Submitted by arclight222 t3_y7598i in Maine
Comments
coolcalmaesop t1_isskko8 wrote
Actually, yes. In college I was a CSR for Beans and got this call a lot. The trucks go to regional sorting facility first. It just makes more sense for their logistics.
FITM-K t1_isskmpm wrote
LL Bean doesn't choose how it ships, UPS does. Beans gives the final address and turns over the package, they don't get to choose what route it takes.
hike_me t1_isskqnq wrote
That’s the closest place UPS sorts packages to send them to regional distribution centers
Beans is sending an entire tractor trailer load of packages at a time. They get sorted in Chelmsford and loaded onto large trucks to go the regional distribution centers. Then at the regional center they get sorted by delivery route and loaded onto delivery trucks.
Majestic-Feedback541 t1_issl8al wrote
The shipping is less on llbean and more on the shipping company.
I've noticed UPS is decent at their scanned locations making sense (en route, no too many ridiculous out of the way stops)
USPS on the other hand... Sometimes the shipping is insane. I ordered something that came from Florida, it was scanned in NY, then OH, then NH, then eastern Maine, then southern Maine, and finally made it's was to my towns post office in northern Maine. This has been a pattern for USPS the past couple of years.
I haven't had many things that come by FedEx to judge them by.
DifferenceMore5431 t1_isslixo wrote
Sorting packages at a central location is incredibly efficient. If they didn't do it this way they would have to drive trucks between every pair of towns.
NoPossibility t1_issm8xx wrote
It’s actually more sustainable this way. They have set routes where bulk trucks full of packages get routed, sorted, then redistributed. It takes less fuel doing it this way than to send a truck from Freeport to Waterville for the ten packages that might be on their way that day.
kmkmrod t1_issmleo wrote
Doing big trucks to regional distribution then breaking it down to smaller areas from there is exactly in line with sustainability.
Do you think it would be more efficient if they dispatched a truck to every individual’s home? 🙄
costabius t1_isspn98 wrote
when I worked there a couple decades ago Beans was actually a mini-sort facility for either UPS or FEDex. They would sort for and fill air freight containers that went straight to Portland and onto a plane. I don't know if they still do that for express shipping or not.
Chelmsford is the most convenient nearby spot to access rail freight so it is probably way more efficient from a resource perspective to sort and ship everything by rail from there.
NoMoLerking t1_issq26e wrote
There’s a big UPS facility in Chelmsford
Antnee83 t1_issq63d wrote
The reason they do this is to avoid taxes. See, when you ship something from Maine to Massachusetts back to Maine, there's a legal loophole that makes it so you don't have to pay taxes. It's the same loophole that allows you to not have to listen to the cops, because they're flying a maritime flag and we're obviously not at sea. One time I pooped in a plastic easter egg and hid it for a few years and forgot about it and then I found it and it was like a rockhard black chunk. So the taxes don't get applied and that saves you and LL Bean money.
DamnMaineYankee t1_issrfs1 wrote
Trump’s appointment to US Postal service is slowly dismantling the USPS so it can be replaced by FedEx, a conservatard supporter. DeJoy needs to Go - yesterday. The amount of corruption our last prez introduced is truly massive. It appears that’s what he spent most of efforts on, as he accomplished little else.
DamnMaineYankee t1_issro46 wrote
Thank DeJoy - he’s slowly dismantling USPS to replace it with FEDEx
Antnee83 t1_issruw5 wrote
Sir this is a Wendy's
>!while they're not wrong, it's also not relevant because UPS is not the USPS!<
New_Sun6390 t1_isswig7 wrote
Um, no. If a customer orders from L.L. Bean and the item is shipped to Maine, customer pays sales tax on it. Period. There was a time that L. L. Bean did not put stores in sales tax states to avoid sales tax issues (I worked there during that time), but I am pretty sure that policy was abandoned .
As others have said, once L. L. Bean gives the package to UPS, it is subject to the shipper's logistics. It can be amusing to watch the shipping updates.
peachmoney t1_issx8oh wrote
This is the guy that calls customer service of Bean to complain about UPS, FedEx, USPS. Whatever way it was shipped isn't good enough for this Karen.
Antnee83 t1_issxa4y wrote
> Um, no. If a customer orders from L.L. Bean and the item is shipped to Maine, customer pays sales tax on it.
Um actually I just ordered from LL Bean and I paid no tax on it. Also Sharks are smooth both ways, I'm petting one right now and it's smooth.
Final-Cold9958 t1_issxzze wrote
FedEx SchmedEx, it’s because Leon’s ghost is personally driving your parcel to you and is a huge fan of hiking in Nashua. So he likes to make a pit stop to take it all in, especially this time of year.
janmichaelvintage t1_issz86z wrote
It's an aside from this guy's post but I have had less trouble with the USPS over the last couple of years than any other time and my business is based on shipping parcels through them every day.
I chock it up to the employees of the USPS who are awesome and the doomsday reporting of everything like DeJoy is the antichrist or something. I'd like to hear what USPS employees think of him.
jeranis t1_istcc7t wrote
WHOOOOOSH
StrawHat89 t1_istggct wrote
My guess is it's a UPS thing. All packages to MA go through Chelmsford first too.
ShovelPaladin77 t1_istkig8 wrote
It's done like that because of the way it is.
New_Sun6390 t1_istkvxj wrote
What state are you in?
GuppyGB t1_istl24k wrote
I wish they would. My $25 gift card deserves it's own truck.
riefpirate t1_istpgg9 wrote
I didn't think they made much of anything in Maine anymore do they ?
Antnee83 t1_istqcfg wrote
Maine, which used to be Massachusetts. See that's the trick, Maine was never officially made a state, because during the swearing in, Maine had it's fingers crossed. Cant have state tax if there's no state!
surprisepinkmist t1_istqgah wrote
Denial, perhaps insanity...
surprisepinkmist t1_istqmd8 wrote
That is unrelated. Regardless of where it is made, there's a good chance it begins it's shipment from Freeport.
feigndeaf t1_istregv wrote
The USPS has been far better than private carriers the last few years. UPS has fkd up nearly every delivery I've had this summer. USPS was always on time and right location.... Unlike UPS that delivered $3000 of goods to some rando two hours away.
macadamnut t1_istry4i wrote
Yeah, I had something go from Bangor to Lewiston via Newark, NJ.
Copacetic9two t1_istsec4 wrote
Yes, my mail and packages from USPS used to go from the Southern Maine distribution center in Scarborough right to my post office, but now it goes from Southern way up to Eastern Maine distribution in Hampden and then over to me (I live about an equal distance from Scarborough and Hampden, so it creates a big triangle for all my mail), which has resulted in items sent even from nearby taking a week when it used to take a few days.
heitanz t1_istue9x wrote
This is the right answer.
LLBean is not delivering the package to you. UPS does not have a sorting facility in Maine.
You still get your monogrammed bookpack in 2 days.
I always hated this behind the scenes glimpse the end customer gets because it generated far more "where's my package" (specifically why is my package in MA when I live in ME) than necessary. I don't need to see the engine in my car to know that, generally speaking, it goes.
Aggressive_FIamingo t1_isu2ls1 wrote
Do you think LLBean controls the inner workings of UPS? They give their orders to UPS and then it's no longer in their hands.
ozzie286 t1_isu3j4u wrote
I think it wouldn't be as bad if they made it clear that it was in UPS's possession and that it was in Chelmsford at the UPS distribution center there.
GoggleField t1_isu6i66 wrote
And this is exactly why Amazon opened their own logistics shop.
space_ranger1997 t1_isu7aaq wrote
I work for the warehouse at Beans. We do not sort your packages for delivery. We pick and pack them then hand them off to UPS. Whatever happens after that is not in our control. Also why do people complain about this stuff? You still got your stuff in 2 days why is it a problem how it got there?
MisterMan-Maine t1_isu82j1 wrote
Ups sorting facility.
MisterMan-Maine t1_isu89l4 wrote
Sorting facility in Chelmsford.
MisterMan-Maine t1_isu8k1z wrote
What crack dealer are you using? I want to know so I can avoid the whole region.
tonyforeman t1_isufwpy wrote
Thank you . You read my mind.
Antnee83 t1_isuk93h wrote
I don't use a crack dealer. It's a two-way street that both of us are happy to drive.
Ok-Marionberry1263 t1_isukc26 wrote
Pretty sure it's all UPS packages in New England go there
theora55 t1_isuqdb7 wrote
Bean boots are made in Maine.
david_lo-pan t1_isvdtqi wrote
You worked their when they had a contract with FedEx. UPS does not have any air operations in Maine.
ninjafoot2 t1_isw635a wrote
Soooooooo I invoice their shipping containers. I see them often bounce from Brunswick to Freeport, no real idea why I never asked… maybe they needed to stay in a yard? Then again bobtails are same day typically. Dunno!
thought_collector_ t1_iswdo1g wrote
This happens to me and I haven’t ordered anything from LL Bean. I actually had something recently go through Chelmsford, get all the way to Bangor (yay it’s almost here) and then suddenly go back to Chelmsford. And then, surprise, “you’re package will be arriving at some ambiguous date in the future.” It’s not that I care about the wait for the package. It’s that I can’t believe how inefficient their network algorithm is and how much more it’s costing them.
Hefty_Musician2402 t1_it0r10u wrote
Aye wassup I’m an M01 order picker and receiving at Beans. You work in the Freeport location?
Edit: ARIEL WHATS UP?! I’m in the smokers lot across the street
arclight222 OP t1_isskaxi wrote
I know it's probably a logistics issue. It just doesn't seem to jive with their other sustainability efforts.