A Rant on Shipping
/But first … This Week in Macro World
Tuesday 3/31/26 - 8pm - A new workflow for designing a winning competition entry - https://youtube.com/live/VXbfK4Kto7U?feature=share
Thursday 4/2/26 - 2pm - The March Competition Results Video - https://youtube.com/live/uNYkttnZMOs?feature=share
Saturday 4/4/26 - 10AM - AfterStack 41 -
Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Allan Walls' AfterStack 41
Time: Apr 4, 2026 10:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
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What Happened to the Shipping Industry?
Hi everyone.
Today’s blog post may be just a tad off-topic, but depending on your relationship with photography, it may not. But even if this is a subject with no immediate relevance in your life, I believe it is something worth thinking about.
So what is this mysterious topic that has earned the honor of a rant from me? It is the state of domestic shipping in the US. This is not really intended to be a rant, but it will be hard for me to completely ignore how irritated my experiences have been this week. But let me go back to where all this started and walk you through the discoveries that have left me so frustrated.
At the beginning of this week I finally finished prepping my financial records for my CPA to use in doing my tax returns. I had sent her most of the materials electronically but had several important documents that I wanted to give her as paper documents. With my spreadsheets and a two page letter, the final stack of documents was less than 30 pages and weighed under 8 ounces, in a standard letter sized manila envelope. Because I had left it so late, I decided I should send her the supporting documents using an overnight-capable carrier, which I knew was going to be costly, so before heading out to ship the small package I decided it would be prudent to find out which of the available shippers was the most economical for this service.
There are four: Federal Express (FedEx), the United Parcel Service (UPS), Dalsey, Hillblom, and Lynn (DHL), and, everyone’s favorite, the United States Postal Service (USPS). I always thought DHL was a German company and that the D must be “Deutschland” - but they are not, and it doesn’t. Anyway - these were my starting point, and I started doing my homework. My plan was to go to each website, review their policies and pricing and find out who could get my package from Peoria to South Alabama in the shortest time for the least expense.
I started with FedEx, for no reason other than I have always had an inclination to like this company, even though I can’t remember why. This early part of the experience seemed to be consistent with this predisposition as I found their website reason ably helpful, well organized and well-maintained. In no time I was able to locate, on one page a table that showed all of their”next-day” offerings, along with price estimates for each. I am 874 miles distant from my accountant, putting my planned shipment in the most expensive of their three overnight shipping zones. I learned that they offer six different pricing tiers worshipping a package like mine. I could get the package to my CPA by 8:30 AM, the next day for only (!) $130.60. If I could wait until 10:30AM for the delivery, my cost would be reduced to $76.60. For $51.95 I could have it delivered by 3PM, tomorrow. These three products are the FedEx First Overnight, Priority Overnight, and Standard Overnight, respectively. I could save another $1.50 by sending it 2nd Day AM, having it delivered on the second day 10:30AM. For $11.90 I could send it either by “2-Day”, arriving by 5PM on the second day, or for the same price, I could use Express Saver which would have it to the CPA by 5PM on the third day. I decided to go with the $52 option, Standard Overnight, if it was comparable in price to the other companies’ offerings.
After spending less than 30 minutes on FedEx I was lulled into a false optimism that this was going to be a quick and easy process. Then I opened the USPS website and my confidence evaporated. The UPS pricing page is absolutely unintelligible, with a never ending series of tables and charts, a see of numbers with dozens, if not hundreds of superscript number references to allow the user to understand the cryptic mess that they had wandered in to. That was what I thought I was looking at, but after scrolling through the longest webpage that I have ever seen, reading most of the written content, I discovered that the endless reference numbers were not actually accompanied by the expected list of footnotes. They appeared to be unconnected to anything and were clearly of no use whatsoever. The USPS has various express and priority options, but in every case you cannot get a price estimate without knowing in which geographic group your recipient is located. And, you guessed it, this is one of the many key nuggets of information that has footnote reference numbers, but no footnotes. I was able to determine that shipping of the package would cost between $33 and $65, with no extra services. It was also unclear exactly when One could expect the envelope to reach the recipient - somewhere in the 1-3 day range was noted in several places. In the end, I gave up on ever getting a definitive answer from the website.
The next stop in my journey down the rabbit hole was at the website of UPS - a staggeringly frustrating and unhelpful hour in my day. I came away with absolutely no idea - none at all - not even a rough ballpark guess. To get a shipping cost from this unhelpful website you need to initiate a “shipment” order, giving them every scrap of information about sender and recipient - the others were satisfied with zip codes. This felt very intrusive and I felt like the price of getting a quote from these people was a block of data that would, no doubt, be sold on to some marketing outfit or other. Anyway, it didn’t matter because the UPS computer told me that my accountant’s address, copied from her website and double checked, was not a real address and could not be used. There was essentially no useful information available through this platform and I eventually gave up and left the site without the vaguest idea of what the cost of express shipping this little package might be.
I was a lot less hopeful as I headed over to the DHL site, as it appeared that it has become standard operating procedure to keep the customer in the dark and at the shipping company’s mercy. DHL also needed me to fill out a form, with information about me and the recipient, after which it told me that a single envelope, dropped off at the DHL office on 3.27.26 would be delivered 5 days later and would set me back at least $37.98. I was tempted to call the company to get to the bottom of the 5-day-overnight shipping concept that when I glimpsed something in the small print that caught my attention . It turns out that there is a very interesting word used to modify the meaning of the “expected delivery date” language on the DHL website. The word is “possible” and it is used as follows - overnight shipping means that the delivery of a package, shipped this afternoon will be delivered “Tomorrow or on the next possible day”. Am I the only one who finds this choice of words concerning? I couldn’t resist sending a message to their Customer Service Department, asking for their best working definition of the word “possible”, in this context. Paraphrasing, I was told that “when an overnight package arrives the next day, delivery was possible, and when it does not arrive, delivery was not possible”. This circular, outcome-defined predicate, a retroactive definition disguised as a promise, summed up the way this fruitless research had left me feeling frustrated, manipulated, and disrespected, but no closer to having an answer to my very simple question - “what is the most economical way to ship this envelope?”
I made an executive decision and chose the only company that appeared to give me the information I asked for - FedEx. The office is not far from my studio and I set off to get this cursed package off my desk. I walked into the shipping and retail location minutes later and with plenty of time to spare before crossing the “drop-off deadline” for the day - it was Wednesday. I stood in line, with a stiff upper lip, as would be expected of an English gentleman in public, and eventually made it to the counter. I was confronted by an angry woman who was clearly not having a good day, who barked an inquiry one might expect to hear if caught sneaking across a neighbor’s back garden in the dead of night - “what do you want?”. I told her I would like to overnight the small package in my hand. Her claw flashed out from the counter and my envelope vanished from my grip. Without a word she began scratching and clicking on the keyboard of her computer without uttering a word to me. After an eternity she looked up and asked which of their overnight services I would like to ruin her day by choosing. “Standard” I sheepishly offered. To my utter amazement, the price for this service was exactly what I can calculated from the information on the website and, despite the obscenely high price - almost $52, I thought I might be close to the end of this ordeal.
This was when the gorgon looked up from her computer screen and handed me a receipt and confirmed that the package would be at its destination by 3PM on Friday. It was Wednesday and I gently pointed this fact out to the glowering beast who stared at me as if trying to decide which part of me that she should devour first. Reminding her that I had asked for overnight service, she barked back that Friday was overnight. “No” I answered, “Friday is overnights, not overnight”. “Not here, it isn’t” she growled. “Friday counts as overnight for us”. Falling back on my reasonable understanding of how clocks and calendars work I told the thing behind the counter that I would like to change my shipping option to the “2nd Day” service (calculating that this $11.60 alternative would get the package to LA (Lower Alabama) by 10:30AM on Friday while saving me $40 or so). She ripped open the first mailer and placed it in the 2nd Day envelope and announcing that my package would arrive by 3PM on Monday (5 days in the future). Spitefully, I told her that I had changed my mind and would go with the $52 “overnight” shipping after all. As the color filled her face area I beat a hasty retreat, eager to get back to the relative safety of my studio. On the way I could not stop asking myself how a company, albeit a very large company, could, on a whim, change the meaning of a word as clear and unambiguous as “overnight” to something that basically means “some time in the future”. 2nd day actually means 5th day, I suppose. Most first class mail - the kind you put a stamp on and drop in a mailbox, seldom takes 5 days to arrive and $11.90 can buy a few stamps, I believe.
I think that the time has come for me to simplify my shipping strategy and return to the good old post office. The Post Office is archaic, inefficient, and occasionally unreliable, but it is also trustworthy, relatively affordable, and content to leave the meanings of words alone. Not once has the USPS tried to convince me that a package taking three days to arrive should be considered an “overnight” shipment. Neither have they upsold me an expensive “next day overnight” product to ensure that my 2-day shipment arrived in 2 days and not the 5 days I could expect from a 2-day shipment. As frustrating as the Postal Service can be, it is making an effort. The USPS has been a target for governmental downsizing for several years, but you couldn’t tell it from the professionalism of the women and men in the trenches. Indeed, these hard-working public employees have responded to the challenge by improving efficiency and becoming more competitive in the customer service realm. I moved away from the USPS when their prices started to move towards those charged by the big-name shippers. Suddenly ,FedEx and UPS found themselves on a more level playing field and positioned to capture a large chunk of USPS business. Whether they did or not, I don’t know, but after FedEx was able to ship a large framed photograph, to the West Coast, have it arrive in perfect condition, and manage to keep my cost very close to USPS rates, I did switch to FedEx. My business was theirs to lose, and they lost no time making that happen.
At the end of the day, there are two ways by which a product or service can become my profitable for the vendor:
The price is increased while the product or service is unchanged
The price is held steady while the quality or volume (or both) of the service or product is reduced
Neither of these strategies are welcomed by the customer, but either would be preferable to the tactic of insulting the intelligence of loyal customers by redefining the meaning of a key word in the product description, assuming we won’t notice we are paying ”next-day” delivery prices for 2nd day delivery service. Or 2nd-day delivery prices for 5-day delivery service.
For now, at least, the customer still has the freedom to chose which vendor they use and I am exercising my right to take my business to a shipping company that has a track record of valuing integrity over profit, while treating their customers with respect and courtesy. The Post Office is not the super-affordable shipping alternative it used to be, but despite that, it is delivering services that are more affordable and at least as reliable as those the private sector seems willing or able to provide.
We are living in difficult times, with an economy that is pushing businesses to maximize profits, often at the expense of alienating customers. Maybe it is time for us to exert our influence by taking our business to vendors who share our values and are willing to earn our patronage with hard work and integrity? Just a thought …..
What about you - what shipping services do you use and why did you choose them?
One more thing …
I did not intend for this commentary to turn into a rant and the issues outlined above are not unique to the shipping industry. Please also bear in mind that I am the last person you should go to for business advice. I have never built a successful business and don’t expect I ever will. But I have also never taken a penny from a client or customer without earning it, to the satisfaction of that client or customer, and don’t expect that I will ever do that, either. So my comments are made from the perspective of a customer (with limited resources to allocate to shipping) who thinks that you might be interested in hearing about my experience. Shall we get back to photography?
I nearly forgot!
