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

bicycling.com

271–278 of 278 posts

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

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, the delivery trucks shouldn't be parking there. Clear a spot and turn it into commercial parking only, i say. They're doing this right now on Polk street and it's so much safer for bicyclists on the portions that have this now.

A short detour on a sidewalk or grass/dirt shoulder doesn't seem that dangerous to me. Does it happen much that there's no room on the right and the cyclist has to go around the left of the truck?

There's a couple reasons that this dangerous enough that converting some street parking to commercial load/unload is a better solution:

1. There's no quick conversion in the middle of the street. It's a curb, which would require hopping, which is nearly impossible for an ebike and a dangerously unstable maneuver anyway.

2. There are cars blocking visibility with the sidewalk. If you hop onto it, you might strike a pedestrian you didn't see. Perhaps a short one, such as a child, who are unpredictable anyway.

3. Going to the right of the truck is a great way to get doored in the 0" of clearance between the truck and other parked cars. If it's the truck, enjoy your guaranteed head injury from the truck door 3 feet off the ground.

4. Biking on the sidewalk is illegal in many cities. So is parking in the bike lane, for that matter. Expecting one party to break the law because of a failure to enforce a separate law is unreasonable.

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

#272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, the delivery trucks shouldn't be parking there. Clear a spot and turn it into commercial parking only, i say. They're doing this right now on Polk street and it's so much safer for bicyclists on the portions that have this now.

Would you do this to every block in the Sunset?

Yes. Why not? Add more busses and trams. Sunset houses have garages, many driveways, much of which is stuffed with junk and undriven cars. Perhaps they are supersaturated with cars?

The "no cars in the city" philosophy is not one without challenges or setbacks - getting rid of parking in sunset would suck, but it would motivate the creation of more and better public transit, which is a better solution than cars by nearly all marks.

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

#273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you do this to every block in the Sunset?

Yes. Why not? Add more busses and trams. Sunset houses have garages, many driveways, much of which is stuffed with junk and undriven cars. Perhaps they are supersaturated with cars? The "no cars in the city" philosophy is not one without challenges or setbacks - getting rid of parking in sunset would suck, but it would motivate the creation of more and better public transit, which is a better solution than cars by ne…

The N is reliably overcrowded, and transportation funding measures are reliably passing. Is the problem really a lack of demand?

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

#274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This does not surprise me much. I think it comes down to incentives. The package handlers only have a certain amount of time per package. There are few if any consequences for being rough, and it saves time, so of course the package handlers end up being rough. This isn't the only time you see this sort of selfish behavior from delivery companies. As a cyclist I commonly encounter delivery trucks parked in the bike l…

the drivers are basically incentivized to break the law When a delivery company has a line item in its budget to cover parking tickets as a cost of doing business, it's already decided at the corporate level to disregard the law in favor of making a profit.

So make their parking tickets more expensive.

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

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that something that could be solved by shipping it with a 50c piece of metal between the bars during shipping as a surrogate for the wheel axle? Given the list prices, seems like they could stretch to that, and it'd be more reliable than hoping the delivery man will be more gentle because he thinks it's a TV box.

yeah, with proper supports in the right places, none of these shenanigans/hacks would be needed.

It came with some cheap plastic covers on the dropouts, nothing structural. That's a good thing to look for in future purchases though.

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

#276

We had 7 42" 4k monitors delivered and all 7 were damaged. I'm glad we were on the end of the bell curve. :D

Seven times? I would get mad as hell after the third one and go fetch it myself.

No, the 7 were delivered together.

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

#277
post #35

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?

If you treat people like a replaceable cog in a machine, they'll meet your expectations.

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

#278
post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much like UPS targeting boxes, this is 100% not OK, and as a professor, if I found out my TAs were doing this, they would quickly find themselves someplace between "disciplined" and "fired".

I assume you are a responsible professor. From my experience, most professors if not every only cares about their research. Teaching is like a job not giving them any positive feedback, so why they care? And TA-ship is usually paid by school meaning no professor can fire TAs.

This is sadly common, but I'd like to assure you there are many of us who are interested in pedagogy, and measure our long-term success on the success and learning of our students.
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