How Good Is Your Shipper...Really?

The following is a perspective by postal commentator Gene Del Polito for Direct magazine. The views expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of the Association.

The smell of ragweed is in the air. That can only mean that the fall-holiday mailing season is about to begin. Direct mail marketers, for sure, are hoping for one, big, banner year before the long-awaited economic doldrums set in. Selling goods is one thing; shipping them is another. Direct marketers have known for years that the fulfillment end of the business is where a great deal of money can be won or lost. It's a point that the newcomers to the direct sales arena--the "dot coms"--have learned the hard way, at their own peril.

Yet, as saavy as long-time direct marketers pretend to be, just how wise have they been in the selection of their fulfillment partners? And just how good is the record of their partners when some of their "extra" services have been called into play.

For years, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been the publicly-touted target of direct mailer complaints. Parcel delivery, shippers have complained, is too slow and unpredictable. Unlike some of its private sector competitors, teh U.S. Postal Service still does not offer a complete tracking and tracing service to provide shippers with the level of confidence and assurance they demand in today's increasingly competitive marketplace. Worse yet, some argue, is the slowness the Postal Service exhibits in honoring and paying on its insurance claims.

While everyone likes to talk about what's good or bad about the Postal Service, people rarely venture to discuss how good or bad the provided service is with some of the USPS' competitors. Oh sure, people will grouse in private, behind closed doors, but few boldly declare their dissatisfactions publicly.

While United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fedex) enjoy a free rein in setting their claims before the public in the ads the publish and air, it still leaves me wondering how good their service really is. For instance, while USPS customers badger the daylights out of postal officials to make public their delivery service information, why does no one make a similar demand of UPS or Fedex? And, if they did, what would they find? Would UPS' and Fedex's level of service really be all that superior to the Postal Service's? And just how good are UPS and Fedex in honoring their pledges to refund fees on deliveries that fail to meet their service performance guarantees, or how diligent are UPS and Fedex in paying off the insurance claims that shippers submit for goods that are lost, damaged, or stolen?

UPS likes to talk to Congress about establishing a "level playing field" when it comes to postal services. Maybe it's time the USPS' competitors did some public leveling with direct merchants as well.

Home