Rant on the US Post Office

I once ordered a small wood lathe , fedEx delivered it when I wasn’t there, the box was beaten to hell ,when I opened it up The lathe bed was broken in half. FedEx owns that lathe , jet sent the new one ups and I met them at the transfer station and took it home my self.
Edit : the USPS has been fine
 
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I'm an outsider commenting here, but on average, when I recieved a package from the states compared to China export, or European export, or Canadian shipped, the USPS packages are generally in rougher shape. I haven't ordered anything significantly heavy, usually just small parts in flat rate boxes, or padded envelopes.
I don't think I can recall a time I got a BOX from China. Almost always bags or envelopes. But I used to get care packages (boxes) from a family member in Switzerland and they were in fine shape.
Just last week I got a box shipped from California. It was packaged very securely, but the box was beat up. Corners all dented in, one side corner dented in. Contents were fine, box was maybe 3lbs.

Just my two cents. The USPS does seem to be a bit careless with boxes, or maybe just always in a hurry?
 
I received two "heavy" shipments last year. One was a machinist's level, via USPS and the other was a 7 hp gasoline engine sent via UPS. Both arrived without incident. The level was contained withing a wooden box, no sharp features to punch through the shipping container. The engine was bolted to a wooden base. Plenty of protrusions to poke through and very little padding but the wooden base effectively restrained any internal movement.

When I used to ship, I made liberaql use of "FRAGILE" and "THIS SIDE UP" labels. I suspect theat USPS and UPS tend to think that if a box is heavy, it is rugged. I also insured every package for full replacement value. I suspect that seeing the insurance label on the packages aqlong with the caution labels gave the handlers pause to think before lobbing it across the room.
 
Well just to finish this out, I guess I'm over being mad about the whole deal. The Post Office sent a $50 check to the sender (that's what the priority shipping boxes get insured for). I doubt they put much time into even checking or trying to find it because I'm certain that would cost them more than the $50. I agree with all of you that the ultimate responsibility lies with the shipper. Good news is the guy has another Skinner chuck in the same condition but without a backing plate. We're in the process of working a deal where he sends me this chuck with a refund for an agreed upon price for the cost of a backing plate. I stressed to him to pack it like it had to survive nuclear war this time.
 
We've received (3) heavies, shipped via USPS, in the past month and they have all been fine.
When you consider the volume that the USPS handles they don't do a bad job.
 
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