REUTERS/Ina Fassbender
We all hate waking up to that holiday shipping nightmare: You open your front door, only to find that a precious gift labeled “FRAGILE” has been reduced to fragments. (Via Popular Mechanics)
Once Black Friday and December roll around, shipping companies are your maître d’, guiding purchases from store shelf to final destination. In the process, it’s less than a sure thing as to whether your package stays intact.
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Bring in Popular Mechanics to the rescue. The gadget geeks conducted a comprehensive survey of how three major carriers — the United States Postal Service (USPS), Federal Express (FedEx) and United Parcel Service (UPS) — handle mail. By attaching sensors to the mailed items, the magazine collected data in three areas central to the health of a package — position changes, acceleration shifts and temperature.
(Read about UPS’ road to recovery.)
Which carrier came out on top? USPS was rated as having the most ‘gentle’ touch, but also had the highest frequency of flips. And who was best at keeping its ‘this side up’ packages from turning upside down? Find out more at Popular Mechanics.