UPS delivery mysteries

I bought some items from a member this week, he shipped it on Tuesday it was UPS ground. I got it in one day from VA to FL. I have never seen ground ship that far in one day.

It's very common for UPS to deliver close in with one day service for ground.  I get stuff from my daughter in Boston to near Phila overnight with UPS.

One of the more costly engines I have ever bought--not O gauge--is due to be delivered to me next Tuesday via UPS.  Ordered Wednesday and shipped today from California.  Not bad service.

UPS has a major shipping hub outside of Chicago with direct access to a container yard. It probably went by rail to Illinois and will be trucked to Iowa.

UPS Chicago Area Consolidation Hub (CACH)The UPS Chicago Area Consolidation Hub, opened in 2005, is the largest land transport distribution center in the United States and the largest package sorting facility in the world. It acts as a large cross-docking facility sorting about 1.3 million parcels per day, which is roughly 10% of the UPS daily ground volume. It consolidates traffic bound for the East and the West coasts. The facility is linked to a BNSF intermodal rail terminal (Willow Springs), which handles about 40% of the traffic processed by the distribution center. Trucks can deliver inbound traffic at one of the 126 inbound doors, which is then sorted and brought to one of the 1,000 outbound loading bays. 15 minutes is all of what is required for the sorting to take place if the package is of standard size such as an envelope or a small box. About 11,000 people work at the facility. Packages bound for UPS distribution facilities located less than 400 miles away are usually trucked while for destinations greater than 400 miles, the trailer is likely to be loaded on a train.

 What is it? What is it? What is it? What scale? How big? Can we see it? Where is it? Who'd U get it from? Where will U run it? What color is it? Why did U...............

Allan,

Good delivey time for your engine.  My posting was more just musing over delivery routing patterns.

Star topology.  Gee just like DCS wiring schemes

There must have been no left hand turns between your vendor and your house. 

Odd routes of packages is called 'LOGISTICS' by the educated!! I have had packages pass within 30 miles of my house THREE times before being delivered.

BUT....on a positive note.......I bought a carburetor online from a national retailer. 

The package was shipped via UPS. It was addressed TO the retailer, my P O Box number only and my town and zip code.....in which the only business is a gas station.  My UPS guy saw it was auto parts and figured it was mine......otherwise there would be a $200 carb out there floating in neverland.....I told my UPS guy I owed him!

And yes.....the package strange route does drive you crazy!

Accucraft 45-tonner Center Cab.  1:20.3 scale (brass).  Yellow/unlettered w/safety stripes.  Destined for a high-level around the walls layout I plan to put in my home, if I can free-up some wall space.  I'll take a picture after it gets here.

What's a carburetor???  (just teasing, used to take 'em apart to clean)

You had the easy job then. It's putting them back together that's the hard part. 

I picked up some train items at an auction in Phoenix and shipped them to PA parcel post.  First the box went to CA from PHX then East.  Had it in 5 days. I figure it flew from CA to PA then the rest of the time it was trucked.  Anyway the box arrived in perfect condition, like it was when I dropped it off in PHX. 

Depending on where you are, that might be right turns.

I shipped some train stuff to Long Island, NY from Pittsburgh.  It first went west to mid Ohio, and then on to New York.  Go figure?

UPS deliveries within 400 miles are usually 1 day. 800 miles 2 days. Going across country, for example from Ca. east is put on a train to the nearest RR yard near the delivery city then trucked the rest of the way. That is the reason when you track a package it looks like it's sitting in ca. for a couple of days when it is actually on the train.

Can't crack U, can I?

Pretty mellow response and I was expecting a blasting!

Now that G gauge engine is another thing......Hmmm, around the walls.... Nope. She won't let me 'er them upstairs! I'm going around the house outside then!

 I get a kick out of deliveries that can come in a day or two from far away and a week or more if they are close by? Logistics. Well it all washes out even in the end I guess.

Speaking of G gauge how goes the SD70ACe?

Keep in mind that the original Federal Express system (founded by ex UPSers) required

all packages to go by air to the Memphis hub and back out again.  So if you shipped from

Philadelphia to NYC it went via Memphis.

The hub and spoke system works beautifully in the world of packages, but less so in the world of human transportation by air.  The airlines used their hubs to semi- monopolize traffic at key hubs (e.g. American at Dallas, United at Chicago etc.) as well as boost load factors on their equipment.  But the poor traveler who had become used to direct

service found himself continually transferring planes hoping to make the connections without too much trouble.

Lew Schneider

UPS has NEVER damaged a train package out of hundreds delivered, including HEAVY and expensive gauge one live steam! 

Am I just "lucky", or overall is their service fairly consistent? 

From MY own experience with UPS, I go with the latter! 

For some reason, I stopped?? I got some fans custom made on a 3D plastic printer by Daniel Peck. That was a big step forward for me towards realism. I'm working on so many things that the engine got pushed off the bench and onto a shelf. I have a feeling I won't get back to it until it's too hot outside to do anything else. Maybe that will be a good time for paint? I would like to improve the rear intake grilles, maybe from brass. Add door panels, and redo the GE frame for EMD details.