So how is the shipping industry doing right now..?

[AestheticsInMotion]

*"A letter carrier in Detroit reported that colleagues around the city were assigned two eight-hour routes each day last week to make up for missing employees and pallets full of undelivered boxes. In the first two weeks of December, nearly one of every five work hours within the entire agency was an overtime hour, according to public payroll data."

“Everybody is doing their best to try to accommodate this. There’s a reality, though, that the increase that has been seen in the package industry, writ large, was really planned for over the next three or five years instead of the next three or five months. It’s a real conundrum to have that much growth in that period.”

The transformation has hit some limits, however. Merchants Fleet, which manages delivery vans for shippers looking to increase holiday capacity, had 6,000 vehicles on the road this time last year. This year, it has 15,000. “And if we could have found 5,000 more cargo vans, we could have had 20,000 on,” explains CEO Brendan Keegan, who says cargo vans in particular are nearly impossible to buy right now, at any price.*

Shit is crazy. A stranger paid for my groceries today when I was decked out in company gear, which was as nice as it was unexpected.

The good news is that in 5 days we'll start getting more sunlight hours, and in 10 days, peak may start to decline.

[jminer]

@AestheticsInMotion man you all are doing kickass work. An industry which was not that long ago dealing with declining profits is now functioning so far over capacity it’s nuts.

I can’t imagine being in the delivery field.

Also this plus everyone else wanting to build a camper explains why every van on CL doubled in price in the last 6 months.

[LooseonExit]

@AestheticsInMotion Container rates are through the roof in the last month. Lots of things we've ordered are late. It's going well if you're in the shipping/delivery business. Unless you're a driver and then you might hate life...

[Just Jeepin']

I just want my new license plate to show up before my temporary one falls apart or expires. Is that so much to ask?

Sigh. #firstworldproblems

[Poor_sh]

@just-jeepin I suspect we've been downgraded to at least 2nd world

[AestheticsInMotion]

@jminer said in So how is the shipping industry doing right now..?:

@AestheticsInMotion man you all are doing kickass work. An industry which was not that long ago dealing with declining profits is now functioning so far over capacity it’s nuts.

I can’t imagine being in the delivery field.

Also this plus everyone else wanting to build a camper explains why every van on CL doubled in price in the last 6 months.

As one of those people who wants to build a camper, I'm feeling the pain from both ends!

[ranwhenparked]

@poor_sh 2nd World was the Soviet bloc, it's a direct fall from 1st to 3rd nowadays.

[TexturedSoyProtein]

I'd settle for my mail arriving more quickly than the 10 or so days it's averaging now. Thanks, DeJoy.

[AestheticsInMotion]

@looseonexit said in So how is the shipping industry doing right now..?:

@AestheticsInMotion Container rates are through the roof in the last month. Lots of things we've ordered are late. It's going well if you're in the shipping/delivery business. Unless you're a driver and then you might hate life...

I do feel bad for the drivers. Luckily most people seem to be very appreciative of their work, which helps quite a bit

[Poor_sh]

@ranwhenparked WE CAN GO LOWER!

[AestheticsInMotion]

@texturedsoyprotein said in So how is the shipping industry doing right now..?:

I'd settle for my mail arriving more quickly than the 10 or so days it's averaging now. Thanks, DeJoy.

I wish I could say I think that the USPS will soon rebound, healthier than ever, but...

[Shop-Teacher]

@aestheticsinmotion Man, that is incredible. I really appreciate the insight you've been providing for us into this ever more critical industry.

[pip bip]

@aestheticsinmotion when I order stuff I just want a fair price for shipping and a reasonable delivery time, not arm and a leg pricing for service that takes fucking months to arrive

The joys of living in Australia

[AestheticsInMotion]

@pip-bip said in So how is the shipping industry doing right now..?:

@aestheticsinmotion when I order stuff I just want a fair price for shipping and a reasonable delivery time, not arm and a leg pricing for service that takes fucking months to arrive

The joys of living in Australia

I am insanely spoiled by free two-hour shipping.

[pip bip]

@aestheticsinmotion 🥺

[facw]

@aestheticsinmotion No vans huh? I wonder if you could rent busses and passenger vans from services that are currently shut down or operating well under capacity? Obviously not optimal, but more optimal than not delivering?

I think UPS must be using passenger cars for last mile around here some, I've seen multiple times one of their vans stop in front of my apartment and fill a white car up to capacity with boxes, which seems like it would only make sense if you were then going to have the car deliver, letting the van get back to base for another load sooner.

[AestheticsInMotion]

@facw UPS is doing exactly that. To put how desperate they are into perspective, in my area UPS was offering over $30/h plus fuel allowances for drivers off the street to deliver out of their personal vehicle.

I'm about ready to fill a semi with packages, park it in our service area and have drivers refill from it at various times throughout the day...

[davesaddiction]

@Dusty-Ventures Are you surviving?

[DipodomysDeserti]

@aestheticsinmotion Yeah, I'm having a hell of a time getting a Rock Auto order delivered to me. It was supposed to be delivered by Fed Ex. They handed it off to DHL who seems to have handed it off to USPS. It's been just sitting in Ohio for over a week. Better than Levis who can't be bothered to even ship out my order. Been waiting ten days for them to even send it out. I'd cancel, but they gave me 40% off, plus another 20% off for waiting. Unfortunately it's a jacket, and I fear our winter will be over by the time it gets here.