Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box • Hacker News Board

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

#191

Post by barnassey » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 9:09 AM UTC

asddddd wrote: post #135

alistairSH wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's definitely true. The trucks are loaded in the early AM, so the drivers can hit the road ASAP. Does make me wonder what surveillance systems are in place in the warehouse and loading areas? Or if that would even make a difference? I have no idea, never worked in a warehouse.

Quite likely they get damaged even before that, while they are on semi trucks (feeders). Assuming that loaders don't realize these are vulnerable to crush damage, they could get stacked on top of each other at the bottom of a loaded semi with moderately heavy stuff on top. Judging from boxed bikes I've seen, there is minimal or no padding, so this could easily result in damage. Not sure if it's official UPS policy, b…

I worked for ups about 5 years ago and i can for sure say that you are absolutely right about the hand to surface not being used due to package load. I still have friends that work there and now they have to scan packages before they pack them as well. Also the load has gone up. You generally have to load about 200 to 2800 packages over your shift. So its pretty much hell. They also blacklist you if you was seasonal and had to stop working for the company for any reason. So that lowers who can go back as well.

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

#192

Post by eCa » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 9:32 AM UTC

analog31 wrote: post #142

I should paint a TV on myself for when I'm riding my bike in traffic.

I once saw a person in the subway with their head in a (CRT) monitor. I steared clear.

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

#193

Post by jononor » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 10:02 AM UTC

btgeekboy wrote: post #137

beloch wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carbon fiber frames can be surprisingly fragile, especially when subjected to forces they weren't specifically designed to withstand, such as being crushed inwards from the sides. Vanmoof (the company in the article) seems to specialize in aluminum commuter bikes though, which should be reasonably robust. Aluminum is a wee bit brittle, but it's a lot more burly than carbon fiber. As such, I suspect the frames aren't…

All of this is me hypothesizing, so take it with a grain of salt: the widest part of the frame is probably the rear half. When mounted, a bike wheel helps keep the rear "fork" spread properly, but if you were to drop an aluminum frame without the wheel there, it would easily bend.

Standard way of shipping bikes from manufacturer is with, and front wheel not mounted. Pic: https://securecart.net/merchant/387/images/site/bikebox.jpg There are plastic fork clips that are used for support when the wheel/axel is not in place.

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

#194

Post by happyslobro » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 10:10 AM UTC

GigabyteCoin wrote: post #156

Popular Mechanics found different results when they did a similar study [0]. >"One disheartening result was that our package received more abuse when marked "Fragile" or "This Side Up." The carriers flipped the package more, and it registered above-average acceleration spikes during trips for which we requested careful treatment." [0] http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/a6284/whi...

I would be tempted to sort of accidentally drop the package, just so that I could guess what it is by the sound it makes.

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

#195

Post by jononor » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 10:17 AM UTC

tomatsu wrote: post #82

userbinator wrote: post #63

I wonder what sort of damage these bikes are receiving, because they're designed to be ridden by a person... a TV is definitely far more fragile.

Had a crack in one of my shifters and one of the pulley wheels (plastic) of the rear derailleur was broken. The crack in the shifter was more of a cosmetic issue, but the pulley wheel had to be replaced immediately. The rear derailleur has a steel guard. Without it, the derailleur probably wouldn't have survived this. Not everything on a bike is as sturdy as the frame.

In good bike packaging, there is a plastic clip or cardboard cutout that. Like the black circular thing just coming out of the box here, http://blockbikespdx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/FullSize... But I have seen a couple bent dropouts in bikes received from manufacturer. Dunno if shipping handling was the reason, I'd just fix it and move on. Probably our shipping-related failures were way below industry normal though, as our shop was <100 km from port (where things still travel in container units), and the distributor/importer handled the shipping to us themselves.

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

#196

Post by jononor » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 10:32 AM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #72

logicallee wrote: post #51

True, but they could reduce damage even more by putting a picture of a stained glass window and giant letters "HIGHLY FRAGILE DELICATE STAINED GLASS WINDOW! HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE!!" on it. That would certainly reduce damages further. The problem is that it isn't one (a TV). Why would someone feel mortified if they accidentally drop a packaged bicycle from 2-3 feet (typical carrying height) when a fully assembled b…

With the smallest bit of planning you can just never drop any box. I honestly wouldn't expect a packaged bicycle to survive a 3 foot drop; the air in the tires does a lot of the work when you are riding it, in the package you might accidentally drop much of the load on a sensitive point or whatever. I get that you are arguing they should package the bike to your expectations so that it shouldn't matter if you drop th…

I've probably dropped some tens of manufacturer-packaged bicycles 3-6 foot, they were practically all OK. Not that I would advocate such practice, it would be very risky. Each spring 3 of us would haul ~500 bikes into our shop storage over couple of days. The bikes are usually stored stacked up, 3 ontop vertically if you got the ceiling height[1]. Sometimes 3 vertical + 1/2/3 horizontal uptop, then you have to toss the last ones up there. End of a long day you get tired&sloppy, so sometimes one topple over or don't get all the way there...

1. http://www.camdencycles.co.uk/images/uploads/website%20Doc/b...

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

#197

Post by jononor » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 10:56 AM UTC

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.

Majority of bikes we sold at our shop cost around 200-300 USD for us to purchase (retail price would be around 2x that). This was in expensive Norway, and there were plenty of generic sports stores that sold bikes at down to 1/2 of what we did. So for to-retailer price in US, that 120 USD does not seem too crazy.

Don't forget that "good bikes" are actually very rare, especially if counted in volume (not price).

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

#198

Post by J-dawg » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 11:07 AM UTC

analog31 wrote: post #142

I should paint a TV on myself for when I'm riding my bike in traffic.

A researcher from Bath University found that drivers gave him less space when he was wearing a helmet.

They gave him the most space when he was wearing a long blonde wig.

http://archive.cosmosmagazine.com/news/blonde-wigs-safer-hel...

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

#199

Post by Someone » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 11:26 AM UTC

WiseWeasel wrote: post #167

Noos wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good luck trying to automate a system where the vehicle has to unload a package of anywhere from envelope size to a 90" TV. It has to bring this across a driveway of varying shape or size, or even no drive way at all, bringing it inside an apartment complex or condo. It has to realize the correct address or room, collect a signature, or realize that no human being is present to sign for it. Then it returns the item t…

New idea for a game: Package Tycoon; give achievements and badges for successfully guiding the robot to deliver all your packages, and sit back while the kids do it for free! Or wait, scratch that; how about Uber for packages. Bored at work? You could be delivering packages remotely to supplement your income! I think it's only a matter of time before large scale data gathering service providers form a good-enough mod…

Uber for packages already exists (https://rush.uber.com/how-it-works)

They use "Earn on your own schedule" instead of "Bored at work?" as a slogan, though (https://www.uber.com/signup/drive/deliver/)

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

#200

Post by Darthy » Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 11:30 AM UTC

I see a possible solution here using technology:

Senders should add a small $1 "black box" recording acceleration data, and shipping companies should be able to query for a certain package and a certain timestamp, which employee was accountable at that moment.

Then when you receive a broken package, the black box tells you the timestamp when it was thrown to the ground, you tell that to the shipping company, which then finds the employee at fault and gives him/her a warning/sacks him/her.