E Commerce crazy shipping

[Lakewood90712]

Bought some tools on E Bay $75 w/ free 2 day shipping by Fedex. 10 # package, Vendor is about 30 miles away.

I assume Fedex Ground. NO! Fedex Express

Package left the seller Friday, then to LAX, then by air to Oakland , then on a truck on the way back to LA ,expected delivery Tuesday.

I'm assuming Fedex one rate can beat Fedex ground UPS and USPS.

Oakland must be a west coast hub. But geez, air freight, then back by truck ?

Shortest path for 30 miles is over 1,000, half by air. Not the first time I have seen this.

SMH

 

[broadway]

Bought some tools on E Bay $75 w/ free 2 day shipping by Fedex. 10 # package, Vendor is about 30 miles away.

I assume Fedex Ground. NO! Fedex Express

Package left the seller Friday, then to LAX, then by air to Oakland , then on a truck on the way back to LA ,expected delivery Tuesday.

I'm assuming Fedex one rate can beat Fedex ground UPS and USPS.

Oakland must be a west coast hub. But geez, air freight, then back by truck ?

Shortest path for 30 miles is over 1,000, half by air. Not the first time I have seen this.

SMH

One of those moments

 

[Another Reader]

Well, I will say sometimes delivery is a lot faster than you might expect. I ordered a large supply of Black Friday sale cat food and litter from Chewy at 2 PM yesterday. I expected it Monday. It was on my porch at a little after 2 PM today. Warehouse is in Reno.

 

[audreyh1]

OK - that is crazy!

I think the craziest shipping I've seen is from Murchies Tea in British Columbia via DHL.

I literally get receive the order less than 24 hours after ordering it.

Shipping is a flat rate $10CA - or even free for some promos.

I often order in the afternoon. DHL is on my doorstep by 10am the next morning!

It even has to go through customs!

They are Pacific Time, I am Central, and I'm right on the other border!!!

 

[CaptTom]

I had a similar thing once, a part from CT to just over the border in MA went via PA.

Overall, I'm very happy that Amazon has disrupted the "allow 6-8 weeks for delivery" model that was normal before they started.

There are glitches and down sides in any major disruption. At some point worker compensation and some inefficiencies need to be resolved.

Right now, I much prefer the USPS to FedEx or UPS. They seem to be most efficient at getting things to me quickly. Their pricing is up-front, no phony "retail" prices while the shippers pay a fraction of that and pocket the rest. They also deliver everything when they get it, instead of leaving it in a warehouse somewhere because the customer only paid for 5-day shipping.

 

[ERD50]

Bought some tools on E Bay $75 w/ free 2 day shipping by Fedex. 10 # package, Vendor is about 30 miles away.
...

Shortest path for 30 miles is over 1,000, half by air. Not the first time I have seen this.

SMH

But you got it on time right?

It would be interesting if you could pin these locations on a map for us, I'm not sure where you are in relation to these other places.

And it might make perfect (if non-obvious) sense to travel that path. I all has to do with getting it on a route that will get it there. These shippers don't base things on an "as the crow flies" path, they'd have small trucks criss-crossing everywhere. So as odd as it may seem, 1,000 miles may be the most efficient and effective way of getting a package to move 30 miles from A-B, because they already had packages moving along those routes.

Or, it could have been a screw up, but then I doubt you would have got it on time.

Look at it on a micro-scale - how many times have you driven 2 miles south to get on a highway to go 10 miles north, because it is faster than going 10 miles north, or the straight north path then takes you east or west? Someone tracing your path, w/o knowledge of the roads would think you didn't know what you were doing, you drove for 2 miles in the wrong direction! The Fed Ex 'shipping paths' are not really known by us.

-ERD50