Fedex....never disappoints

[maxwelhse]

Watching the truck "live" though... makes me wonder who comes up with their routes. Go north, then go back south. Then go back north, and west. Then go east and back south, then north again. There's no rhyme or reason to it at all that I can see.

I actually had to take a math class that dealt with exactly how they establish those routes. I'll try not to make this too boring if you REALLY want to know...

The idea behind how it works is that every point on a line is a correct answer for the equation of that line and every point on that line has its closest distance between themselves ON that line.

So.. To get from: A-B-C-D-E-F-etc, you always go along the "line of the alphabet" to get the shortest distance, right? Well, that's true in 2 dimensions (X and Y, like we all learned in primary school). What happens when another line, with all of its own correct answers, intersects the original line in a different axis (Z). Now you have a set of values that satisfies the equations of both of those lines, at their intersection, to yield only one correct answer for that set. So you've solved 3 variables with 1 uniquely correct answer.

Well... What happens if there are more than 3 axis? Like, say, as many as the number of packages on a delivery truck? All of those packages have to be delivered, so eventually all of those lines have to intersect, but there are billions or trillions of correct solutions for how to do it. Which one is the MOST correct of all of the correct answers?

Airlines and delivery companies spend huge amounts of money trying to solve that equation every single day. Things that aren't at all obvious to us, like analyzing every intersection in America to determine at exactly X time of day there's a Y% of a driver having an accident, or waiting at a red light, or whatever else you can imagine, all factor into their route decisions. It's absolutely mind boggling the level of planning that goes into those routes, as nonsensical as they may seem to us as observers, to account for every second and every gram of gas and every possible avoidance of an accident.

Or your driver was just drunker than hell that day?

 

[AngryRooster]

I actually had to take a math class that dealt with exactly how they establish those routes. I'll try not to make this too boring if you REALLY want to know...

The idea behind how it works is that every point on a line is a correct answer for the equation of that line and every point on that line has its closest distance between themselves ON that line.

So.. To get from: A-B-C-D-E-F-etc, you always go along the "line of the alphabet" to get the shortest distance, right? Well, that's true in 2 dimensions (X and Y, like we all learned in primary school). What happens when another line, with all of its own correct answers, intersects the original line in a different axis (Z). Now you have a set of values that satisfies the equations of both of those lines, at their intersection, to yield only one correct answer for that set. So you've solved 3 variables with 1 uniquely correct answer.

Well... What happens if there are more than 3 axis? Like, say, as many as the number of packages on a delivery truck? All of those packages have to be delivered, so eventually all of those lines have to intersect, but there are billions or trillions of correct solutions for how to do it. Which one is the MOST correct of all of the correct answers?

Airlines and delivery companies spend huge amounts of money trying to solve that equation every single day. Things that aren't at all obvious to us, like analyzing every intersection in America to determine at exactly X time of day there's a Y% of a driver having an accident, or waiting at a red light, or whatever else you can imagine, all factor into their route decisions. It's absolutely mind boggling the level of planning that goes into those routes, as nonsensical as they may seem to us as observers, to account for every second and every gram of gas and every possible avoidance of an accident.

Or your driver was just drunker than hell that day?

I think I saw a show on that before, don't remember the details but it was hard to follow. I think Mythbusters even did a show of efficiency of routes and if forcing drivers to ONLY make right hand turns had an effect. Don't remember the results of that one either.

 

[maxwelhse]

I think I saw a show on that before, don't remember the details but it was hard to follow. I think Mythbusters even did a show of efficiency of routes and if forcing drivers to ONLY make right hand turns had an effect. Don't remember the results of that one either.

I remember that Mythbusters episode! I think the right handers messed them up, but their course was wonky too?

Anyhow, it's called linear programming if you REALLY want to get lost in a horrible, terrible, dark corner of Google. I traded off a cakewalk elective (where people literally got to play with Legos) for that monster of a class so I could graduate a semester earlier... Worth it, but just barely.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Actually I talked to the driver when he (finally) got here and asked him about his route. I told him that he was literally 2 blocks from my house 3 separate times over the course of his day. Each time I'd see that, I'd think, "Okay, he's GOT to be coming here now." Wrong! He'd turn around and go miles away (many times back to the same area he had just come from) again.

He was just as frustrated by it as I was. He said, "Yes, it's ridiculous but they think they know our routes better than we do."

They could solve this problem easily - use a postal sorter. You don't see USPS delivering mail to one mailbox on a street, then driving across town to deliver a letter to a mailbox on a different street, then go to another address on a different street, etc.. Why? Because the mail is sorted in zip code/address order and trucks are loaded accordingly! Say what you want about USPS, but nobody is more efficient at delivering HUGE amounts of packages and letters than they are. UPS and FedEx should take notes. I should have printed out the UPS tracking map and drawn lines to show where he had been. It would have looked like some piece of abstract art.

Honestly, if the packages on his truck were loaded in a properly sorted manner, he could probably have completed his entire route in 4 hours or less, instead of 8 or 10. They'd likely save millions of dollars in fuel alone just by sorting the packages and loading the trucks correctly.

 

[maxwelhse]

Actually I talked to the driver when he (finally) got here and asked him about his route. I told him that he was literally 2 blocks from my house 3 separate times over the course of his day. Each time I'd see that, I'd think, "Okay, he's GOT to be coming here now." Wrong! He'd turn around and go miles away (many times back to the same area he had just come from) again.

He was just as frustrated by it as I was. He said, "Yes, it's ridiculous but they think they know our routes better than we do."

They could solve this problem easily - use a postal sorter. You don't see USPS delivering mail to one mailbox on a street, then driving across town to deliver a letter to a mailbox on a different street, then go to another address on a different street, etc.. Why? Because the mail is sorted in zip code/address order and trucks are loaded accordingly! Say what you want about USPS, but nobody is more efficient at delivering HUGE amounts of packages and letters than they are. UPS and FedEx should take notes. I should have printed out the UPS tracking map and drawn lines to show where he had been. It would have looked like some piece of abstract art.

Honestly, if the packages on his truck were loaded in a properly sorted manner, he could probably have completed his entire route in 4 hours or less, instead of 8 or 10. They'd likely save millions of dollars in fuel alone just by sorting the packages and loading the trucks correctly.

USPS drives the same exact routes every single day as every address (nearly) has a post box. Parcel carriers don't ever drive the exact same route twice.

As far as the time on that particular day, like I said, who knows what else played into their decisions. Maybe they get a massive insurance discount to avoid X and Y street at 2:51 every day?

 

[mmpsteve]

USPS drives the same exact routes every single day as every address (nearly) has a post box. Parcel carriers don't ever drive the exact same route twice.

As far as the time on that particular day, like I said, who knows what else played into their decisions. Maybe they get a massive insurance discount to avoid X and Y street at 2:51 every day?

UPS and Fedex also have time restraints with certain packages, so if your package is 'deliver by 10:00am', but your neighbors is general delivery, UPS delivers all the 'by 10am' first, and your neighbor waits till later, even if he's right next door to you, with your 'by 10am' package.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

USPS drives the same exact routes every single day as every address (nearly) has a post box. Parcel carriers don't ever drive the exact same route twice.

As far as the time on that particular day, like I said, who knows what else played into their decisions. Maybe they get a massive insurance discount to avoid X and Y street at 2:51 every day?

UPS and Fedex also have time restraints with certain packages, so if your package is 'deliver by 10:00am', but your neighbors is general delivery, UPS delivers all the 'by 10am' first, and your neighbor waits till later, even if he's right next door to you, with your 'by 10am' package.

Mine was scheduled between 2 and 6 p.m., so I get the time constraints, but postal sorting would help. Even the driver said it made no sense and I have to assume he's way more familiar with their methods (or lack thereof) than I am. All it would require is an additional field in the barcode to include the "time sensitive" data on the label and the sorter would handle it.

I used to work for BMG Music (the music club) and next to the post office, we shipped and mailed more than any other entity at the time in the U.S. (mid 90's to 2009). They had it down to a science and it was pretty amazing to see the sorting equipment in the mail/fulfillment warehouse at work. I can all but guarantee that Amazon has something similar in place in their fulfillment centers, but I don't know about UPS or FedEx. I just know that what I saw yesterday was terribly inefficient.

 

[mrproc1]

My beef is with the USPS. I bought “some finished goods” from a fellow INGO’er last month, he lives in Valparaiso, I live on the SW side of Indy. It took 2 days to get to the regional post office, then the human error factor came in*** they sent it to Speedway (which doesn’t service my address) it took 11 days for the package to 9.9 miles back to the regional package sort facility. Then took another 2 days to get my service post office, then on to my door step.
I called once I noticed their web site said it has been forwarded to another address (That raised so questions, not knowing where my goods where being sent). After spending 1hr 45 mins on hold trying to talk to a human, I had to open a case, and they had to email the sort facility mangers to find my package.
I was also given 2 local case management phone numbers and was told to call the asap, which I did, I’m still waiting to hear back from those calls.
I eventually got my goods 15 days later after he took the package to the post office in Valparaiso.

I understand things happen, but they fact they sent the package to wrong facility and took 11 days to get to the correct post office still has me in aww... I work for FEDEX, and if we misdeliver something to the wrong address, not only is top priority to that freight picked back up and to the correct location, it’s a matter of keeping customers happy and coming back to use our services.

And, with all that, I was supposed to have package delivered yesterday.........Still waiting on it, it’s coming from Texas, so no telling where is it.

 

[Rdmeed]

Fed ex and usps are terrible here they even just toss stuff in the yard the ups driver has always been good bringing stuff right to the door

 

[Expat]

The only problem I have with my USPS driver is why bring my package up to the door but leave my other mail out in the box?

 

[Jeepfanatic]

Actually I talked to the driver when he (finally) got here and asked him about his route. I told him that he was literally 2 blocks from my house 3 separate times over the course of his day. Each time I'd see that, I'd think, "Okay, he's GOT to be coming here now." Wrong! He'd turn around and go miles away (many times back to the same area he had just come from) again.

He was just as frustrated by it as I was. He said, "Yes, it's ridiculous but they think they know our routes better than we do."

They could solve this problem easily - use a postal sorter. You don't see USPS delivering mail to one mailbox on a street, then driving across town to deliver a letter to a mailbox on a different street, then go to another address on a different street, etc.. Why? Because the mail is sorted in zip code/address order and trucks are loaded accordingly! Say what you want about USPS, but nobody is more efficient at delivering HUGE amounts of packages and letters than they are. UPS and FedEx should take notes. I should have printed out the UPS tracking map and drawn lines to show where he had been. It would have looked like some piece of abstract art.

Honestly, if the packages on his truck were loaded in a properly sorted manner, he could probably have completed his entire route in 4 hours or less, instead of 8 or 10. They'd likely save millions of dollars in fuel alone just by sorting the packages and loading the trucks correctly.

Wait wait wait... you're saying FedEx and UPS should take notes from the USPS on efficiency? They should take notes on efficiency from a company that loses billions of dollars every year?

 

[Reller39]

Our fed ex guy is afraid of dogs so won't stop if he can't reach by phone and we wait outside

 

[ATOMonkey]

My only complaint with USPS is that they lie about their deliveries, probably to boost some metric. Their tracking system will say a package is delivered when they put it on the truck. It usually takes a day or two for it to get off the truck at my house.

UPS is fantastic. Especially with Amazon. If I order something in the morning and it's in stock at the distribution center here in Plainfield, I usually get it that afternoon.

 

[chocktaw2]

The only problem I have with my USPS driver is why bring my package up to the door but leave my other mail out in the box?

 

[Vigilant]

Phylo, I was soo gonna say you’re doing it wrong, but then I read.

 

[mrproc1]

The USPS strikes again!!
bought some products from a fella in Noblesville on thursaday being shipped to SW Indy because I work odd hours, excepted arrival date was today (3.24)....
Still not here!!!!!
should of saved on the shipping cost and drove to fine city of Noblesville to FTF.
What a joke