5 ms·

There's a school of thought that putting highly visible commercially available accelerometers (more accurately they are shock sensors) on the outside of the sh

by frossie 16y ago

There's a school of thought that putting highly visible commercially available accelerometers (more accurately they are shock sensors) on the outside of the shipment will cause it to be treated more gently. We subscribed to this school of thought - until our valuable scientific instrument arrived (a) shaken not stirred and (b) with all the external sensors having mysteriously "fallen off". So, if you are going to do this, put sensors both on the inside and the outside of your shipment.

mcritz 16y ago
I bet you could just print out a florescent green sticker that reads “THIS PACKAGE CONTAINS A SHOCK SENSOR” in Helvetica Bold and get the same benefit.
maximilianburke 16y ago
An acquaintance of mine years ago worked for Purolator Courier up in Canada and he said that if you wanted your package treated well you would be best off marking it "CONTAINS LIQUIDS". The last thing the handlers want to do is have to mop up after throwing your shipment.
kgo 16y ago
But what does that actually prove? I can put an already broken laptop in a box, ship it, and blame it on UPS. How is a shock sensor any different? Even if it's on the outside of the box, the pickup guy isn't exactly trained to confirm it's in good shape, he's not signing anything to certify that the sensor is intact and operating properly. And as far as I know, none of the major carriers actually declare anything like "packages will not be subjected to more than X G-forces during transit." So even if the sensors did trip, that only indicates that they tripped. It doesn't prove the shipping company did anything 'wrong'. And seeing as the guy behind the counter or on the phone isn't an expert in accelerometers, any explanation is going to be over their head. And once again, how do you establish you didn't mess with the accelerometers ahead of time? I can actually understand the human-nature behind trashing something marked fragile, or something with shock sensors stuck all over the exterior. Not that it's justifiable. Basically, you're saying that this person treats all the normal packages like shit and just throws them around for no reason. That they're not even trying to be good at their job by default. Not to mention that you're asking for special treatment without providing additional compensation. Which explains the best way to keep your package safe. Insure it. You probably don't even need to insure it for the full value. Just spend the 70 cents to get $200 dollars coverage. Everyone handling it knows there will be an internal follow up if the company has to pay out on the claim, because it actually costs them something.
- gregpilling 16y ago
  Insurance is a ripoff if you are an ecommerce company. In my last company we shipped $5,000 a day in product and insured all of it for the first couple of years. One day I got a postcard that was trying to get me to insure with an outside company when I shipped UPS. I got wondering how they could do that, did some math on what we were spending and then asked my warehouse manager how much we had lost (in actual costs to us) in the last two years and was stunned at the answer - $600 total out of several thousand shipments. At that point we began self-insuring.
  - kgo 16y ago
    This is a little late... But yeah in that case I agree 100%. Different case if you're shipping some scientific equipment worth 1500 dollars now and then. And if that equipment is 50,000 bucks, maybe you start looking at a private courier. I have a friend who used to work as a registrar for a museum, shipping stuff that was worth millions, or even arguably priceless. She'd ride on the planes and ride in the backs of the trucks that transported this stuff. She'd have to document every scratch, every discoloration, etc, and sign off on it, before shipping began so they could compare at the end of the trip. But I was suggesting a hedge. Come up with your own numbers, but if item is worth greater than 2000, insure for 200, costing 70 cents for UPS. That way it gets UPS internal stickers saying it's insured, probably beeps or something every time someone scans it, and provokes an entirely different attitude than marking it "FRAGILE", according to antecdotal evidence.
    - gregpilling 16y ago
      As far as 'FRAGILE' markings making a difference I can assure you, since I ship UPS every day, that they treat every box equally (poorly). There is no preferential treatment for any package, and the heavier the packages are the worse they travel. I watched my driver knock over a flat-screen TV three times one day during a pickup. He had it standing on edge and it wouldn't stay upright, but after three tries at knocking it over he put it flat under a shelf.
- iwr 16y ago
hapless 16y ago
I've seen prominently labeled tilt sensors in use on freight shipments of computer equipment. They're not electronic. Tiny (<1mm) beads and adhesive are ensconced in an oddly-shaped plastic bubble. If the freight pallet is tilted more than a few degrees, the beads move and get stuck to one of the adhesive patches. Simple, but effective: I never had to call the company about damage.

by frossie 16y ago

mcritz 16y ago

I bet you could just print out a florescent green sticker that reads “THIS PACKAGE CONTAINS A SHOCK SENSOR” in Helvetica Bold and get the same benefit.

maximilianburke 16y ago

An acquaintance of mine years ago worked for Purolator Courier up in Canada and he said that if you wanted your package treated well you would be best off marking it "CONTAINS LIQUIDS". The last thing the handlers want to do is have to mop up after throwing your shipment.

kgo 16y ago

But what does that actually prove? I can put an already broken laptop in a box, ship it, and blame it on UPS. How is a shock sensor any different? Even if it's on the outside of the box, the pickup guy isn't exactly trained to confirm it's in good shape, he's not signing anything to certify that the sensor is intact and operating properly. And as far as I know, none of the major carriers actually declare anything like "packages will not be subjected to more than X G-forces during transit." So even if the sensors did trip, that only indicates that they tripped. It doesn't prove the shipping company did anything 'wrong'. And seeing as the guy behind the counter or on the phone isn't an expert in accelerometers, any explanation is going to be over their head. And once again, how do you establish you didn't mess with the accelerometers ahead of time? I can actually understand the human-nature behind trashing something marked fragile, or something with shock sensors stuck all over the exterior. Not that it's justifiable. Basically, you're saying that this person treats all the normal packages like shit and just throws them around for no reason. That they're not even trying to be good at their job by default. Not to mention that you're asking for special treatment without providing additional compensation. Which explains the best way to keep your package safe. Insure it. You probably don't even need to insure it for the full value. Just spend the 70 cents to get $200 dollars coverage. Everyone handling it knows there will be an internal follow up if the company has to pay out on the claim, because it actually costs them something.

gregpilling 16y ago
Insurance is a ripoff if you are an ecommerce company. In my last company we shipped $5,000 a day in product and insured all of it for the first couple of years. One day I got a postcard that was trying to get me to insure with an outside company when I shipped UPS. I got wondering how they could do that, did some math on what we were spending and then asked my warehouse manager how much we had lost (in actual costs to us) in the last two years and was stunned at the answer - $600 total out of several thousand shipments. At that point we began self-insuring.
- kgo 16y ago
  This is a little late... But yeah in that case I agree 100%. Different case if you're shipping some scientific equipment worth 1500 dollars now and then. And if that equipment is 50,000 bucks, maybe you start looking at a private courier. I have a friend who used to work as a registrar for a museum, shipping stuff that was worth millions, or even arguably priceless. She'd ride on the planes and ride in the backs of the trucks that transported this stuff. She'd have to document every scratch, every discoloration, etc, and sign off on it, before shipping began so they could compare at the end of the trip. But I was suggesting a hedge. Come up with your own numbers, but if item is worth greater than 2000, insure for 200, costing 70 cents for UPS. That way it gets UPS internal stickers saying it's insured, probably beeps or something every time someone scans it, and provokes an entirely different attitude than marking it "FRAGILE", according to antecdotal evidence.
  - gregpilling 16y ago
    As far as 'FRAGILE' markings making a difference I can assure you, since I ship UPS every day, that they treat every box equally (poorly). There is no preferential treatment for any package, and the heavier the packages are the worse they travel. I watched my driver knock over a flat-screen TV three times one day during a pickup. He had it standing on edge and it wouldn't stay upright, but after three tries at knocking it over he put it flat under a shelf.
iwr 16y ago

hapless 16y ago

I've seen prominently labeled tilt sensors in use on freight shipments of computer equipment. They're not electronic. Tiny (<1mm) beads and adhesive are ensconced in an oddly-shaped plastic bubble. If the freight pallet is tilted more than a few degrees, the beads move and get stuck to one of the adhesive patches. Simple, but effective: I never had to call the company about damage.