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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 12:24 am 

Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:03 am
Posts: 17
I've seen alot of chatter about FedEx vs UPS, and I tried to do some research of my own.

It would appear that the old FedEx multi-box discount (now called Multi-weight) doesn't kick in for orders under 150lbs total. And it would appear that FedEx and UPS are neck-in neck.

I calculated for a 50lb box that is 23x16x16 (5888Cubic") (51+lbs is considered overweight for UPS and incurred obscene charges) and UPS matched FedEx at about $37

I calculated for 2 identical 25lb boxes at 18x16x10 (5760Cubic") and the price dropped a decent amount to $20-30

I calculated for 4 identical 12.5lb boxes at 12x112x10 (5760Cubic") and the price skyrocketed up to $50-60

It has been said time and time again that FedEx is the best due to pricing by girth instead of weight while UPS prices by the greater of Dimensional weight (LxWxH / 166) or weight. What am I getting wrong here? and what is the cheapest way to ship my 90lbs of motherboards and gold-finger cards?


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 1:57 am 
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Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 6:57 pm
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Location: Low DOS
Smaller boxes.
First the general premise is a-z. Location changes everything.

Generically:
I always judge by going from 90210 to 10005.
Box sizes
9x6x2 dvd box
11x8x2 document box
6x6x6 standard cube
12x12x6 shipping box
20x18x4
20x20x6
26x20x12
28x24x18
These are the used branded boxes most people will come up with. Amazon, ebay, Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. Uhaul, etc.


To make Fedex work to your favour stay below 32” but above 6, ideally above 12. In any single direction.

In reality it’s a bit more difficult. If you happen to fall in a direct path of a UPS route where they only need two delivery trucks and a single trailer. UPS will win. That is UPS store to distribution centre to destination.
Four me even shipping one town over requires 6 hops for ups.
Store to centre to regional to centre satellite to destination. Sending a package 10 miles away ground takes 5 days and costs a fortune.

Where with Fedex I’m only two or three hops from a-z.

The kicker to this is the post office. You can, in theory, use the UsPS routes to your advantage if you and boardsort are in Perfect alignment.
A semi-hidden service called regional rates. Which is only partly accurate.
Boardsort would cost me two region calculation most of the time. But if I take the box 17 miles away to the Postal Distribution and Sorting site I only pay for a single region because it goes from that building by truck directly to the central Ohio location. One trip one region. From there it’s handled like normal priority mail from everyone else.
Regional rates require pre-printed region rate boxes. And no matter what you do region rate prices are used so don’t try shipping Bangor to LA that way. But if you’re in the heartland or Midwest (or southern New England) it’s worth looking into.
You need a USPS.com account to get regional boxes but they are free and they are delivered directly to your door.
You can use PayPal or Stamps.com and some other services (like CoinStamps) to print regional rate labels.

I use Fedex myself because it’s less than the post in bulk and The FedEx Office Store I drop at goes directly to the largest centre in our area. So. No extra shipping stops along the way for sorting.


In reality you need to do each order up in mock each time. I’ve split multi box orders across 4 shippers at different speeds.
Chris et al are VERY Organised, as long as you are.
After you know what you’re doing email Chris your order number and the tracking numbers for each box (you’re supposed to anyway).
They can put the order to get again once everything gets there.

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 12:17 pm 

Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:03 am
Posts: 17
@Lost

What are the 4 shippers that you use?
And I'm still not sure about your FedEx instructions... My box size was under 32" in each direction, I'm not quite sure why it didn't work. It would appear that you are suggesting that I am in an advantageous spot for UPS and that's why it works better for me.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 1:29 pm 
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CalebCutts wrote:
It would appear that you are suggesting that I am in an advantageous spot for UPS and that's why it works better for me.

Exactly. You appear to be in their honey zone.

I use USPS for smalls that I can get in the first class package rate.
And I’ll make the short drive to use regional rates when it’s advantageous.

Fedex for anything heavier that a few pounds. I’m in their honey zone.

UPS for anything in strange sizes. Their pricing is more adaptable to something abnormal shapes.

uShip for loads over a few hundred pounds.

I used TNT for years but they’re part of Fedex now in the US.

Internationally I use FedEx and UPS. Fedex because of my long history and trust in them, And because TNT still handles trade overs in many countries.

UPS because much of Europe and Africa will be handed over to DHL contractors, not a local carrier.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:41 am 

Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2014 1:59 pm
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Lost

Give me a shot on your shipments of a few hundred pounds or more


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 12:11 pm 
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Yes absolutely.
I just very rarely have anything that heavy going further than I’m willing to drive myself.
My shipments to boardsort are usually 20-50lbs and only once or twice a year.
I find some sort of rescue for most of what I bring in. ;)

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