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When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

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Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#31

Post by justinhensley »

I've always been curious about the shipping process. I have met or know 7 people who work/worked at the shipping hub in my city. I always ask them how the packages are handled. Every one of them said that they (and all of their coworkers) handle all packages on a scale ranging from rough to purposefully damaging. One guy told me how he targets boxes marked Fragile for extra abuse when he's exhausted/angry/having a bad day.

I predict that a package being treated delicately throughout the entirety of it's route would be the outlier. Every package is at some point flung across a room/truck. The only question is if it is going to hit another box or a much harder surface.

this is all anecdotal, but seems to fit with the stat that roughly 10% of all packages in the United States are damaged during shipping.[0]

[0]: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/adriana-dunn/one-in-10-ecomme... -- couldn't find a direct link to the case study.

Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#32

Post by [deleted] »

justinhensley wrote: post #31

I've always been curious about the shipping process. I have met or know 7 people who work/worked at the shipping hub in my city. I always ask them how the packages are handled. Every one of them said that they (and all of their coworkers) handle all packages on a scale ranging from rough to purposefully damaging. One guy told me how he targets boxes marked Fragile for extra abuse when he's exhausted/angry/having a ba…

[deleted]

Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#33

Post by schrodinger »

leeoniya wrote: post #28

high quality, expensive bikes are usually designed to withstand a good amount of physical abuse and dynamic loads under a 90kg rider. i wonder what kind of damage they sustained. bent spokes? brake/shift levers?

A lightweight frame is extremely strong under the loads for which it is designed (weight on the seat and bars transferred down through the wheels), but often exceedingly weak in other types of stress (E.g. an impact to the side of a tube). Especially carbon fiber.

Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#34

Post by hx2a »

whatshisface wrote: post #3

I've often wondered about what you would discover if you were to send accelerometers through various channels, over various distances, and inside of various packages. A database of carrier/packaging/haul distance/acceleration history tuples would be a valuable B2B product for many manufacturers.

The artist Walead Beshty used the hazards of the shipping system to create art. He would ship glass boxes through Fedex and the damaged result would become art.

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/walead-beshty-fedex-large-kraf...

Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#35

Post by jen729w »

justinhensley wrote: post #31

I've always been curious about the shipping process. I have met or know 7 people who work/worked at the shipping hub in my city. I always ask them how the packages are handled. Every one of them said that they (and all of their coworkers) handle all packages on a scale ranging from rough to purposefully damaging. One guy told me how he targets boxes marked Fragile for extra abuse when he's exhausted/angry/having a ba…

You know these people, so do you have any insight as to why they did this?

Is it envy? “Screw this guy getting his fancy TV that I don’t have.” If not, what?

It seems needlessly cruel. I assume these are good people?

Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#37

Post by zem »

mrsuprawsm wrote: post #14
whatshisface wrote: post #3

I've often wondered about what you would discover if you were to send accelerometers through various channels, over various distances, and inside of various packages. A database of carrier/packaging/haul distance/acceleration history tuples would be a valuable B2B product for many manufacturers.

This sort of thing already exists, albeit in a low-tech method, using ball bearings or coloured gels. For example: https://spotsee.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/tiltwatch-plus...

that's pretty ingenious!

Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#39

Post by kakarot »

jen729w wrote: post #35
justinhensley wrote: post #31

I've always been curious about the shipping process. I have met or know 7 people who work/worked at the shipping hub in my city. I always ask them how the packages are handled. Every one of them said that they (and all of their coworkers) handle all packages on a scale ranging from rough to purposefully damaging. One guy told me how he targets boxes marked Fragile for extra abuse when he's exhausted/angry/having a ba…

You know these people, so do you have any insight as to why they did this? Is it envy? “Screw this guy getting his fancy TV that I don’t have.” If not, what? It seems needlessly cruel. I assume these are good people?

Redirecting frustration over 20th-century working conditions, now doubt.

Re: When a Bike Company Put a TV on Its Box, Shipping Damages Went Down (2017)

#40

Post by andai »

jen729w wrote: post #35
justinhensley wrote: post #31

I've always been curious about the shipping process. I have met or know 7 people who work/worked at the shipping hub in my city. I always ask them how the packages are handled. Every one of them said that they (and all of their coworkers) handle all packages on a scale ranging from rough to purposefully damaging. One guy told me how he targets boxes marked Fragile for extra abuse when he's exhausted/angry/having a ba…

You know these people, so do you have any insight as to why they did this? Is it envy? “Screw this guy getting his fancy TV that I don’t have.” If not, what? It seems needlessly cruel. I assume these are good people?

I work as a postman. People don't really send letters any more, so a large and increasing percentage is packages. Many (most?) of my coworkers hate their jobs, and their lives, and are deliberately rough with packages, especially if they look expensive.
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