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Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

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Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#31

Post by orblivion »

civilian wrote: post #18
orblivion wrote: post #3

Clever, but seems ethically questionable. Why do the shippers care about breaking a TV? Presumably there are repercussions, such as an insurance plan. So why don't those repercussions just apply to bicycles? If they're fined for enough bikes being broken, they should probably learn that they need be more careful than they thought, right? EDIT: Toning down my choice of words.

Organizations are bad at communication. How do you disseminate that the information that "look guys, bicycles are fragile too" to ten of thousands of logistics workers? This is an awesome hack, and it's a great way to fix behavior without having to collide with bureaucracy. It's not ethically fraudulent because the shipper shouldn't be breaking anything. And I'm sure they do pay fees for what they break, and the ship…

Well I didn't say it was a huge deal necessarily. Just not totally clean. Perhaps fraud was a bad choice of words and I changed it. And I agree it's a very interesting hack.

I don't necessarily agree that a shipper shouldn't be breaking anything. I think that they should meet whatever the agreement was. If the agreement is "we'll try super hard not to break stuff" and they're clearly not holding up their side of the bargain when it comes to bikes, then sure, changing the picture is fair game. If the agreement is "we'll pay for anything that breaks", then they should determine how careful they want to be, since they're footing the bill for it. Making that determination for them by changing the picture, I think is not totally honest, unless they also have a history of not paying up.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#32

Post by markdown »

civilian wrote: post #18
orblivion wrote: post #3

Clever, but seems ethically questionable. Why do the shippers care about breaking a TV? Presumably there are repercussions, such as an insurance plan. So why don't those repercussions just apply to bicycles? If they're fined for enough bikes being broken, they should probably learn that they need be more careful than they thought, right? EDIT: Toning down my choice of words.

Organizations are bad at communication. How do you disseminate that the information that "look guys, bicycles are fragile too" to ten of thousands of logistics workers? This is an awesome hack, and it's a great way to fix behavior without having to collide with bureaucracy. It's not ethically fraudulent because the shipper shouldn't be breaking anything. And I'm sure they do pay fees for what they break, and the ship…

> How do you disseminate that the information that "look guys, bicycles are fragile too" to ten of thousands of logistics workers?

A 3 paragraph email.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#34

Post by Havoc »

douche wrote: post #16
orblivion wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I get that. But it turns out that they're wrong. Are you suggesting that shippers try not to break things purely out of courtesy? Maybe, but I think incentives aren't aligned such that that can go a long way. With no other feedback, they want to get their job done quickly so that they can move on to the next, and get paid for moving more things. If they're doing this purely out of courtesy, then yes, I could un…

Shippers huck stuff around with little regard for the contents, particularly if they aren't blazoned all over with fragile/biohazard stickers. Fedex and UPS tend to be just about one-half step above the folks handling baggage at the airport, and how many times have you seen those people wing around suit-cases like they were throwing the hammer in the Olympics, and seeing just how far back they can toss from and still…

Strange. I've never had a damaged Amazon item in 100+ items.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#35

Post by legodt »

JWLong wrote: post #22
rrdharan wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bikes cost as much or more than televisions these days almost across the board. Obviously the cheapest bikes cost less than the most expensive televisions, but a decent 50" flat panel is around 600$ USD now and an entry level road bike is maybe 750-800$?

The bikes that the average truck-loader comes in contact with cost $120.

Doubtful. The largest mail order bike companies are rather upscale. Look at Canyon, Planet X, Rose, Bikes direct, and others for a sampling of the most popular mail deliver bike companies. These aren't fly-by-night sketchy retailers either, Canyon bikes are ridden by many pro teams despite not having a storefront presence.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#36

Post by Someone »

TorKlingberg wrote: post #10

Blogspam. Original: https://medium.com/vanmoof/our-secrets-out-f21c1f03fdc8

I saw that, but decided to go for the secondary source because they hugely improved the title. "Our secret’s out" is way less informative and, IMO, too much attention-seeking.

Yes, I could have tried to mix the new title with the original post, but I feared that would get changed back.

Also, in a sense, https://twitter.com/jasongay/status/772556605548326912 is the original, but that's "[citation needed]"

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#37

Post by recursive »

orblivion wrote: post #12
satysin wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think shippers are just about breaking a TV. I believe it comes down to the, perhaps, subconsciousness of "TV = fragile" whereas a box with a bike, something we expect to be pretty solid, doesn't seem like it would be damaged quite so easily.

Yeah, I get that. But it turns out that they're wrong. Are you suggesting that shippers try not to break things purely out of courtesy? Maybe, but I think incentives aren't aligned such that that can go a long way. With no other feedback, they want to get their job done quickly so that they can move on to the next, and get paid for moving more things. If they're doing this purely out of courtesy, then yes, I could un…

My bike is worth probably 10x my TV. I'm not saying it's representative, but it's certainly not unusual for bikes to cost as much as or more than TVs.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#39

Post by JWLong »

legodt wrote: post #35
JWLong wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bikes that the average truck-loader comes in contact with cost $120.

Doubtful. The largest mail order bike companies are rather upscale. Look at Canyon, Planet X, Rose, Bikes direct, and others for a sampling of the most popular mail deliver bike companies. These aren't fly-by-night sketchy retailers either, Canyon bikes are ridden by many pro teams despite not having a storefront presence.

Absolutely, but I was speaking to the experience of the loaders.

Edit: Sorry, I should have made that clearer in my previous comment.

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