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#1
11-18-2014, 09:17 AM
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About the dullest package track ever
I've got a Gretsch case coming from Amazon in Dupont, Washington. That's a one-week trip via Amazon free UPS Ground (Sorry, text updates unavailable). There's a profound irony in this trip that I'll post about later. But this is clearly the dullest tracking job I've ever done. Normally you can watch the thing checking through regional centers, etc. I get a kick out it, enjoying the ride, popping onto the UPS app every few hours and driving the system mad with info requests. But here's this one:
11/14 at 12:03am, "order processed by shipper: ready for UPS" 11/14 at 8:53pm, "origin scan, Dupont WA" (picked up) 11/15 at 4:47am, "departure scan, Portland, OR" (packed into a cross-country semi-trailer at OR distribution center) Crickets. That probably means it is winding its way to the East Coast in a sealed UPS express trailer, enjoying rest stops at Hess, Marathon, Flying J, or Pilot truck stops and possibly overnighting at other UPS distribution centers, with the entire trailer being handed off to fresh drivers and/or tractors without scans. They probably started on I-84 and waved at Boise before taking a left onto I-80 near Salt Lake City. I'd say the truck is probably near Chicago about now. Oh, about seventeen hours before expected delivery time it will probably show up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or Columbus, Ohio or Baltimore, Maryland, and begin the march down the list of region and local centers to my home. But until then, I am mightily bored. Tick, tick, tick.  Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) 
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#2
11-18-2014, 10:14 AM
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If it isn't delayed, anyway. We had a nasty snowstorm late last week that caused no end of problems on I-84 and I-15 in south Idaho/north Utah. Hope it gets there soon.
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"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar Acoustics 2013 Guild F30 Standard 2012 Yamaha LL16 2007 Seagull S12 1991 Yairi DY 50 Electrics Epiphone Les Paul Standard Fender Am. Standard Telecaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Firebird
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#3
11-18-2014, 10:36 AM
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Quote:
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#4
11-18-2014, 03:01 PM
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With these frigid temps, be thankful it’s a Gretsch case and not a guitar!
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Sandy http://www.sandyandina.com ------------------------- Gramann Rapahannock, 7 Taylors, 4 Martins, 2 Gibsons, 2 V-A, Larrivee Parlour, Gretsch Way Out West, Fender P-J Bass & Mustang, Danelectro U2, Peavey fretless bass, 8 dulcimers, 2 autoharps, 2 banjos, 2 mandolins, 3 ukes I cried because I had no shoes.....but then I realized I won’t get blisters.
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#5
11-18-2014, 03:12 PM
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Yeah, I was up there once for the last week of December when the wind chill took it to -40. We had to walk everywhere. I had mountaineering boots with thermal socks, long johns, and a (genuine) Air Force survival parka but there was just no getting warm for me
Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#6
11-18-2014, 03:29 PM
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I'm a truck driver and work for line haul company that is similar in operation to UPS. Those drivers likely spend very little if any time at truckstops. The average MO is haul trailer(s) from point A to point B approxamately 300 miles away in a BIG hurry. Then drop trailer and hook to another to go back to point A. There may be points, such as truckstops along the way where trailers are swapped with other drivers to continue in a particular direction. And stops at various larger city hubs along the way where trailers are unloaded/processed for varying destinations and reloaded w/freight going same way.
You rarely if ever see a FEDEX or UPS truck overniting in a truckstop. Those guys are humping it.
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#7
11-18-2014, 06:12 PM
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Thanks, F-S. I was actually just kind of daydreaming, remembering a cross-country bus trip I took by hopping between the Union76 Travel Center truck stops and trying to figure out what path a UPS truck might take between Portland and their center in the Mid-Atlantic.
I've dodged the UPS trucks while they were literally hauling the mail so I know they don't waste time. I once actually asked one how he did his runs and it squared well with what you said. I asked because I noticed that their tractors in this area don't have sleeper cabs. Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#8
11-19-2014, 07:06 AM
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Try ordering something from China!
 I recently bought a camera lens off Ebay from someone in China. There were 3 boxes on the tracking info..."shipped", "in transit", and "delivered". Plus, the scheduled delivery date was within a two week period. It sat on the "in transit" box FOREVER. I kept hearing, "Slow Boat to China" in my head over and over and over... lol
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Martin J40 Alvarez Yairi FY-40 Yamaha FG180 Yamaha FG730S 1950 Epiphone Triumph
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#9
11-19-2014, 11:30 PM
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I regularly order from 2 companies in Washington, both ship UPS. I commonly get my package in 50-60 hours from the time of origin facility scanning. That's flyin' low.
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All the years combine, they melt into a dream A broken angel sings from a guitar 2005 Gibson J-45 1985 Guild D17 2012 Fender Am. Std. Stratocaster 1997 Guild Bluesbird
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#10
11-20-2014, 02:40 PM
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Okay, it shows an arrival scan at Laurel, MD at 3:18pm today, so it made it all the way across the country through the snow in six days. Now for the regional hand-off.
Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#11
11-20-2014, 03:12 PM
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This is like trying to watch the pot boil, Bob...
 I was just out visiting my daughter and her family in western New York, in the Fingerlakes Region, and I ordered her a stereo player that receives Bluetooth signals so that they could listen to music in the room (with real speakers) from files on their tablets, smart phones, etc. I luckily got out of there just before all the snow hit the region, but since I have been back in Washington state, I've noticed that her stereo has gotten stuck in Buffalo. With more snow falling there, it may be a while before they get that stereo system. But just like Bob, I keep watching to see what might happen...  - Glenn
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My You Tube Channel
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#12
11-20-2014, 04:18 PM
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It pays to watch the national weather forecasts when ordering things. Look at the weather between point of shipping and point of receiving and decide if it's worth it to you to pay more for shipping for it go by air. If you have the option.
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#13
11-20-2014, 04:19 PM
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Don't ask me why but I enjoy watching this particular kind of pot boil. There's just something reassuring about watching the miles march by. Maybe I'm just into logistics, or fascinated with the genius of private enterprise. By the way, my wife lived a few years in the Fingerlakes region (Cortland).
Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#14
11-20-2014, 04:40 PM
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I placed an order from a retailer in Vancouver Saturday - they shipped late Monday and I had the parcel when I got in from work Tuesday. I was impressed as the last time I ordered from them it took over a week and the tracking was mind boggling. Vancouver to Toronto to Montreal (a little too far east the to the wrong province), then it vanished from tracking for a few days, back to Toronto and then finally a few days after that (4 hour drive normally) it was finally delivered to me.
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___________________ Colin Ensor ES (Sycamore/Lutz) Halcyon (Flamed walnut/Engelmann) Taylor 324ce Taylor Baritone 6 Warwick Streamer Eastman MD505 "I only drink coffee on days ending in 'y' "
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#15
11-20-2014, 05:27 PM
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Quote:
- Glenn
__________________
My You Tube Channel
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