Neat/New UPS Service.....

I generally have nary a problem w/ my FedEx/UPS wine shipments, even though I’m not at home much of the day. My FedEx guy just flips upen my garage door, slips the boxes inside, scribbles down a sig, and off he goes. My UPS guy would just stack it on my front porch, scribble down a sig, and off he’d go. All worked just fine.

Alas, my UPS guy retired a few weeks ago. I’ve not been able to convince his new replacement to bend the rules & just drop it on my porch. So I’ve been having to hang out more at home when I have a UPS shipment incoming.

So, last week, on my UPS Quantuum View e-mail, I noticed the notice had changed and there was a “Follow My Delivery” button at the bottom. So I clicked on it and up popped a window in my browser that indicated the status of the delivery. On the day it was “Out For Delivery”, it showed a GoogleMaps of WhiteRock w/ a house icon at my residence and a truck icon of the delivery vehicle, updated in real time.

So I could watch the route as he was doing his deliveries, as he drove into WhiteRock, ripped down the hwy behind my house and over into PajaritoAcres several miles away where he was dropping off packages. So I just got into my car, headed over to where the truck icon was indicated in PajaritoAcres, flagged him down has he drove down MontereyDrive S, and picked up my Arnot-Roberts package right there on the road. Kinda neat I thought.

So looks like a new UPS feature that makes my life a whole lot simpler. Beats a long drive to SantaFe to pickup a “hold at station”. Since WhiteRock is a small/spread-out village, it works fine. Not sure how this’d work in a more urban environment, though.
Tom

Interesting! Hadn’t noticed that

If many people decided to do this, I’m sure that would piss the driver off and management as well, since there could be liability and efficiency issues.

I’ve seen it with recent deliveries. I’m not chasing down my UPS guy, though

I used it last week. I noticed he was less than and quarter mile away so decided not to leave the house. Then he turned a different direction and it was another two hours before he showed. Sounds great, but not a great predictor of when the package will be delivered, at least within a narrow timeframe.

Used it for the last 5 deliveries. Quite often the UPS truck goes past my house in early AM but doesn’t deliver until the afternoon. In my area businesses and priority delivery get 1st preference. Doubles back over his route for the rest. It’s great, based on how far away the delivery is I can go out and return in time to receive the delivery.

It helps but if there are several UPS trucks in proximity, it doesn’t specify the truck. I imagine that will be patched at some point. It also isn’t available in all delivery areas.

Much respect for the power move of flagging him down/driving him off the road to secure your wine. What’s yours is yours.

Guess I don’t see it as a “power move”. He was stopped to make a delivery, & so handed over my package
then&there and it saved him a stop at my house. Certainly an easier delivery for him. The guy is a great guy.
How this’ll work when my 17 cs of Carlisle arrive…that’s anuther thing.
Tom

True dat…unless he takes a standard route day-in/day-out.
It indicated my delivery was in the neighborhood…but he was about 3 miles away. So not all that precise
for delivery time estimates.
Tom

I noticed that “Follow my Delivery” feature when I received a shipment notification, last week. It was pretty neat. I’m not sure how good it is for predicting when he will be at my house, though. He seemed to be “in the neighborhood” within a mile, or so, for a couple hours. Then, I could see that he was about three blocks away. Two minutes later, the bell rang.

I’m retired. So, I have nothing better to do than to sit around and wait for deliveries.

On the other hand. I am a bit envious of those of you who actually know their UPS/FedEx guy and can make “arrangements” with them. I rarely see the same guy twice in a row. I just assume that they are all actors, and this delivery gig is just something to tide them over until Hollywood calls.

It’s an improvement over what I’m used to. UPS can vary greatly from on location to another.

Like I said, the time of “in the neighborhood” and delivery doesn’t seem to precise. Someday, they will have driverless trucks, w/ a guy on-board
just to wheel the packages in. Then it will be a much more precise thing since the route will already be mapped out.

WhiteRock is a small village and we appear to have only one driver most days. So usually have the same guy for yrs on end.
I give both my FedEx/UPS drivers a good time come Christmas time. Around Christmas time, though, we usually have two or more trucks up here.
Tom

Tom, Maybe a “wine-berserker move”? I did get a good chuckle at the image and wording of Bobby’s post though. p.s. let’s swap notes on the CO Syrah. -Jim

I used this feature for the first time the other day when I discovered it. I know the UPS guy typically comes late morning but was curious how close he was. Sure enough I clicked on it and low and behold I saw the map showing the truck a half mile away around the corner. As I live in a rural area with only 4000 people there is one truck. Sure enough went downstairs opened garage door and there was the truck. Although he would have left the package I was happy to say hello to the driver as he is a great guy who always has a smile.

I just used it on Friday. Same issue, our driver does the businesses, then hits our neighborhood. Our driver is AWFUL. He knows my wife leaves at 3 to pick up the kids, and I think he frankly shows up then on purpose. I was able to track him, and it helped as he came before the window indicated (it said 1:15 to 5:15, he came at 12:30). My wife was out most of the morning, and cut her errands short since he was in our area. Worked great.

Yeah, around here (DC) not all trucks have the GPS tracking, so you don’t get it with every package.

And I had the opposite experience of this one - he was across town and somehow 20 minutes later was delivering (but not) my wine because I wasn’t home.

What would be more useful than a map would be a more refined time projection. They provide a 2 hour window, but surely when it gets inside two hours they could give a reasonable (and constantly updating) estimate of when they’ll arrive, based on the other packages on the truck and the planned delivery route.

It’s in his interest though not to haul the wine to the door and then turn around with it if you’re not there. That said, I’ve sometimes had that feeling - like they’re waiting for you to pull out of your driveway. (Had to go to the customer center 30 mins away after three delivery failures).

NO QUESTION, and I have always beaten that drum of “they really don’t want to keep coming back”, but this guy isn’t wired correctly either. I left notes 3 days in a row, and sure enough, 3 door tags. The big issue is that the UPS hub is 35 minutes from my house each way, so it’s not the best trip either.

Tom, my comment is merely in jest (at least 50% in jest). I have no doubt many on this board have contemplated intercepting the delivery guy to relieve them of wine. You went and did it which is awesome.You know what? I take my apology back. That is a power move of the highest order and I respect the hell out of you for it. You fought the system and you won. It sounds like you may have inspired a modicum of respect in the new delivery driver as well, so there’s that too. I APPLAUD YOU!!!

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