To lose one container may be regarded an accident, to lose two looks like vicious incompetence.
[QUOTE=Equibrit;6965223]
UPS has Express Critical;
https://www.upsexpresscritical.com/cfw/[/QUOTE]
Thanks for that. I donāt see how a shipping company could be worse than Fedex, so for round two, Iāll try them.
Darlyn, you are right about the money lost in vets, cycles, and in this case, board, as the mare is with my repro vet. A high declared value might have helped, although since they have totally lost this package and canāt seem to locate it anywhere on the planet, Iām not sure that would have made a difference. Both I and the shipper had been tracking it since it was picked up yesterday, up until it went off the grid, apparently forever.
FedEx is the VERY WORST SHIPPING COMPANY ON THE PLANET. Regardless of whether youāre shipping/receiving semen, live animals, plants, furniture, food - you name it. If you need it by a certain time/date, count on FedEx to screw up royally. I visibly cringe every time I hear something Iāve ordered is coming via FedEx.
I love FedEx
We are a pony breeding farm. I only use FedEx. Just today in the early morning and in the late afternoon I had an equitainer returned to me. Both drivers made an effort to make sure I received the container (they do not know it is empty). Only one time in all these years have we had any problem and it actually was the shippers fault for not marking it as a SAT. delivery. I LOVE Fed Ex. Now UPS is a different storyā¦multiple problems and lost containers, late deliveries and no customer support. This was some years ago and that is why I always ship FedEx.
But I will say that I take every precaution to make sure all is well. I hand deliver it to the facility, stay to make sure it is marked on the receipt as next morning delivery, check it when I get home, ck it before bedtime and when I get up in the AM. For a Sat delivery (which can be the trickest ) i put the labels all over the container . I have had, on occasion, it appear to be going astray and I immediately called. They have stayed with me until the container is deliveredā¦excellent PR as far as I am concerned. JMHO!!!
There is one company worse than Fedex - DHL.
^truth^
[QUOTE=Sugarbrook;6965447]
We are a pony breeding farm. I only use FedEx. Just today in the early morning and in the late afternoon I had an equitainer returned to me. Both drivers made an effort to make sure I received the container (they do not know it is empty). Only one time in all these years have we had any problem and it actually was the shippers fault for not marking it as a SAT. delivery. I LOVE Fed Ex. Now UPS is a different storyā¦multiple problems and lost containers, late deliveries and no customer support. This was some years ago and that is why I always ship FedEx.
But I will say that I take every precaution to make sure all is well. I hand deliver it to the facility, stay to make sure it is marked on the receipt as next morning delivery, check it when I get home, ck it before bedtime and when I get up in the AM. For a Sat delivery (which can be the trickest ) i put the labels all over the container . I have had, on occasion, it appear to be going astray and I immediately called. They have stayed with me until the container is deliveredā¦excellent PR as far as I am concerned. JMHO!!![/QUOTE]
Totally agree! Weāve been shipping semen with Fed-Ex for approximately 9 years and have always had great service with them. I use them for other aspects of my business as well and my documents have always gotten to the right locationā¦and on time! :yes:
Yep, DHL is by far THE worst! 
I have lost count of the number of times FedEx has delayed an overnight package in Memphis. With Equitainers the problem of too late package arrivals is compounded by having to pay to ship the container back. FedEx will refund the fee on the overnight shipment that did not arrive as promised, but it is not their problem that the equitainer needs to go back to the stallion station, but that additional charge just feels like rubbing salt in the wound after Iām already out the expenses and time of a lost breeding cycle.
While there are undoubtedly regional issues that impact the relative reliability of UPS vs. FedEx in those particular areas, my experience with FedEx at the major hub level has been horrible. I am hoping that I donāt have to use FedEx for this yearās outside breeding.
After FedEx told me that their saying āwhen it absolutely positively has to be there the next dayā didnāt mean they acutally āguaranteedā delivery by the next day - and they had no idea where my semen shipment was - I switched to UPS. Not saying UPS never makes mistakes, but they do scan packages regularly, so at least you know where it is.
We are fortunate enough to have a Fedex office very nearby and always have the shipments sent to them rather than to us and then pick it up at their facility. So far no problems. However, kast spring,
when we had a very valuable shipment coming from CA containing 6 doses of frozen, we availed ourselves of the kind Fedex contact who has made herself known on this thread and had her monitor the entire trajectory until it was safely in our vetās hands.
The delays that Iāve had with FedEx have never been related to the shipper, the receiver, or the FedEx drivers or local FedEx depot, but always to problems at the hub in Memphis. I realize that with the large volume of packages that there will be glitches, but the regularity (over multiple years) with which I have experienced glitches with overnight packages via FedEx has really undermined my respect for and trust in their service. Resolution through their customer service has been lackluster at best. After a whole sequence of screw ups on their part including two delayed shipments in a row, getting refunds and adjustments on FedExās mistakes was a laborious process. They compounded their errors by how they handled the fixes. Really disappointing.
My problems with shipping both related to the Memphis hub, not the pickup or delivery. Well, the first one was partially related to delivery because when they finally found it at the hub and shipped it to Sacramento, no delivery was available for the weekend and apparently the willingness to contract with an outside delivery service is related to the mood of the moment. My shipment which was supposed to arrive yesterday by 8:00 am was lost all day in Memphis, showed up last night, and was delivered this morning. So, I agree that the Memphis hub would appear to be the issue, at least with mine. I looked into the UPS critical care service, and there is no hub. Iām willing to give them a try, as I donāt see how things could be much worse.
