Shipping To DpsDave

Safe Shipping

Many people are nervous about the possibility of their irreplaceable and highly valuable photos getting lost if they ship them across the country to get scanned.  However, if you follow the procedure outlined here, the risk of loss is eliminated.

Carrier choice is very important (Ship via UPS)

The Post Office has a loss rate of 4.7%.  No wonder people are nervious!  This percentage includes undeliverable packages as well as lost packages, so the actual lost package rate is less. 

UPS (United Parcel Service) combined delivery has a loss 0.06%.  However, if you follow the suggestions below, this loss rate drops to zero.  Not close to zero, but absolutely zero. 

UPS Secure Shipping Network

Did you know that UPS has a secure shipping network?   The Secure Shipping Network changes the rules concerning how the package is handled.  Basically, the bar code on the box being shipping in the Secure Shipping Network must be scanned by everyone who touches it, until the receiptent signs for it.  This way, even if human error occures, UPS knows  exactly where the package is at every moment.   For instance, if somebody tries to put your package on the wrong truck, the bar code scanner will create an alarm, and not allow the package to go on the truck.  Even the truck gets quarentined until the alarm is resolved by the package being reported as being on the correct truck. 

Getting your package into the Secure Shipping Network

Here is how to make sure your package travels as a “Secure” package.

• Ship via UPS ground
• Insure the package for $99.00.
  • More insurance doesn’t make a difference!
• Request ADULT SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION upon delivery.

Note: Don’t try to request “UPS Secure Shipping Network” on the UPS shipping paper form, as there is no such option on the form!  

The combination of the 3 items above (Ground, Insurance & Adult Signature) trigger the secure shipping network settings.  

The Most Important Thing:

Now that you’ve got your package travelling through the safest shipping network on the planet, the only thing that can go wrong is that the package doesn’t survive the trip, or that as the package vibrates in the back of the trucks, damage is occurring to the photos inside the box.  (Slides are particularly vulnerable.) 

Here is how to assure your package survives the trip:

• Proper taping
• Proper packing
• Your identification inside and ship to address inside the box the box

1) Proper Taping:

If you seal the box, the more tape you use the better.  Please use the “H Taping Method” to seal all the edges of the box.  This may seem extreme, but your package is going to move through several UPS transfer centers as it comes to Oregon Each center has automatic conveyor systems as shown below.  Time is money, and those conveyors really go fast!  There are gates which pop out to make a box change lanes, and if your box has open edges, it is possible (although highly unlikely) that an open edge could catch on a gate and the box pops open, and the contents are spread all over the place.  Seal that box tight!

2) Proper Packing:

Close the lid on your box, and give it a shake.  If you hear anything moving around (except for slides in carousels or magazines), then put some packing in there to fill the voids.  A good box is a tight box!

3) Your identification, and ship to address, inside the box:

Once you have done everything above, the only thing that can go wrong is if the UPS label gets damaged and can’t be read.  The label is waterproof, and there are two bar codes on it, and the machines can read bar codes that we can’t even see.  But, if the label can’t be read, UPS will open the box in hopes of finding out where it’s supposed to go.  You want them to find our address, your address, phone number and email address.