Posted on 12/24/2006 4:29:28 PM PST by Enterprise
If you are close to the location where the USPS hands off to the Military system or ship's homeport, go Parcel Post. You could check to get an idea of how long by adding a "Delivery Confirmation". It will show when it hit the handoff point or homeport. That will give you information for future decisions.
If you're mailing from a Main Post Office in your city, go Parcel Post, especially if it's a small to medium sized box.
If you're sending a package on a regular schedule, send all Parcel as it's only the first one that seems to talk longer.
The money you save can buy more stuff to put inside the box.
"Delivery Confirmation" will not track mail once it's in the military system. But you can find out when it hit the military system. From that point on, there's not difference how mail is prioitized for delivery with regard to Priority vs Parcel Post.
Oh, that's cool that the Marine packages go out of San Francisco.
That means the package I sent the Marine outside Baghdad may well have made it by Christmas.
:-)
So far the family aren't trusting me with the FPO and so I give them the packages all ready to go and the postage. All they have to do is address the package and finish filling in the customs form.
I think after Christmas they may be ready to let me mail directly. Daddy Warbucks wants to send a whole lot of stuff and I would like a nice chunk to go to our local Marine.
The interesting thing here...is that I am a contractor working for the AF in Germany. The customer has various items that they require on a weekly basis...which we research and research and buy...all IT items. I constantly have companies tell me that they won't ship overseas...even to DOD as the customer (not even the private individual). I had an episode with one company that markets government-authorized cryptology equiment...which it can only be sold to US government entitities...which said they would not ship to APO addresses (so I had to have a courier go and actually pick up the item in the states). The funny thing is that all of these rules and non-APO shippers....just make me more open to buying within Europe and avoiding US companies whenever possible.
That's good advice about shipping Parcel Post. Freepers should try to be aware of things which will save them money on shipping.
Here's what my experience is when I ship something APO. Suppose there is a need and Patriciaruth sends out a request to the Freepers for pillows. I will leave my home and find a store with pillows. Then I will select a box for shipping. Most times I guess wrong and get a box that it is too small, requiring me to get another box. It is not a problem if I get one that's too large, because I will find other things to fill it with. After finding the box, I have to wrap it , and then, I go to the post office, fill out a customs form, and stand in line.
The rate for shipping is pretty steep because the package has to travel across country.
Suppose though, that I shop online and I am lucky enough to find a company which will ship the pillows for me, and it happens to already be in or near New York. Ah Ha! Now, I don't have to leave my home, buy the pillow, find a box, wrap it, go to the post office, fill out a customs form, and stand in line. Additionally, I have just saved time, gas, and mileage and two to three thousand miles of shipping cost because the company is much closer to if not in New York!
Conversely, suppose Patriciaruth needs to ship something FPO, and she is fortunate enough to find a company online which has what she wants, and the company is located in or near San Francisco. She gets the same result. She doesn't have to leave her home, find the product, find a box, wrap the box, go the post office, fill out a customs form, and stand in line. Additionally, she saves time, gas and mileage and two to three thousand miles of shipping cost!
My initial motivation for posting this was to minimize some aggravation for Freepers who need to ship something APO/FPO. It dawned on me after I posted that it can also save a LOT of money if the company is located near the place of shipping.
And, back to your suggestion of saving money, this could save Freepers a LOT of money, and that is more money then that can be spent on the troops! :)
From my own experience and training I can see why a company would not want to send cryptology equipment or software through the mail. There is too much opportunity for it to go astray.
AS for non-sensitive items, if you have an APO address that you can use in your association with the military, then you too can locate companies which will ship items to you. Otherwise, if something can be purchased in Europe, I would think that price wise, it would be much cheaper to purchase it there than have it shipped from the U.S.
The central idea of my idea is to save cost and effort for Freepers who wish to ship items to military personnel stationed in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
Who can say why any given company does not wish to ship APO/FPO, but they may number in the tens of thousands, and it would be quite an ordeal to try to send them all E-mails. I would rather concentrate on the companies which are already set up. In time, other companies will voluntarily do so once they see an economic and/or a public relations benefit.
To that end, I am hoping Freepers can also see the potential cost saving and time saving benefits of taking the time to locate APO/FPO friendly shippers online (and post them here).
(See post #25)
Good tips; thank you!
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