I've installed, commissioned, repaired, trained the maintenance staff and worked on fully automated mail and parcel handling and distribution systems for Australia Post and various courier companies over the years.
So I know what can and does go wrong. And believe me it invariably does go wrong!
Now many of these problems can be laid at the sender's feet, others the knuckle draggers working in these places, and to a lesser degree plain old bad luck.
Now as the recipient of a parcel you are quite literally on the receiving end and there is little you can do about it, but what you can do is get the sender to raise and inquiry as to why your shipment is late, It's more effective if the sender does it than you, after all the sender is the client of the postal service or courier not you and as such the courier or postal service will take them more seriously as they want the repeat business.
What happens in these places is the items go roaring about the systems at over 3 meters per second. These complex networks of conveyors, chutes and scanners can be several kilometers long The addresses are automatically scanned, dimensions are measured, and weighed, by the system as they pass through.
If something goes wrong and the item doesn't scan properly, gets damaged, gets caught up in a pile up due to a collision (at the speeds these systems run, they can be massive) or even in the case of light weight items, flying off the conveyors to get caught up in catch netting.
These catch nets go all around the system to stop shit falling off, getting damaged by the fall and of course as a barrier to protect personnel from injury. These items are rescued from the catch netting at the end of shift.
All of these parcels are put aside in pallet bins to be dealt with later, sometimes especially in peak times there are great stacks of pallet bins awaiting attention.
Now one would think the way to deal with these bins would be on a first in first out priority basis, but I'm here to tell you that the clowns that are posing as operational process staff just grab the first bin they see so it's almost always a case of the first bin in is the last out, as the first bin is at the back and bottom of the stack, so your item can just sit there for days, even weeks until someone gets off their fat arse and actually does their job properly.
Often the only time someone checks that the pallet bins have been rotated properly is when a client (remember it's only the sender they take seriously) has raised a complaint about a late shipment and questions get asked of the handling staff by the office johnnys!
Only then, will an attempt to search for a lost item be made.
You will find that soon after a complaint has been made the item miraculously appears back in the system happily on it's way again like nothing ever happened!
They will almost never admit to a cock up!
Tips for senders:
As a sender, you should always pack your item like you expect it to go through Armageddon!
* Never have the item rattling about loose in the box, flopping about like a cock in a shirt sleeve! Otherwise it can punch it's way out as it flogs about inside always pack out the air space with scrunched up newspaper bits of folded cardboard, bubble wrap, foam peanuts or some such suitable alternative packing medium. I even fill the loose space in those plastic or paper satchels, I do this to act as a protective cushion around the item.
* Always be sure the label is clear, and secured properly, I find in best for the printed label to be completely covered in clear tape, so as it cant get torn during handling, and I always write both the destination and senders addresses directly on the parcel in marker pen as a back up.
* Clear adhesive tape is cheap.....so don't be afraid to use plenty of it! I cover all corners, edges, flaps, gaps and other possible openings. remember a parcel may catch on something as the travels through the system, that in itself may not be enough to tear it open but when several other items get pushed up its arse in a collision as it catches on something it can suffer a lot of pressure from traction of all those items against the conveyor pushing them along. So better to smooth away any edges on your parcel that can catch on things.
* It's a good idea to tape the lids of any container that holds liquid or other stuff that can spill, with tape and to place that container in a seal plastic bag within the parcel, to try to control spillage should it occur in transit.
* Don't send hazardous goods!
You'd be surprised what can go wrong, I've seen damage done by careless forklift operators.
In these places they paint everything they don't want a forklift to hit safety yellow, alas yellow paint must have a magnetic attraction to forklifts, because It's guaranteed that a forklift will hit anything yellow!
Some places have autonomous goods vehicles (robotic forklifts) scuttling about, these have sensors all over them to prevent collisions with one another, their surroundings and personnel. You never trust the damned things, and never take your eyes off them, they soon end up with scratches a dents off over the evil things, as they hit every bloody thing!
We call then the "Chariots of Satan" 👹
I've known a forklift to travel under a messanine floor with the mast erect, and to hit the 6" fire service ring main, It hit hard enough the break the steel pipe, with the resulting gush of water under pressure drowning the cabinets that contained the computer systems that control the whole shebang (they were mounted up there on the messanine) and soaking everybody's parcels!
I was working up on that messanine at the time and the impact was so hard it knocked me off my feet! The resulting pandemonium was beyond the imagination!
Another memorable incident was when some idiot decided to send some tins of paint, and of course the lids of the tins popped off and there was paint spread from arsehole to breakfast!
The paint was all over the conveyors and the parcels! I swear you could not get that good a coverage from the paint if you tried! Fortunately none of the paint was yellow otherwise the bloody forklifts would have got involved!
Then there was a shipment of poorly packed glass jars containing boiled lollies (sweets or candy to you johnny foreigners) of course the packaging failed, the jars escaped and shattered leaving broken glass embedded in the damned lollies stuck to every bloody thing in sight!
"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"
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