery to a terminal. Some vendors are as far away as the east coast or midwest and will have to drive the vehicle overland to deliver it to the terminal.

Coupled with the fact that routes are pretty set during the rest of the year means that renting trucks is the best temporary method for filling seasonal increases in route numbers.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I did see something hilarious today. I was behind a white van with flashers that I later determined to be a USPS vehicle by the lettering on the side. He pulled half off the busy highway so I was stuck behind him with oncoming traffic and walked back to the mailbox to put in the mail. That was about one pm. I suspect he is still working the route.

This is the slowest time for USPS, so I'm not sure why you think he'd still be delivering this late at night. Latest I ever worked was 10:30pm but I know the carriers in the larger city near mine can work until after midnight during the holiday season.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Trucks can take months to prep for delivery to a terminal.

True. I've got a friend who works for Volvo trucks. They squirt out something like a hundred trucks a day when times are good. It's fascinating. On the other end of it, though, is the field full of trucks waiting for their customization (for fleets).