Shipping nightmares. Anyone else use FedEx, UPS, DHL?

I gotta take a few and do my rant. This is beyond insane for a shipping company. I usually use FedEx for my imports. They have been right on time, but there have been some errors with billing. My shipper recommended using DHL Air, because they are fast, so I said ok, let's go with them. So I placed the order. Sure enough, order got picked up and arrived at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1 day. Now let's get through customs. THAT was the first nightmare. Took FOUR DAYS to clear customs. Needed this form and that form, then this one, then that one.... So finally it clears customs. It departed Birmingham on the delivery truck at 12:44 pm Thursday. My shop is just over an hour drive. Now I know they have more than one delivery to make. I get that. So here it is 5pm, time to go ahead and close up shop, so I call the main number.

Nice lady there says that yes, it is out on the truck, and that they do deliver Air shipments as late as 8pm. Ok fine. I want the order so I wait....and wait... 8:05 and no truck. I call in again. Lady puts me on hold while she calls the Birmingham office. She is told by the Birmingham office that all drivers are in, and no more deliveries are out. So I am pissed because they didn't care to at least CALL me and let me know that they were not going to make it.

Get up this morning (Friday) and check the tracking number, and get THIS, the tracking information shows that they "attempted delivery" at 8:21 pm, and that I was closed. Now I know this is bs, because I didn't leave the office until after 8:30 pm! PLUS tracking info shows that my package is back in Ohio! I call in again. They said that evidently only 1 of the 2 packages was even available for deliver. The other one is STILL STUCK IN OHIO! And they have no explanation as to the bogus delivery attempt either.

Has anyone else had delivery nightmares like this?

 

Yes

I feel your pain...the problem is that the drivers only make a little more than min. wage so they dont give two shits about your stuff..they throw it around and dont care if it's damaged....

 

Why would it need to go through customs if it didn't go out of the U.S.? I ship fedex and they are quick and usually painless. The local UPS guy drives a Tacoma, so he's gentle on my truck parts.

 

I feel ya Bill, I have never had nothing but trouble using DHL, never an issue with Fed-Ex and few issues with UPS.

 

I've had very few issues using FedEx or UPS, couple issues with DHL and a shit load with USPS. So much so that I only use USPS for one or two local P.O. Boxes for bills to places I'm familiar with that otherwise don't accept other methods of payment.

Not sure about your particular delivery but, I've had confirmed deliveries at a particular time & location documented (while I was there waiting) and as it turned out, the delivery was made but, to the wrong address. Took a little to convince the shipping company I didn't receive the product.

If you do much shipping, if you haven't already, you might want to consider opening an account at a discounted shipping rate. UPS & FedEx can both handle international shipping & customs as well as DHL, USPS, TNT or the other bastard brands.

 

I'd like to hear the stories you have...

 

The UPS driver that delivers to me just bought a 2014 double cab baja. How can he afford that at $8 an hour?

 

Perhaps my OP wasn't clear. I am IMPORTING materials from out of the country. Therefore they have to clear customs before I can get them.

Sadly it is the shipper that sends these to me that chooses his shipping company. I have spoke with him already and he is willing to ship mine selectively by FedEx Air.

 

My understanding is that UPS pays well and that the waiting list to be a driver is years long. I could be wrong about wages but UPS is definitely Unionized.

 

Parcels through Customs or any other inspection sites, with increased concerns for Homeland security and DEA, has become a hit and miss proposition. I can understand why one package cleared and the other was still awaiting clearance.

Often the inspection sites do not use FIFO or LIFO for their queuing process. Suspicious parcels maybe left in staging areas while sniffing dogs are deployed and those surrounding them are delayed needlessly.

Locally, however, your delivery driver was pulling a scam. Don't know what type of delivery guarantee if any, your shipper placed on the parcels, but if he did, he maybe entitled to a refund for the shipping charges. It doesn't get you much satisfaction after sitting at your shop until 8:30, but it might server notice on a manager that something with that driver is amiss.

 

He's not making minimum wage. He's a member of Teamters and he's paid at or above the average most drivers under a contract and probably twice the national average wage. FedEx (Express) drivers, while not union, are about the same. Can't speak to those that fall under the independent contractor model.

I've got a few buds that drive for UPS, one OTR & one a 10 cube. Both were making $60k+ 10 to 15 years ago. I'm guessing their pay hasn't went down.

 

I hate to do it but i call BS on this one. I know for a fact, because I have friends as well as family members that work for the three that are listed and can tell you that an average ups driver is making right around $20/hr (Boss's Son is a driver based out of the B'ham hub), Fed Ex is slightly less at $19/hr (I had a part time job with fed ex in college and was a "runner" on a truck during holidays as well as have a cousin who is now a driver for them) and dhl has crappy benefits (so Ive been told) so their drivers are making around $24/hr (one of my best friends roommates is a driver for DHL in birmingham). granted these pay rates are starting rates so no telling what they are after a few years of experience. so their poor attitude is not due to making peanuts for wages, its just they have poor attitudes.

but none the less I know how you feel, typical deliveries to me from ups are around 7:45 at night, right as my wife and I are trying to get our son settled in to bed and the hub is no lie less than 20 minutes from the house, Fedex delivers around 6pm most of the time and the hub is the same distance, unless they have moved in the past few years, across the street from UPS! No direct experience with DHL though, not many businesses I deal with use them.

 

I have seen that "attempt to deliver" as well. I will ask my buddy at Fedex. He makes more than minimum wage. He said starting wage at Fedex in this area right now is $17.23/hr. I would it would assume it depends upon the region considering Washington state has one of the highest minimum wages.

 

I'm pretty sure they offer geographic adjustments in pay based on the cost of living rather or not that cost of living is tied to minimum wage (a complete new conversation). )

 

A few years ago we were awaiting a package delivery from FedEx. Late in the day I looked outside there was the package ON THE HOOD OF MY TRUCK! I couldn't believe it. I was so mad my wife had to make the complaint. I don't think that driver had a job the next day. It sounded like he had numerous complaints for "poor judgment".

 

The thing is, the entire SHIPMENT had passed customs. And someone dropped the ball and only loaded one package on the plane yesterday morning.

Let's hope he isn't the driver that was supposed to deliver my shipment. He may be out of a job by the time I am done with DHL. lol.

 

Ups driver pay is any where from $70,000 -$100,000. I know cause I work there. It varies according to there route. Some don't get in till after 8 every night cause there route is 2 hours from the building so they bank overtime every day

 

I've had issues with almost every shipping company in the world at one time or another. DHL sucks. By far the most reliable domestic carrier for me has always been the good old UPS. I've had too much stuff arrive damaged or lost by Fed EX.

 

I have had fedex deliver a package of mine next door and had to wait two days for the driver to do a "review" and to fix the problem. UPS sent a package of mine that was air shipped and was at my local hub when the day it was going to be at my house they loaded it up on a truck and shipped it to corpus. I was pissed and demanded my money back and got it back by telling them I paid for the air as it was needed asap they failed to deliver the parts I needed for the race.

 

In the state of Washington the minimum wage is tied to cost of living increase. Of course that is why it is one of the highest in the nation.