I just found the algorithms FedEx uses, the RRG algorithms…Random Route Generator.
If I have very delicate items to be shipped, or expensive ones, I pay for UPS to wrap and package them (double boxed too). 1. I get an AARP discount for the packaging, and 2. It will make any insurance claim a lot (a LOT) easier to win.
I think most shippers need to take packaging lessons from Rob and Shauna at MagnaRisers—bombproof and then some.
Oh, I agree @owlsalum. If I had meant for these things to be shipped via UPS, I’d have packed them completely differently. I’ve done a lot of shipping over the years. My usual method is to pack a “box within a box” with enough space and heavy duty padding between the two boxes to take the beating. I’d have also used real boxes, not the two ply toilet paper used by U-Haul (which, however, is great for DIY loading and driving). This situation was the result of just a bad combination of circumstances. I still consider the outcome positive. 
This is all so sad to hear and makes an even more compelling argument to bring back the brick and mortar stores. Never had a problem with them and if an item was damaged, just took it back and got another one.
“Back in the day,” many years ago, a plumb summer job while in college was as a “sorter” in the local UPS distribution hub. Basically, taking parcels off of a conveyor and loading them into the proper trailer for the next leg of the journey.
While this predates Amazon’s legendary working conditions, there were closely observed “productivity” metrics, including how long it took to load a trailer. The common practice amongst the minions was to build a carefully stacked wall of parcels (dubbed the s**t wall) about mid trailer to hide a vacant section of trailer just beyond it. Parcels were then lobbed over the wall without stacking properly to keep up with productivity standards. But things looked all hunky-dory if the shift supervisor happened by.
UPS publishes a “drop test” which involves test dropping your loaded package from a height of 3 feet (If I recall correctly) onto a concrete surface - once on each face of the box and once on each corner.
The place I worked for before retiring tested the packaging at a height of around 10 feet just to make sure.
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I know all of my packages coming from Boulder were routed thru Hagerstown then White Marsh. It’s when the packages hit the local trucks that things seem to go awry. I had tracking saying my P3 was on the local truck to be delivered, before 9:00PM. No show. Came up as delivered the next morning. But I hadn’t seen any FedEx trucks all day. Lo and behold about 6:00PM the USPS girl knocked on the front door with my FedEx package. I never did see the Phono preamp. Just disappeared. Made to White Marsh then vanished.
Rest assured, it is one HELL of a time to be in the shipping business.
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I can not imagine. Demand is only going up at this point too!
I hope I’m wrong, but I think Pandemic #2 will be significantly worse than #1, which will make matters quite a bit worse. The load will be greater, as will the number who call out sick, or just quit.
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Hope your Phono Preamp shows up - Sparrows Point Fedex “misdelivered” and “recovered” my P3 on Monday - it showed up Wednesday at COB. We do contract work for Fedex out of the White Marsh and Sparrows Point hubs - we are all hurting for qualified drivers.
Chiming in to beat the equine carcass one last time…
After several contradictory tracking notices (as in being told delivery was delayed again only to have a package delivered that same day), I now have my complete order. All is set up and running. I am very much enjoying the sound. So much so that I will not allow ExFed’s shenanigans to dissuade me from purchasing PSA equipment in future.
The frustration is becoming a distant memory. Now I just need this damnable heat wave to end as the A/C running non-stop distracts from the music. Grrrr 
Our FedEx freight guy said all of the freight guys are really tired of hearing about local delivery issues. They’re taking a lot of heat. Most of the local drivers work for franchised route owners and just don’t give a crap. We caught one the other day just throwing packages out in the middle of a parking lot behind our shop.
It is a matter of who is working for whom, especially in a service economy.
Great to hear Mike! Glad that the wait and shipping irritation in the end hasn’t distracted from the enjoyment of the new gear.
Video it next time and post it. Forward a copy to their HQ.
ouch. “We caught one the other day just throwing packages out in the middle of a parking lot” “I’m so sorry sir, are the packages still there?”
The “just toss it on a truck” leads to a lot of the “misdeliveries” that are scanned as “Delivered/Exception” from what my guys tell me.
We can’t deliver it if we don’t have it 
This is a different excuse for a shipment not arriving on time. I ordered a Tascam CD recorder from The Music Room. FedEx said it would arrive before the end of the day yesterday. Well, yesterday is over and no box. If you track the box today it says, “Potentially delayed”. You think?! It’s in Hagerstown, which is our closest hub. It’s saying delivery by the end of the day today. I don’t ever remember getting something from FedEx on a Sunday but we’ll see. What good are those tracking systems if you can’t rely on them?
On a happier note, I ordered the new Neal Morse Band CD yester day from Amazon. I expected to get that sometime next week but I got an email saying it shipped early and I should have it today. That’ll give me something new to listen to after dinner tonight.
It can happen, David. In my case at least, my Pass monoblocks were actually shown as Out for Delivery on a Saturday. They never showed up, but on that next day Sunday the FedEx truck showed up and they were delivered to my front porch. Good luck!
I’m in The Bel Air area, and often get FedEx deliveries on Sundays. And don’t worry about you delivery today. It will be in Detroit by the end of the day!
I’m waiting on FedEx to deliver a pair of shoes that were supposed to be “out for delivery” two days ago. Now they’re supposed to be here by the end of the day today, but nothing yet (5:00 PM), despite my having seen 2 different FE delivery trucks drive right by my house today while I was working in my garage.