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Even though I agreed with you, but you wouldn't be affected if you aren't dealing with China. I believe it is a part of Chinese law.

I send stuff across the boarder with Fedex frequently (Canada->US and Canada->Asia). I've never been asked for my passport.

It seems that passport copied is required when you are dealing with import/export with China.

For expensive deliveries, I just ask the shipper (e.g. amazon) to ship to my office instead of home and then add a delivery notification so that I know when to head up to reception and thank them for helping out. Total added cost is a few smiles and maybe a cookie every once in a while.

For routine deliveries, FedEX, UPS and USPS all have the ability to leave them with standing instructions, such as "leave on side porch", "leave with neighbor", "I'll pick up from your office", etc., FedEx and UPS will also do scheduled-time deliveries and will even redirect to a different address, although these are extra-cost services.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but it looks like your browser no longer supports Flash®.
In order to enable Flash and continue with your FedEx Office® print purchase, please update your browser using the simple steps provided below.

As a thank you for your patience and for being a valued FedEx Office customer, please use “FLA726” at checkout to receive $5 off on orders over $30*.
*See Terms and Conditions

So, you will be "collecting" nothing, no matter how many virtual machines you use.

[...] it would be better because you could receive UPS and FedEx packages there also (privately deliveries to PO boxes is banned under current law).

Wrong! I get FedEx and UPS deliveries to my PO box all the time. DHL will drop ship to the post office street address and POB number.

https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/track/sp_definition.html
http://www.fedex.com/us/smart-post/outbound.html
http://www.dhl-usa.com/en/ecommerce/businesscustomers/domestic_products.html#parcel_plus

When was the last time you walked into a post office — the 20th-century?

You should qualify that. Some drivers have sued and won. My roommate happens to drive as a FedEx contractor and FedEx clearly offers contractor opportunities.

But yeah, they also have some severe restrictions on what they're not allowed to carry, and they err way on the side of caution. If you told them "this is a block of lead, and I plan to melt it for bullets", they may well refuse, and by some legal interpretations they might *have* to.

http://www.fedex.com/us/freigh...

Item 780, section B-6:
Carrier will transport small-arms ammunition when packed and labeled in compliance with local, state and federal law, and the Hazardous Materials section of this Service Guide. Ammunition is an explosive and must be shipped separately as hazardous materials. You agree not to ship loaded firearms or firearms with ammunition in the same package.

So I'm damn sure the implied use for the lead wouldn't keep it from being shipped. There may be other reasons, but nothing due to bullets.

However, you can't ship:
Money (and, apparently, anything like it)
Alcohol
Porn
postage stamps
letters, with or without stamps
valuable paper of any kind
fresh food
Articles of extraordinary value (extraordinary value is defined as items valued in excess of $50 per pound per package).
artwork
film, photos, negatives, etc
jewelry
tobacco products (unless shipped from and to a licensed dealer/distributor)

I found a few of those to be kinda surprising, but almost all of them tend to fall under some loose umbrella of "stuff you could use in place of money". The other excludes make sense in other ways... like "More than 100 pounds of NA3178, Smokeless Powder for small arms on any motor vehicle" and other "we don't want to blow up our drivers and the neighborhood around them" type stuff; or fresh food, where they probably just don't want rotting food attracting animals and bugs and generally being nasty.

They also won't ship firearms, unless it is from and to a dealer/distributor. This is where I think the gunsmithing machine hits a grey area. I'm 99.9% sure there wouldn't have been any problem at all if they just said it was a CNC mill, which it is. If it can pop out a complete firearm upon arrival and being plugged in, then it's just like sending the firearm (it can't do that, but they don't know that, and it says it'll make guns).

A carrier providing transportation or service subject to jurisdiction under chapter 135 shall provide the transportation or service on reasonable request. In addition, a motor carrier shall provide safe and adequate service, equipment, and facilities.

49 U.S. Code section 14101

They do openly state on their website that they randomly x-ray scan packages however:

http://www.fedex.com/gh/shippingguide/terms/#11

Oh stop whining.

https://wwwapps.ups.com/pickup/schedule
http://sbw.dhl-usa.com/SchedulePickup/SchedulePickupInfo.asp
http://www.fedex.com/us/fcl/pckgenvlp/pickup/

The service you speak of is called Smartpost, or Mail Innovations, or a variety of other terms depending on the shipper. It uses common carrier for the backhaul, and USPS for local delivery.

It's optional. UPS and Fedex still deliver regular UPS and Fedex packages, but AFAICT it costs more than having USPS handle the last mile.

Which, you know, is fine and good. The problem I have with it is that when I pay a vendor for UPS or Fedex shipping, I want regular-old UPS or Fedex -- not some bizarre interconnected "Mail Innovations" system that combines the worst elements of everything. FFS, I don't even want Fedex Home Delivery, a service that can apparently use any grubby discount courier for delivery, with drivers that aren't under the employ of Fedex or USPS or any other well-known entity.

But the root of that problem is vendors who lie about what the shipping method they're using, not that such services exist. People can't make good, informed decisions if the information in front of them is a lie.

Not that I try to ship UPS anyway. They're the guys who hide packages so you don't know they've been delivered.

This is a good thing: A package that is cannot be seen is a package that will not be casually stolen.

If you want to know when your stuff shows up just have them send you an SMS or an email upon delivery. It's easy to do, right from the tracking page.

*shrug*

The service you speak of is called Smartpost, or Mail Innovations, or a variety of other terms depending on the shipper. It uses common carrier for the backhaul, and USPS for local delivery.

It's optional. UPS and Fedex still deliver regular UPS and Fedex packages, but AFAICT it costs more than having USPS handle the last mile.

Which, you know, is fine and good. The problem I have with it is that when I pay a vendor for UPS or Fedex shipping, I want regular-old UPS or Fedex -- not some bizarre interconnected "Mail Innovations" system that combines the worst elements of everything. FFS, I don't even want Fedex Home Delivery, a service that can apparently use any grubby discount courier for delivery, with drivers that aren't under the employ of Fedex or USPS or any other well-known entity.

But the root of that problem is vendors who lie about what the shipping method they're using, not that such services exist. People can't make good, informed decisions if the information in front of them is a lie.

Not that I try to ship UPS anyway. They're the guys who hide packages so you don't know they've been delivered.

This is a good thing: A package that is cannot be seen is a package that will not be casually stolen.

If you want to know when your stuff shows up just have them send you an SMS or an email upon delivery. It's easy to do, right from the tracking page.

*shrug*

If they cut delivery dates, that limits my options and makes me even less likely to use them, especially if I need timely delivery of something like say a rent check or a bill payment (believe it or not, there are landlords and rental companies, as well as utilities and such that still only accept payment in person or a check in the mail as opposed to paying online).

You're free to spend $13 to FedEx your rent check right now (get your quote here - I picked slowest/cheapest option to send an envelope across town). By what factor would first class postage rates need to increase to be "uncompetitive" with that?

It adds a day to the delivery time. :-(

No it doesn't. I've done two hold at location packages this year and picked each one up just hours after it arrived at the kinko's store.

Looks like they do "White Glove" service for radioactive materials.

With a name like that it's hard to imagine them losing something they're "white-gloving"

TFA: FedEx Custom Critical White Glove Services feature specially trained drivers and specialty equipment for the safe transport of your most sensitive shipments. These services include a full range of temperature-control offerings as well as a complete suite of Secure Transportation Solutions.

Sounds like total FAIL on their part. They claim to have this under control?

I cannot believe someone thought it was a good idea to FedEx radioactive material. Someone needs to be fired.

Why would it be wrong to hire a shipping company - in this case, FedEx - which has extensive experience in handling moderately hazardous materials and is properly licensed to do so?

FedEx Ground will handle Class 7 Radioactive Material I materials (bearing the 'radioactive white I' placards and labels) only; that's the lowest class.

Material meets the White I threshold if the measured radioactivity at the surface of the shipping package does not exceed 0.5 millirem per hour; most White I packages actually fall far below that level. The legal maximum exposure for civilians in the U.S. is 500 millirem per year, and 'radiation workers' are permitted ten times that. Even if we assume that the package is right at the edge of what's permissible, you would have to strap the box directly to your ass for more than a month to get close to the civilian limit.

Could one get a higher dose if you opened the package and removed the radioactive material from its inner container(s)? Sure -- but that takes a special kind of stupid. All of the packaging is going to be emblazoned with the 'radiation' trefoil symbol; you've got to assume that even if the package were routed to the wrong destination, the receiver is going to hand it right back to the FedEx guy. (Unless, of course, it's a recipient who regularly handles radioactives, in which case, still no worries.)

This isn't a case where someone decided to cut corners and put radioactive material in an unmarked box to save a few bucks on shipping. It was properly packaged, properly labelled material, accompanied by all the appropriate paperwork and handed over to an approved, accredited, regulated shipper. Yes, someone at FedEx screwed up, but it looks like their procedures for handling lost packages seem to have worked as they should. This is a non-story which is being blown out of proportion by people who don't understand and can't appropriately weigh the risks of handling radioactive materials. ~~~~

Ummm... a few points:

1) FedEx is, as far as I know, the only major carrier that handles radioactive material. It doesn't go in their regular package delivery system; they have a separate division that handles it (and biohazards, poisons, explosives, and things like that). See: http://www.fedex.com/us/services/customcritical/specialty/hazardous/index.html

2) No delivery service is going to be 100% mistake free. Negative outcomes will happen in life. Get over it.

1) What's your point?
2) Really? I didn't know that.

It looks like they have a separate division for all sorts of stuff: http://www.fedex.com/us/services/customcritical/specialty/hazardous/index.html

Why? FedEx apparently allows certain radioactive material if packed correctly:

Look on Page 6 here (may be other pages of interest):
http://images.fedex.com/us/services/pdf/HazmatShippingGuide.pdf

Ummm... a few points:

1) FedEx is, as far as I know, the only major carrier that handles radioactive material. It doesn't go in their regular package delivery system; they have a separate division that handles it (and biohazards, poisons, explosives, and things like that). See: http://www.fedex.com/us/services/customcritical/specialty/hazardous/index.html

2) No delivery service is going to be 100% mistake free. Negative outcomes will happen in life. Get over it.

First off, why do you think 99% are screwed? do you think the small percent rise in stamps is that onerous?

I admit, the 99% number was made up. It's actually "only" 79.219% being screwed. They're being screwed because the government mandates that they subsidize mail delivery costs for the other 21%. 79% of the population is paying more money on behalf of the other 21%. How can are they not being screwed?

and it's not just small towns, it's also distances. How much does it cost to fed-ex a letter ? I just checked, and to gt a letter send from Oregon to New York via fed-ex is over 16 dollars and it will be there in 5 days. Slower and many times more expensive.

I don't believe you. According to the FedEx website it's only $10.22 to ship a 5 pound package from Seattle to New York in 5 days. It's also a guaranteed 5 day delivery time, which the post office isn't going to give you for a regular letter. For reference, the USPS offers 7-day delivery of a 5 pound package for $4.90, calculated here. It's cheaper, but it's being subsidized by the millions of people who have to pay too much for postage.

Besides that, you're not really getting the point. If Fedex doesn't charge noticeably more than the USPS the government would say they were competing with the PS and impose a huge fine against them. The only exception is for "extremely urgent" packages, which is why FedEx's longest standard delivery time is 5 only days, and why they're so popular for shipping things on a tight schedule.

The post office is far more efficient then pretty much every private corporation.

Then it's fucking asinine that we waste money enforcing their monopoly, because they'd just beat out their competitors anyway, right?

Yeah, just like Brazil will. Here there are people selling pirated games

That's in part because of Brazil's prohibitive import tariff on consumer electronics. In many cases, more of the price of an imported console or game disc goes to the government of Brazil than to Nintendo. FedEx.com's report on Brazil lists includes a 60% duty, 1% brokerage fee, 1% warehouse tax, and 3% additional port tax, a 20% Industrial Products Tax (VAT) on the product's value plus duties (total tax so far: 98%), and an 18% Merchandise Circulation Tax on the product's values, duties, and VAT (total tax so far: 133.64%).

Lastly, Fedex and UPS use USPS to transport mail since it is cheaper.

fixed that for you

Isn't this just videoconferencing, which Kinko's has offered for years?

I have my own mail-order business based in Canada selling toy collectibles. When a customer from the USA buys over $200 worth of them I need to collect and forward their SSN to Fedex so the shipment will clear US customs. It is REQUIRED for orders over $2000, and for orders over $200 they can be refused for any reason and we can be forced to get them ( and have our whole shipment delayed until we get it). The Fedex Trans-Border Distribution system requires that we have at least one per shipping cycle (we ship once per week to the US). Talk about a big deterrent to cross border shopping. http://www.fedex.com/ca_english/international/regulatorynews/EIN.html

Okay, replying to myself, I went to Kinkos website and had a quick look at their T&C's.

To Quote:
You also warrant and confirm that You own the copyright or have permission to copy any documents or Materials You submit online for printing or processing, and agree to defend, indemnify and hold FedEx Kinko's, its parent and its parent's subsidiary companies and their respective officers, directors, agents and employees, harmless from any suit, demand, or claim arising out of any breach of this warranty and agree to pay any judgment or reasonable settlement offer resulting from any such suit, demand or claim, and to pay any attorney's fees incurred by FedEx Kinko's in defending against such suit, demand or claim.
KInko's T&C's
(This is for electronic submission - I assume in store the same rules apply, but they may not, and I am bored of checking there legal docs)

So it looks like Kinkos demand that you either are the copyright owner or have the copyright owners permission (but don't seem to ask for proof of that). And that in either case you take on any legal burden.

Not sure if this is really relevant though :)

Actually, *all* corporations pay taxes. Some may not income taxes, but they certainly pay other taxes (or their members do). In fact, corporate taxes account for around 7% of the US's GDP. While that's somewhat concerning because as late as the 1960's, corporate taxation accounted for 25% of the GPD, it certainly isn't "no taxes".

Also keep in mind that the vast majority of corporations are small businesses (can't find a citation ATM). That's important because small businesses employ 52% of the workers in the US and create 65% of the net new jobs. But even if you qualify your hating to "big corporations" (however you define that line), it doesn't really advance the argument. The computer you're now using wouldn't exist without corporations. Neither would many of the other benefits modern society offers that are taken advantage of daily by the same people who criticize capitalism.

I'm not saying much of corporate America doesn't suck. I'm a former refugee myself, who's since left to run his own company. But the mindless corporate bashing that is a regular mantra here at Slashdot is just plain mental laziness.

Sources:
http://www.cbpp.org/10-16-03tax.htm
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/oecon/chap4. htm
http://www.fedex.com/us/about/news/speeches/greate raccess.html

Just remove the battery, although the word is they can still go pyrotechnic.


Since they tend to blow when shorted, taking them out of the device is not necessarily better, in fact it may well be more dangerous unless you then carefully pack them in non-conductive material so they can't contact anything that could short them out.

http://www.fedex.com/us/services/pdf/PKG_ShippingB atteries.pdf?link=4

I use google's package tracking number all the time -- seems like some other people enjoy this, too.

user-ct-test-collection-01.txt:11218337 http to track the status of this shipment on line please use the following;http www.fedex.com tracking action track&tracknumbers
604041010003308 2006-04-28 18:31:15
This person lives in Stamford, CT and ordered a "SL150T-12 Battery" for Home Delivery (5.0 lbs.) from california. Their barcode got messed up in-transit. Left at front door. Signature Service not requested.

user-ct-test-collection-01.txt:2433634 tracking 9102013196683232299662 2006-03-19 17:33:48
Your item was delivered at 8:54 am on March 24, 2006 in CROWLEY, LA 70526.

user-ct-test-collection-01.txt:5736530 ups tracking number 1z05r57w0299803522 2006-04-12 04:01:29
Delivered on: 04/12/2006 9:59 A.M. Delivered to: SOUTH BELOIT, IL, US Service Type: 2ND DAY AIR

user-ct-test-collection-01.txt:11989465 ups tracking 1z5628500342774976 2006-05-31 17:14:22
Delivered on: 05/31/2006 6:12 P.M. Delivered to: FORT WAYNE, IN, US Service Type: GROUND

user-ct-test-collection-02.txt:2103248 tracking 91025562344468252800 2006-03-02 02:11:13
There is no record of this item.

user-ct-test-collection-02.txt:2371993 tracking 1z7e49v20341755740 2006-05-08 12:22:41
Delivered on: 05/08/2006 10:25 A.M. Delivered to: BOTHELL, WA, US Service Type: GROUND

user-ct-test-collection-02.txt:2749649 usps tracking 9121010521297356081254 2006-04-04 17:11:49
Info has been stored off-line, but USPS will send it to your email

user-ct-test-collection-02.txt:5847446 www.ups.com and enter the tracking number 1z00v4270380899979 2006-03-18 16:53:15
Delivered on: 03/20/2006 2:56 P.M. Delivered to: TEMPLE CITY, CA, US Service Type: GROUND ... and so on ...

There were about 120 searches for UPS "1Z..." numbers. I didn't bother parsing for USPS & UPS numbers, but there are plenty of those, too. I'm sure you'd be able to pull some names when the signature service is requested.

inquiry@fedex.com, ukmaster@fedex.com, eumaster@fedex.com
Instead of just complaining here lets let them know

http://www.fedex.com/us/customersupport/express/co ntactus.html?link=4 they got bunches of email addresses at that URL. bombard the shit out of em y'all I've already sent a couple dozen. inquiry@fedex.com, ukmaster@fedex.com, eumaster@fedex.com

Send them feedback at https://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/qrf2.cgi?first=y&for mpage=general

Tell 'em you're using UPS from now on unless they tell the MPAA to go screw.

For anyone too lazy to want to find the link, here's the form :

Email FedEx

This is the link for the US.

The rest of you will have to go to Fedex.com, click Customer Support, under Fedex Express / Fedex Ground use the drop-down for email.

Yeah, I'm karma whoring. But at least the information is useful.

I don't recall signing any contract with FedEx that says they can search my goods

Sigh. By handing your goods over to them, you agreed to exactly such a contract. See http://www.fedex.com/us/services/intl/ground.html and follow the link for FedEx Ground Tariff. Buried deep in the Customs area is this:

"Inspection of Shipments. FedEx Ground, or its agents or brokers, may open and inspect any or all packages in a shipment at any time. This action may be initiated by FedEx Ground or at the request of government authorities."

It's put there so people think it only applies to stuff going through customs, but the description doesn't restrict it like that so anything goes. You can be sure there are similar statements in all the other shipping services. The fact that people believe they have government mandated privacy rights when handing things over to a commerical 3rd party amuses me. FedEx can do whatever the hell they want with your package, and the worst you can do to them is try to get back your declared value by following their claim procedure. You have no guarantee of privacy whatsoever when sending things through them.

I sent a comment to FedEx at from this page
https://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/qrf2.cgi?link=4&firs t=y&formpage=general
on their website. This is an important topic, and people should let them know how they feel about it. Please take some time to leave an intelligent comment about this issue.

I have been happy with Kinkos for this sized runs.

Those Fed Ex numbers are bogus. There's no such thing as an unguaranteed Fed-ex shipment; they all include $100 of insurance and a money back guarantee if they miss their commitment time by more than 60 seconds. Also, both of the Fed Ex rates you mention are higher than any of their published rates for standard overnight delivery of an 8oz flat envelope: ftp://ftp.fedex.com/pub/us/rates/downloads/documen ts2/SO.pdf

Fedex

In otherwords, "never underestimate the bandwidth of your FedEx guy carrrying a stack of CD-ROMs."

http://www.fedex.com/us/sitemap.html?link=1

Check out the last item

I'm not sure I found the right contact form.

In the "fedex.com Terms of Use" it is stated that "fedex.com is provided solely for the use of current and potential FedEx customers to interact with FedEx and may not be used by any other person or entity, or for any other purpose.".

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, since I visited this very website and I have absolutely no intention of buying any service from FedEx. FedEx doesn't seem to like that, but since I have no relations to FedEx besides having looked at its metaphorical street window display, I don't really feel I have to obey these Terms of Use.

I'm still sorry though.

Actually, I think someone once sent me someone using FedEx. I'm not sure though. Would that make it alright? I guess not, since I wasn't the customer. How about that everyone is a potential customer in a sense - even if they don't know it? You know, much like the saying "a stranger is someone you haven't met", it could be said that "someone you haven't made business with yet is a potential customer"? Oh well.

If that deosn't make it alright, I still truly am sorry.

Oh right, I almost forgot. I only relunctantly picked the option that said that I'd like you to respond by email. You don't really have to respond, since I don't want to waste more of your time, but there was no option that said that.

Sincerely,
DELETED

PS: If you're a real person, you have my permission to print this out and put it on display anywhere your coworkers will read it. Or send it to whoever you like. Working for a company that has such awful Terms of Use for their website of all things, I'm sure you could do with a laugh.

PPS: I really am very sorry.

Or send it here:

http://www.fedexfreight.fedex.com/contactemail.jsp ?form=general&link=4

Why don't we let FedEx know what we think of this action?

https://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/qrf2.cgi?link=4&firs t=y&formpage=general

Here's the message that I sent:

I saw this article today in Wired:

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68492,00. html

I think it's despicable that FedEx is using the DMCA to harass a guy who can't afford furniture and is just trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation. Perhaps you have forgotten the time that the owner of FedEx gambled the company payroll in Vegas to save the company.

As a result of this incident, I will be shipping with UPS whenever possible.

I also know a few hundred thousand other people who feel the same way:

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/08/11/1715204.shtml ?tid=123&tid=17

You are probably correct: free fedex boxes

Using the DMCA is disgusting of course, I'm sure there are better ways to stop leeches like this punk.

At the UPS website and the FedEx website you can estimate rates. To ship a 65 kg package from Reading, UK to my hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota, the cheapest shipping option would cost at least $190; essentially you would be paying as much in shipping as you originally paid for the subwoofer--if the opening bid stood. The expedited shipping options would cost on the order of $400.

This all assumes that the package really is no more than 65 kg (~143 lbs). That's not far under the 150 pound weight limit for all of these options. You would then be forced to use another courier that would in all likelihood be more expensive.

Still, ShyGuy's point stands. Probably someone with more money than sense would buy it and pay for shipping it. I think it's pretty cool, but I'm nowhere near a big enough SW fan to pay 100+ UKP to buy it and 200 USD to ship it.

Yes, they do. It does handle EPS as well as other document and imaging formats.

yes, they have offered remote printing to most locations for a few years now.

The link is misspelt. Here's the intended URL:
http://www.fedex.com/us/officeprint/main/index.htm l
OR:
http://www.fedex.com/us/officeprint/onlineprint/in dex.html?link=1&lid=//Online+Printing&hbxrootmenui d=//Online+Printing&hbxrootmenuorientation=down

The link is misspelt. Here's the intended URL:
http://www.fedex.com/us/officeprint/main/index.htm l
OR:
http://www.fedex.com/us/officeprint/onlineprint/in dex.html?link=1&lid=//Online+Printing&hbxrootmenui d=//Online+Printing&hbxrootmenuorientation=down

Near as I can tell, it's a portmanteau of "Mandrake" and "Connectiva". Sort of like the old joke about FedEx and UPS merging to make FedUp.