Shopping-to-Shipping Transition Crucial This Compressed Holiday Season; UPS Offers 10 Tips for Worry-Free Shipping.Business Editors ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2002 For those who have survived the weekend-after-Thanksgiving blitz at the mall, the focus now shifts from shopping to shipping. And that transition is especially crucial this year as a quirk quirk n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. in the calendar has compressed the holiday shipping season to just over three weeks. "With these tips, UPS has taken the guesswork out of shipping," says UPS package lab manager Chad Thompson. "We spend time developing easy-to-follow packaging guidelines for our customers' computers, cookies or khakis khak·i n. 1. A light olive brown to moderate or light yellowish brown. 2. a. A sturdy cloth of this color. b. khakis A uniform made of this cloth. , all in hopes they can better enjoy the holidays." 1. For the best value, ship as early as possible. Those who plan ahead can save money and avoid the stress of shipping gifts at the last minute by using UPS's economical Ground Service. The last day to ship a coast-to-coast package via UPS Ground is Dec. 17. But, UPS plans for procrastinators year-round and offers UPS Next Day Air(R) for shipping gifts as late as Dec. 23 for Christmas Eve delivery. The ultimate procrastinator pro·cras·ti·nate v. pro·cras·ti·nat·ed, pro·cras·ti·nat·ing, pro·cras·ti·nates v.intr. To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness. v.tr. can use UPS SonicAir(R), a same-day service (humour, operating system) same-day service - An ironic term used to describe long response time, particularly with respect to MS-DOS system calls (which ought to require only a tiny fraction of a second to execute). that is available on Christmas day. 2. Factor in the time it takes to fulfill your catalog or Internet order. When shopping and shipping from home, remember that some catalogers and online retailers ship orders immediately, but others may take a day or two to process an order before it's shipped, especially during the holiday season. Be sure to ask if extra days should be added to the shipping time. 3. Be prepared. The first thing you need when shipping is a good sturdy box. If you must reuse a box, make sure it is rigid and in excellent condition with no punctures, tears, rips or corner damage, and that all flaps are intact. And be sure to remove old address labels, delivery markings and bar codes from the previous shipment. Shoeboxes, gift boxes or other paperboard boxes are not recommended. 4. Prepare each package with care by wrapping every item separately using proper cushioning material. Items should be separated by at least 2 inches of cushioning and be placed at least 2 inches away from the walls of the box. Acceptable cushioning materials include: bubble pack, air bags, "peanuts," foam-in-place (a foam, sprayed into the box or mixed in packets, that expands and forms a protective mold around contents), corrugated cardboard Noun 1. corrugated cardboard - cardboard with corrugations (can be glued to flat cardboard on one or both sides) corrugated board cardboard, composition board - a stiff moderately thick paper corrugated cardboard n , paper cushioning (multi-layered paper padding Bits or characters that fill up unused portions of a data structure, such as a field, packet or frame. Typically, padding is done at the end of the structure to fill it up with data, with the padding usually consisting of 1 bits, blank characters or null characters. See null and bit stuffing. , not newspaper) and crumpled crum·ple v. crum·pled, crum·pling, crum·ples v.tr. 1. To crush together or press into wrinkles; rumple. 2. To cause to collapse. v.intr. 1. kraft paper. Fragile articles, such as electronics, glass, ceramics, and artwork, need extra padding material and suitable separation from other items and from the corners, sides, top and bottom of the box. 5. Close your gifts securely by applying strong pressure-sensitive plastic or nylon-reinforced tape. Use three strips of tape for both the top and bottom of the box, so that the middle and two edge seams are sealed. Do not use masking, cellophane cellophane, thin, transparent sheet or tube of regenerated cellulose. Cellophane is used in packaging and as a membrane for dialysis. It is sometimes dyed and can be moisture-proofed by a thin coating of pyroxylin. , duct or water-activated paper tapes. Also, do not use string or paper over-wrap. 6. Use proper labeling to ensure timely and accurate delivery. Always include complete addresses for you and the recipient, including ZIP codes zip code System of postal-zone codes (zip stands for “zone improvement plan”) introduced in the U.S. in 1963 to improve mail delivery and exploit electronic reading and sorting capabilities. , telephone numbers and the suite, apartment or unit number if applicable. Place the shipping label on the top of the box. To avoid confusion, place only one address label on the box. Do not place the label on a seam, edge, closure or on top of tape. And finally, place a duplicate label or other form of address information inside the package in the event that the outer label becomes unreadable for some reason. 7. Ship online. For a faster, simpler way to handle your holiday shipping, use UPS's Internet Shipping option at MyUPS.com. All you need is a computer with Internet access See how to access the Internet. and a printer. From the comfort of your own home, use a credit card to pay for your shipment, print the label on plain paper and affix affix v. 1) to attach something to real estate in a permanent way, including planting trees and shrubs, constructing a building, or adding to existing improvements. it to your package. It's that easy! Once your holiday packages are ready to go, you can hand them off to any UPS driver, drop them off at a UPS customer counter or take them to a convenient authorized shipping outlet noted on the Web's UPS Drop-off Locator LOCATOR, civil law. He who leases or lets a thing to hire to another. His duties are, 1st. To deliver to the hirer the thing hired, that he may use it. 2d. To guaranty to the hirer the free enjoyment of it. 3d. . 8. When in doubt, take it to the experts. Bring your gifts to a UPS customer counter or to one of the more than 3,000 Mail Boxes Etc. locations, and a packaging expert will do everything possible to make sure your holiday gifts arrive intact and on time. 9. You can track your delivery on the UPS Web site at ups.com or by phone at (800) PICK-UPS. UPS customers in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. can track packages via virtually any wireless device. Sign up for free wireless access at www.ups.com/wireless. 10. Finally, relax and celebrate! From around the corner to more than 200 countries and territories around the world, UPS has been bringing the holidays home for 95 years. UPS's Peak Season officially began Dec. 2, and the company anticipates its Peak Day will be Thursday, Dec. 19, with an expected global delivery volume of more than 18 million packages. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS is the world's largest express carrier and largest package delivery company. For 19 consecutive years, UPS has been named "America's Most Admired" Mail and Package Delivery Company in a Fortune magazine survey. |
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