Garber on Business: Shipping across the country -- or overseas

As the U.S. has recently raised its postage rates, it seems only fitting to re-examine how goods get shipped and what options offer the most bang for the buck.  

USPS versus Canada Post:

First of all, the USPS -- in its great wisdom -- has introduced a new stamp to honour the Simpsons (shown here). We think this is a move to at least entertain us, while mitigating the assault on our wallets. Let me hasten to say that I am a big fan of the United States' postal system. Certainly, it shines brightly by comparison to Canada's system -- especially as Canada Post, having cut off Saturday delivery many, many years ago, is considering reducing mail delivery days even further! The Canadian system also sub-contracts to what I consider sub-par delivery services that insist on playing "silly bugger" with customers. Not that Canada Post itself is above reproach; I've heard of Canada Post outside workers who repeatedly refuse to leave a package because to do their job properly would require the lazy slobs to ascend a single staircase in Toronto's Parkdale. When confronted on the matter, one such worker replied: "I don't climb stairs." And we once had a Canada Post worker in Vancouver who I am convinced was mentally ill; to make a package fit into our mail slot (instead of ringing or knocking on the door), he actually broke in half a CD in the package (marked "fragile," of course). On another occasion, he kicked in our front wooden gate. No kidding.

As it happens, the USPS offers far greater and wider-ranging laws (and the power to enforce them), than does Canada Post, but if you are a diligent researcher, you can find phone numbers in Canada for supervisors on your own "walk," and make a formal complaint. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The effectiveness of your complaint seems to depend on the mental health and attitude of the supervisor you locate.

According to an opinion piece in The Ottawa Citizen, "If you have a rural mailbox, walk to the end of your driveway and kiss it goodbye. Canada Post is engaged in an aggressive campaign to eliminate traditional rural mail delivery. The stupidity of the program is exceeded only by the cost.

"Tens of thousands of Canadians have already had service to their rural mail boxes cut off, including 200 in Ottawa. The number nationally could reach the hundreds of thousands if Canada Post has its way.

"The problem, Canada Post says, is heavy rural traffic volumes that make delivery to end-of-the-lane boxes unsafe. Rural mail carriers have filed 1,700 health and safety complaints since 2004, and Canada Post is simply putting safety first, says corporate spokesman Sachin Despande."

Shipping worldwide:

Oddly enough, shipping from Canadato U.S. destinations is actually cheaper than shipping point-to-point within Canada. The U.S. still offers a "media rate" and a "book rate," neither of which is available in Canada.

Across the European Union countries, costs are identical from member country to member country, and a reasonably priced book rate is available. Most postal outlets (La Poste) in France, for example, also sell easy-to-assemble boxes for shipping (up to a maximum size and weight), but we are not enamoured of their system; often -- once the boxes arrive stateside -- the remainder of the shipment proceeds via DHL, which we have found VERY inefficient. They lost one of our boxes (for which we had paid more than USD $100 to ship!) and there was no compensation or apology forthcoming...ever. Needless to say, we have quit shipping large boxes via La Poste!

If you are attending a large conference in Europe or Asia, chances are you will encounter a smart entrepreneur who is offering shipping services back to the U.S. -- often at an impressive discount, or with some kind of value-added frill or premium. Last year at SIAL, one such firm gave clients their choice of a useful wheeled, pull-along, collapsible shopping cart or a large, sturdy briefcase, either of which could be used to collect goodies during the show, then dropped off at the company's booth for shipping directly to the U.S. at the end of the show. Cost was € 80, regardless of weight (as long as maximum dimensions were observed). And packages -- unlike those sent via La Poste -- were completely trackable and fully insured, at no additional cost. Impressive.

Shipping within Canada:

As I mentioned, it's cheaper to ship from, say, Vancouver to New York City, than from Vancouver to Montréal. By far. But let's imagine you want to send a 15-pound box of paper goods from Vancouver to Toronto. . .

You could use UPS. We priced out our sample box, and it would have cost about $45 CAD, including taxes, door-to-door and trackable. Next, we checked FedEx. Our box -- priced out at Midtown Mailbox Business Centre, cost about $23 CAD, including taxes. This was meant to be door-to-door, but the delivery person only left a slip, and our recipients had to go to a depot to fetch it. To send the box via Canada Post, a 12 x 12 x 24-inch box would cost $23.30, including delivery confirmation, but -- as I mentioned earlier -- this does not account for an outside worker with a personality disorder. As we discovered, our recipients were forced to go to an inconvenient postal outlet (far enough from home to require travelling with a 15-pound box via TTC, so an extra $10-worth of costs for two fares) to fetch their box.

A propos of Midtown Mailbox Business Centre, owner Cal Wilks offers a one-stop centre for all your personal and business services, including custom packaging and shipping, mailbox rentals, Global mail forwarding, copying, printing and faxing. Midtown is a FedEx & DHL "Authorized Ship Centre." Open Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 2416 Main St, Vancouver (604-879-6184; fax: 604-879-3299; midtownmailbox.com).

Venture One:

On the other hand, Canada Post does offer this program for small businesses, which would have saved us five per cent off the $23.30 we were quoted to ship it sans discount. But of course, at the end of the day (and the end of the road), our recipients would still have to deal with the inconvenience of a mentally-ill and recalcitrant postal worker.

Shipping within the USA:

As I mentioned, the USPS has it all over Canada Post, especially when it comes to convenience, customer service and legal protections. There is a special rate for books and for shipping "media"-- which would include DVDs, video tapes and the like. As well, Priority Post rates are remarkably good, and include free packaging (boxes, tubes, envelopes), delivery confirmation and tracking numbers. The post offices are generally open only weekdays (some are open short hours on Saturday), but deliveries take place six days a week, and some businesses receive mail twice a day. If you happen to be the victim of mail fraud (anything sent point-to-point in the US), you have recourse to both the USPS and even the FBI!

Shipping within the E.U.:

Delivery within the European Union countries is a snap. On a recent three-week visit to the UK, our friend Lorraine managed to complete eBay.co.uk auctions, receive payment, and ship cheaply to destinations like Germany and France. All packages were trackable and all her recipients reported receiving their items quickly and in good shape. Deliveries in some EU countries are made twice a day.

"The CAPERS project enabled us to introduce a tool to measure the effectiveness of the postal chain between the EU and the Accession Countries that was not in existence before," said Marc Pouw, secretary general of PostEurop, the non-profit organisation for EU postal operators. "You have to be able to measure the quality of postal deliveries before you can take steps to improve it."

In 2003, Pouw stressed that all the new EU countries immediately possessed the ability to measure the efficiency of their postal chain. "Each postal operator uses the system in different ways," he says. "Some use it more for incoming post from the EU, some more for outgoing. Some use it more for parcels, some for express mail."

However, as he said, in all 10 new EU member states the system is fully operational. The postal operators in these countries all have the ability to scan post items in both directions. "All have the hardware, the software and the human resource skills to operate the system to its full potential," he said. Good news for consumers travelling abroad.

Lastly, we have had mainly wonderful success using bus service for shipping large packages, even computer equipment. It's cost-efficient and reliable, but of course your recipient must fetch the shipped item at a depot.