Shipping by USPS to Canada question

[kito]

So I sent my Campbell Sailor prop to West by North in Vancouver BC to have it re-pitched and balanced on 4/28 from North Carolina. I did a tracking today on it and the darn thing is in Fort Lauderdale!. Just curious, does all USPS shipments to Canada go through Fort Lauderdale or is my prop just taking the slower, longer scenic route?

 

[Maine Sail]

So I sent my Campbell Sailor prop to West by North in Vancouver BC to have it re-pitched and balanced on 4/28 from North Carolina. I did a tracking today on it and the darn thing is in Fort Lauderdale!. Just curious, does all USPS shipments to Canada go through Fort Lauderdale or is my prop just taking the slower, longer scenic route?

They will pass through the local or regional international shipments facility before being air freighted to Canada. Yours may be Fort Lauderdale...

 

[kito]

Thanks MS. No wonder it cost $49 to ship

 

[centerline]

Its normal for them to be so abnormal in their shipping routes...
I have had shipments from pennsylvania to salem oregon come all the way to seattle washington, and then on to denver colorado, and then back to portland oregon.... there may be a general direction the package needs to go to get to its destination, but there are no set routes they take to get there...

Its kind of like the government, as long as the people HAVE to pay, there is no need to be efficient in an attempt to save US some money..

 

[chrisings]

Also, in my experience, the USPS does not update their tracking as often, or efficiently, as private carriers. Your package may have left Ft. L yesterday.

 

[Kermit]

It's from a sailboat...
It's gonna be slow
-or-
It's about the trip not the destination.
-or-
If you're gonna do The Great Loop you gotta go through Florida
-or-
They don't call it snail mail for nothin

 

[MrBill_FLL]

hub and spoke systems try to fill up the truck/plane/boat. actually saves money over time.
(my college statistic teacher designed the fedex hub system in the 80's)


just like flying across the country. usually you change planes in atlanta, houston, st louis, etc depending on the AL, so the legs are full.

 

[kito]

Also, in my experience, the USPS does not update their tracking as often, or efficiently, as private carriers. Your package may have left Ft. L yesterday.

I hear ya. Last activity shown on the tracking was May 2nd. It departed Ft Lauderdale, nothing since. Probably on it's way to Hawaii for a few nights stay........

 

[Justin_NSA]

Some of the extra cost is just an 'international' surcharge. I sold a 5hp Nissan outboard to a guy in Canada on Ebay. He had me ship it to an upstate NY address and he drove down to pick it up. Apparently it was cheaper that way.

 

[kito]

If my package was 4 lbs instead of 5, I would have saved half the shipping costs. If over 4lbs it must be shipped "Priority" mail which includes higher insurance cost. This re-pitch is going to cost about as much as what I bought it for used. I could have went to a local prop shop but the Campbell Sailor has a unique blade cross section. I didn't want a local yahoo banging away at it on pitch blocks with a 5lb sledge.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

A money saving suggestion...I've known a lot of Canadians who do this: Get a Mailboxes etc or similar address in Vancouver WA. This will not only save you the cost of international shipping rates and "customs brokerage fees," on merchandise you order from US vendors, it will also cut the delivery time WAAAY down. Nothing shady about it...ALL this does is save shipping costs and time...you'd still declare it and pay any duty on it...and the rental on the "mailbox" is VERY reasonable. Two or three friends can even go in together on it.

This can work for any of you who live close enough--within an hour or two-- to the border to make it worth the time and effort to come over to collect your purchases.

 

[Jalepeno]

Vancouver Washington is about a six hour drive south plus border delays = 14 hour day. Who is going to spent that long to save a couple of bucks? A business will not do that. Some individuals or businesses with a lot of cross border activity have a "Mailboxes Etc." in Point Roberts Washington but even that can take an hour each way.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Some individuals or businesses with a lot of cross border activity have a "Mailboxes Etc." in Point Roberts Washington but even that can take an hour each way.

I didn't realize the two Vancouvers were so far apart. But there are a lot of people who spend close to an hour just commuting to work each way...for them a town as close as Point Roberts would be close enough to be worth it.

 

[Meriachee]

USPS is by far the cheapest way, even if it takes a few extra days. The brown or purple guys get to charge "brokerage" even on private shipments and it can be upwards of 100.00.
TSB in point Roberts is a favourite, but it's 12 hours for us.

 

[jssailem]

No problem for us here on the West Coast. It is like the difference between Lincoln, Nebraska and Lincoln, ON, Canada. It is all good.

 

[Kermit]

TSB in point Roberts is a favourite...

I guess a good Canadian should speak Canadian, eh?

 

[jssailem]

Kermit, Only for you if you can do it with a South Canadian accent.....

 

[jssailem]

That's what SC means in your profile, right?

 

[Kermit]

That's what SC means in your profile, right?

Funny thing. Way back in 2000 I went into a Mennonite home in Ontario to buy maple syrup. One of the women asked if I was from the South. I jokingly said I was from Southern Ontario. It was *totally* lost on her. I straightened up after that. But boy oh boy what an education I got in 10 minutes.

 

[Meriachee]

Did you bring snowshoes?