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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)

#51

Post by mcv »

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…

That fits my limited experience in that industry. A TV on the box certainly doesn't protect it against abuse.

When I was a teenager (around 1990 I think) I had a very short (surprisingly well-paying for a teenager) summer job unloading trucks at a warehouse. The first truck contained Atari monitors. One guy showed how it's done: remove the bottom box, and the rest comes tumbling after. Stack them on a pallet, race them through the warehouse on a forklift, take a tight turn so they all fall off again, etc.

My main takeaway was not to buy an Atari monitor that summer.

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

#53

Post by btrettel »

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…

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 lane. This is a common problem: http://upshatescyclists.com/

If you call UPS or Fedex you'll often hear things like "This shouldn't happen." But the drivers are basically incentivized to break the law, regardless of "company policy". They don't have much time per package, so if blocking a bike lane saves them 10 seconds, they don't care if it is really dangerous for others.

Given this knowledge, I hypothesized that an effective way to make a delivery driver avoid the bike lane would be to slow them down if they park in the bike lane. I did once try to block a UPS driver from exiting their vehicle as a test. I recall that I said something like "You're blocking me, so I'm blocking you. You can park over there if you want a legal spot."

It wasn't the worst reaction I've seen from a UPS driver, but it was among the worst. Not recommended, but if enough cyclists did this then I suspect delivery drivers would start to avoid the bike lane.

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

#54

Post by mcv »

denim_chicken wrote: post #45
jen729w wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Go work as a package handler at UPS/Fedex/etc for a few weeks and then you'll understand.

Makes me wonder whether it might actually save money to pay those people better.

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

#55

Post by benj111 »

hx2a wrote: post #34
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...

In our increasingly IPed world where every copyright seemingly has to be enforced. Who would own the copyright in this instance? The postman? They 'created' it, they weren't instructed to make the piece. Surely postman 1 could sue postman 2 for damaging their 'art'?

I suppose you could argue the 'artist' is akin to a photographer?

But what if another artist joined fedex specifically to 'create' art. Which artist would take precedence? If one broke a box to create art, and one wanted the same box breaking to create art???

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

#56

Post by noir_lord »

twic wrote: post #24
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.

If they do that, they should definitely send some of the packages via Hermes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gcc9ZUz69c

The only thing I'd send through Hermes is a crash test dummy, it's a cheap way to find out if it'll stand up to a 60mph head on crash with a concrete mass.

If it survives Hermes it's tough enough.

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

#57

Post by mcv »

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...

Clever, although with an accelerometer you may also keep track of which stretch of the journey they get handled the roughest.

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

#58

Post by _trampeltier »

xorgar831 wrote: post #6

Boeing does this with their seats in the factory too, they put a picture of a Lamborghini on the seats since they cost the same. EDIT: Yes, it's hard to believe a seat costs the same as a Lamborghini, that's exactly why they put the picture on it. This is mainly for the first class seats, though rows apparently cost about the same too.

I heard about also over 10 years ago, some airplane maintenance companys print things like cars and houses on spare parts, so people know about what they cost.

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

#59

Post by azernik »

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...

More importantly, that advertises its presence to the handlers

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

#60

Post by mentos »

benj111 wrote: post #55
hx2a wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

In our increasingly IPed world where every copyright seemingly has to be enforced. Who would own the copyright in this instance? The postman? They 'created' it, they weren't instructed to make the piece. Surely postman 1 could sue postman 2 for damaging their 'art'? I suppose you could argue the 'artist' is akin to a photographer? But what if another artist joined fedex specifically to 'create' art. Which artist woul…

I don’t know if I break your car windows and the unique shape increases the value of the car do I have any claim to the added value?
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