Problem with FedEx Ground Shipping?

In the past year and a half FedEx has bought several carriers and made them thier own. Among them was RPS, a ground service - now FedEx Ground. They've repainted the trucks, but in my area little else has changed ... same drivers etc. I've seen packages beat to hell for no apparant reason and I've also seen packages look like they were courier carried. All in all I can't say that they're any worse than UPS. The comment above about the divisions operating as seperate business units is true ... but I gather that the units are moving towards a more centralized approach. My personal favorite and recent find is BAX Global. They offer air and expidited ground services. I ship large and fragile upholstery for our company, and it survives very well on BAX. Previously I had been forced to use Northwest Air Cargo, and provide my own transport to the involved airport terminals. The key is to let the carrier handle the product as few times as possible ...

The quality of the delivery usually depends on the quality of the delivery man/woman. I suggest you check with your neighbors, that is the most reliable sources.

I work for a company that ships about 1000 packages a day via Fed-Ex Ground (RPS), UPS, Airborne, DHL and several other carriers, and I have found that the ground services are very similar in the number of packages that are lost or damaged. You will find just as many people who hate UPS (www.ihateups.com) as you will who hate Fed-Ex. The safest way (albeit expensive) is to ship either Next Day or Second Day. There are very few mess-ups with the "rush" carriers.

-Kurt

I decided to try FedEx ground, because they were closer to me and cheaper. The first time I was shipping 3 packages, including a power amp and an electric piano. The buyer of the amp was real nervous about the shipment and insisted on insurance which I always do anyways. The counter person forgot to put the insurance on, and nobody knew how to fix it. So they wrote out a slip saying it was insured (I worried until it got there). The tracking # for the electric piano never showed up, and both me and the buyer were concerned when it didn't arrive by the expected delivery date. Another time, I shipped a very carefully packaged guitar from here in Buffalo to Texas. The buyer said there was a dent in the guitar when it arrived. We both contacted FedEx ground. They picked it up for inspection, sent it back to the Buffalo terminal, shipped it back to Texas, and then back to Buffalo again, where I finally received it. The buyer had sent a pic of the original damage, and it was far worse when it finally arrived back to me. They made no attempt to safely repackage the guitar, and it practically fell out of the bottom of the double box. I filed a claim which took several months to settle. I must say that since then, I gave FedEx ground another chance, and they've been better. One final comment: whenever I go to FedEx to ship ground, they genrally seem to get annoyed. They seem to like handling their little overnight packages rather than the larger ground shipments. Then again there's UPS...where should I start...

I use Greyhound. Yes you have to go to the bus station, but it's quick, can be shipped over the weekend and is cheap. And depending on the distance of travel, it usually only gets transferred a few times without the sorting stations...