Poll of the Day > I'll never understand how this is more economical or efficient...

(+) Yeah! (+)

...for shipping companies to send packages on crazy long trips instead of direct to the destination.

My package from Amazon was shipped out of Bondurant, a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa. The destination is near Omaha, Nebraska, about 150 miles and 2-1/4 hours away down Interstate 80.

So why the heck did UPS route it through Rockford, Illinois, for a total of 688 miles and 14 hours travel time?




It literally had to go back down the same Interstate!

Even if they used aircraft that still would be less efficient, it's 3 hours worth of flights to go from Des Moines to Rockford to Omaha, not counting the loading and unloading required at Rockford.

From the timing it looks like they trucked it to Rockford, then flew it to Omaha. If you're going to truck it halfway across Iowa and halfway across Illinois, why not just send it halfway across Iowa in the other direction?

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Because trucks carry OTHER packages

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Fucking logistics, how do they work??

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They probably could, but then youd be waiting for trucks to pass by on that route, and it might take ages.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke%E2%80%93hub_distribution_paradigm?wprov=sfti1

Sulugnaz posted...

Because there's already a truck going that way.

Lokarin posted...

Because trucks carry OTHER packages

These, pretty much. If the truck that carries your package the wrong way is already going that way, there's very little incremental cost to load your package onto it. Then at the distribution hub, packages that have come from elsewhere that are bound for your region are loaded onto a single truck that is only carrying packages for that area, minimizing the amount of travel they have to do to get those packages delivered.

It doesn't make sense if you look only at your package, but delivery logistics make for some very complex optimization problems because so many different packages are going to so many different destinations. The ultimate aim is to pack as many packages as possible into as few trucks driving as little total distance as possible, and while that often results in some bizarre decisions for individual packages, those bizarre decisions will often end up being the most efficient overall.

Of course, if that 14-hour trip is happening too often, that may be an indication that the distribution hub should be moved (or a new one added) to streamline the process further. That's going to be a large-scale optimization, though, not anything that your single experience would inform.

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A year or two ago, I had a package start about 80 miles to the west of me, and in one stop on the very next day, end up at a post office about 7 miles away. Then it was sent 2500 miles east in its next leg, a couple hundred miles north next, and finally to a different post office a couple miles away.

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Lokarin posted...

Because trucks carry OTHER packages

And Lok of all people is pointing out the obvious this time >_<

HelIWithoutSin posted...

A year or two ago, I had a package start about 80 miles to the west of me, and in one stop on the very next day, end up at a post office about 7 miles away. Then it was sent 2500 miles east in its next leg, a couple hundred miles north next, and finally to a different post office a couple miles away.

That one is a little weirder. However, I imagine a lot of the logistics are being coordinated by systems trying to optimize tens of thousands of deliveries at a time based on truck load so everything is happening at an absurdly high level.

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Zeus posted...

And Lok of all people is pointing out the obvious this time >_<

I was off my medication at the time, so my intelligence returned at the cost of crippling chills

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In addition to the large-scale logistics already mentioned, sometimes things simply get misrouted. Distribution hubs sort a crazy amount of packages daily. Even with automated systems a few inevitably wind up on the wrong truck/plane.

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I remember some weird ones I had. Like ones shipping from Southern California that went northeast instead of just directly coming east. My last order which was from Target all went to the correct hub since most was coming from Arizona anyway since I would have had to go like a hour away to get to that store. Even the one from Tucson went correctly.
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I once had to fly from Philly to San Fran in order to get back to az.

The fact is that truck wasn't going your way, but there was a truck further on up the road that was.

There is a chance that the distribution for the area is done in IL and as such all packages head to that location for shipment to customers. I spent a few months working at a USPS distribution center and all mail within 5-6 hours was sent to that location (parts of 3 states were serviced by that DC) to be sorted and sent on it's way. It is the first thought that comes to mind the first scan would be the local office (where all incoming mail is directed to the designated DC) as it is getting loaded on the truck for the DC where you get the second scan that causes you concern.

Otherwise it isn't unheard of for a package to sent on the wrong way before getting back on track.

hungrymike posted...

I once had to fly from Philly to San Fran in order to get back to az.

The fact is that truck wasn't going your way, but there was a truck further on up the road that was.

Because you paid for a connecting flight instead of a direct flight.
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I once had a package that went from Kenosha, WI to Omaha, then to Spokane, WA, and then back to Omaha.



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adjl posted...

These, pretty much. If the truck that carries your package the wrong way is already going that way, there's very little incremental cost to load your package onto it. Then at the distribution hub, packages that have come from elsewhere that are bound for your region are loaded onto a single truck that is only carrying packages for that area, minimizing the amount of travel they have to do to get those packages delivered.

It doesn't make sense if you look only at your package, but delivery logistics make for some very complex optimization problems because so many different packages are going to so many different destinations. The ultimate aim is to pack as many packages as possible into as few trucks driving as little total distance as possible, and while that often results in some bizarre decisions for individual packages, those bizarre decisions will often end up being the most efficient overall.

Of course, if that 14-hour trip is happening too often, that may be an indication that the distribution hub should be moved (or a new one added) to streamline the process further. That's going to be a large-scale optimization, though, not anything that your single experience would inform.

Don't you get it, adjl?

TC said he'd never understand!

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We were talking about this today. But it really depends on everything else on the truck. Certain things have to reach their destination at specific times. So, that could be why
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captpackrat posted...

I once had a package that went from Kenosha, WI to Omaha, then to Spokane, WA, and then back to Omaha.

For some reason I actually thought you were from Washington. I'm sending a package to North Platte sometime soon.
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