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It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

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Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#201

Post by b112 »

ilyagr wrote: post #76
bell-cot wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. But if you ship it sufficiently fast, the en-transit expansion won't be enough to matter.

I guess if I can get USPS to accept the parcel quickly enough, what happens afterwards is their problem. I'm sure they won't mind. In fact, if the parcel is - er - damaged while in their care, the USPS will owe me. They better rush.

I worked on this a bit, as a joke. A sex doll, in a box, with a small helium tank.

I wanted a friend to open the box, be scared by the air/hissing sound, back away, and before he could react?

Sex doll floats to the 12 foot ceiling in his office.

I had issues with the trigger, it deploying correctly, tried it a dozen times and gave up.

My other concern was it mistakely deploying while in transit with the post office.

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#202

Post by marginalia_nu »

Xeoncross wrote: post #135
labcomputer wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a tool used for stamping out new UKs.

Good, because it's about time for a replacement

I think they already tried that in New England.

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#203

Post by GordonS »

jmyeet wrote: post #78

What many may not realize is that there's a thriving industry in sending passengers on planes for the sole purpose of them taking things from A to B. Years ago, you could get discounted flights to Europe where you couldn't check in any luggage. Why? That allowance was taken up by documents for various clients. This was usually quicker than any courier services at the time. I've had friends who worked in the oil and g…

I worked for an oil and gas company for a very long time, and frequently saw something similar, but not quite the same.

I didn't see anyone specifically put on a plane to collect a part - but there was no need, as the field team were flying around all over the place anyway. So, a manager would accost someone going from Aberdeen to Houston, for example, and ask them to put a 10kg part in their luggage on the return journey. Then the part would get dropped off at the Aberdeen facility, and put on the next chopper to the offshore platform that needed it.

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#204

Post by b112 »

seoaeu wrote: post #81
deepspace wrote: post #51

Since I discovered the availability of anvils on Amazon, I have always wondered about the economics of shipping them. Right now, I can order a 66lb "Happybuy" anvil for $153 with free prime shipping. One assumes that the $153 includes the cost of shipping it all the way from China in the first place. For comparison, a similarly sized anvil from a reputable local dealer costs $949 plus tax and shipping at the lowest r…

The transportation from China probably isn't the issue. Google suggests that moving a 40-foot shipping container across the Pacific Ocean costs several thousand dollars. You can fit a whole bunch of anvils inside a shipping container [citation needed], so the cost for this part of the journey may be pretty low.

Plus, shipping anvils with pillows sort of evens it out..

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#205

Post by lordnacho »

jmyeet wrote: post #78

What many may not realize is that there's a thriving industry in sending passengers on planes for the sole purpose of them taking things from A to B. Years ago, you could get discounted flights to Europe where you couldn't check in any luggage. Why? That allowance was taken up by documents for various clients. This was usually quicker than any courier services at the time. I've had friends who worked in the oil and g…

> What many may not realize is that there's a thriving industry in sending passengers on planes for the sole purpose of them taking things from A to B.

So someone out there must have made a courier-as-a-service website for this?

Sign up some people to be on standby, with a passport and a list of countries they have visa for, list them with their current location.

Person signs up to potentially make a few grand if they get the call.

Firms who are in need of a person throw in the money and the tickets.

Does that work? If I need something carried by a person from London to NYC today, what do I do?

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#206

Post by indrora »

uuyi wrote: post #198
myself248 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some years back, there was a "can't happen" problem with a telephone switch, such that the problem had "contaminated" the running databases on both processor cards, and the system was no longer capable of recovering itself. It needed a new card, and it needed it yesterday. The manufacturer scrambled it down to the local airport, where they bought it a passenger ticket on the next plane out. While it was in the air, t…

I’ve been that guy. I hired a long wheelbase van here and ended up driving 6x DIMMs in a box on the front seat.

Better to be over prepared than under prepared.

plus, you look official like that.

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#207

Post by ant6n »

dang wrote: post #113
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think "physically" is redundant. It could be legally impossible, or practically impossible. I played around with the title and character limit for a minute, and managed to get: "A small flat-rate USPS box's weight limit is physically impossible to exceed". How's that?

That sounds awkward to me. The best way to shorten titles is to omit words - then you keep the prosody of the original. I've taken another crack at it. Now someone will complain about USPS being missing, but "flat rate" implies someone's rate, and it's not as if USPS is a misleading surprise. (Submitted title was "It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a USPS flat rate box". First edit was "It is…

Perhaps use „Small Flat Rate Box“ rather than „small flat-rate box“, to bring it in line with usps website and indicate that it’s the name of a specific product.

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#208

Post by gnopgnip »

deepspace wrote: post #51

Since I discovered the availability of anvils on Amazon, I have always wondered about the economics of shipping them. Right now, I can order a 66lb "Happybuy" anvil for $153 with free prime shipping. One assumes that the $153 includes the cost of shipping it all the way from China in the first place. For comparison, a similarly sized anvil from a reputable local dealer costs $949 plus tax and shipping at the lowest r…

On the order of $10k to ship a 40,000lb, 40ft shipping container from China to LA without insurance now, prices have increased a lot recently. So the per item cost into the US is around $16 on the low end for this anvil. But then there are other costs associated with shipping something to the amazon warehouse once the container gets to the US, and amazon will either charge a fee or require the seller to split the shipment to different states. It costs about $2-$3 a mile to ship a container across the US by truck or train, and less than truckload shipments are generally more expensive per item. And they need to pay someone, or pay amazon to put labels on everything, handle/repackage damaged items. Or another $5-$10 to ship it to the warehouse.

Amazon negotiates with UPS and other couriers, and they have their own shipping service, so their merchants pay a lot less than the "retail" cost for shipping to amazon customers. For that 66lb anvil, amazon charges ~$35 for fulfillment including picking, packaging and shipping. About 50 cents a pound. Amazon also charges other fees including the commission/referral on the sale, storage, etc that are mostly not based on item weight, this is about $20 more for a $150 sale.

Retail cost to ship a 66lb anvil UPS from LA to SF would be about $90. With a regular commercial discount about $65, more for longer distances and less for shorter. If you are in the business of shipping a lot you can negotiate a slightly better rate than $1 a pound.

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#209

Post by jon-wood »

lakis wrote: post #138
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard of small jets (fighters/jet trainers) being used for commercial courier services (although there are instances of military jets transporting organs for transplant, https://apnews.com/article/c1309c58720c78347c1ebbbade56d35d ). They can be privately owned and operated, are very fast, and tend to have hundreds of kilos of payload capacity.

This reminded me of "Police Camera Action - The Liver Run" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTN5X4JZFjU 30 Minutes to travel 27 miles across London in the middle of the day ! Stansted Airport, Essex to Cromwell Hospital, Kensington, London

David Nott’s book War Doctor includes a tale of him being called in to perform urgent surgery in central London, having just finished a flying lesson in Essex. He apparently called 999, asked for the Police, and after explaining the situation a car was despatched to take him at high speed through traffic. Sadly I don’t have the sort of career that would ever justify that but it sounds like great fun.

Re: It is physically impossible to exceed the weight limit for a Small Flat Rate Box

#210

Post by stavros »

lordnacho wrote: post #205
jmyeet wrote: post #78

What many may not realize is that there's a thriving industry in sending passengers on planes for the sole purpose of them taking things from A to B. Years ago, you could get discounted flights to Europe where you couldn't check in any luggage. Why? That allowance was taken up by documents for various clients. This was usually quicker than any courier services at the time. I've had friends who worked in the oil and g…

> What many may not realize is that there's a thriving industry in sending passengers on planes for the sole purpose of them taking things from A to B. So someone out there must have made a courier-as-a-service website for this? Sign up some people to be on standby, with a passport and a list of countries they have visa for, list them with their current location. Person signs up to potentially make a few grand if the…

Pay the flight attendant.
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