[Amps] Shipping Damage

[W0UN -- John Brosnahan]

Just a few observations on this issue based on three years at Alpha/Power.
These are personal experiences -- YMMV.

1)  The transformer is shipped separately mostly because the sheet metal
is not strong enough to stay intact if the amp is dropped during shipping --
not just to keep the weight per package down, though that is A factor.

2)  Proper packaging is the key and the 3CX800A7s are shipped in their
sockets with the Alpha amps.  But that is because the way the amp is
designed -- so that they are held in their sockets.  A typical 3-500Z amp
will have the tubes fall out of their sockets if shipped with the tubes 
installed.
And a loose glass tube is usually toast by the time it arrives.

3)  There are two issues in packaging that are key.  The first is the ability
of the box to withstand being impacted in a small area -- the burst strength
of the corrugated box.  Double corrugated boxes are usually adequate for
items of 70 pounds or less.  Triple corrugated boxes for heavier things.
The second issue is how much the packing material can reduce the G-forces
when the box is dropped.  In the case of the Alpha amps this shock absorbing
material is a combination of the right density of foam with the correct 
amount of
foam.   Both the thickness of the foam as well as the square inches of area 
that
the foam covers.  What you want is to reduce the shock on the contents by
letting the contents decelerate over some distance.  ie, The foam will 
compress
just the right amount to reduce the G-forces.  This is actually a fairly 
scientific
procedure and packaging companies will do the design work with a computer
program based on a number of factors, especially the weight of the item, but
also the volume of the item being shipped.

4)  UPS specifically is worse in some regions that others and they recognize
that fact by requiring different packaging for some regions.  Alpha had their
box approved for shipping by UPS from Colorado and we could ship an 87A
to Florida with no problems. But that same box would not meet the return
shipment specs from Florida because there had been a long history of increased
damage in the Florida region.  So, in order to return an Alpha from 
Florida, it
was necessary to place the original Alpha box in a second box.  The Alpha box
was probably more than adequate -- but insurance claims from FL caused UPS
to require a higher level of packaging.

5)  The biggest problems we ever had were with Alpha 77s.  A combination
of mediocre packing when they were shipped to the factory for repair and
the overall weight AND volume of the package was just too great to be handled
by one person.  We found that the only reliable way to ship an Alpha 77
was to put it on a pallet in order to make sure that is handled with a
fork lift, rather than picked up by one person.  Of course it was also very
well packaged with a lot of the proper foam.

6)  Although we rarely had problems with trucking amps like the 77s,
we found that the truck commodity rating is complete chaos and
it is often more expensive to ship by truck under a commodity code
for electronics that it is to ship by air freight.  So I would always
recommend air freight if you really valued your amp.  You wdn't have
to use the expensive Fedex route if you are willing to drive to one of
the more generic air freight companies that containerize shipments.
It might take two or three or four days to arrive, but it would always
arrive in good shape.  Especially if it was on a pallet.  Or you could
use Fedex, just make sure you use one of the slower air freight
options to keep the costs as low as possible.

7)  If you are NOT willing to drop your package from table height then
don't ship it.  Because there is a chance that it will fall that far onto
a concrete floor along the way.  Especially with UPS, but also with
other parcel companies.  Often it is not deliberate, just that the
package is heavier and bulkier than expected and the driver may not
be able to gracefully get his (or her) arms around the package.  And
sometimes things just fall off the conveyor belts.  I believe that there
may be some deliberate abuse of large packages, especially right after
UPS raised the weight limit from 70 pounds to 140 pounds.  Some of
the drivers and handlers protested the changes by abusing some
of the heavier packages.   But the majority of the problems are just
accidents, sometimes caused by something just being too big
to handle.  The step size from an Alpha 87A package to the 77SX
package is just enough to make the 77SX MUCH more vulnerable
to being dropped.

8)  USPS Priority Mail is an excellent way to get good service at a
darn good price for small packages.  But I have little experience with
it for amp-sized packages.

In the "old days" (early 1960s) I worked for the USPS handling
parcel post shipments.  Standard procedure was a semi-circle
of about 50 or 60 mailbags suspended from water pipe frames.
The sorter was required to throw the mail to keep the speed up.
Average distance was probably about 8 ft but could be as much
as 12 or 15 ft.  There were three things that could happen.  1) the
package could fly through and drop down in the bag with no
problems unless this was a heavy box landing on a fragile box, or
2) the package could fly through the air about 10 ft and miss the
bag but hit the pipe frame, or 3) the package could miss everything
and just hit the floor.  If you were good (I was) the package almost
always went into the right mail bag.  Of course amp-sized packages
were not handled this way -- they were too big to fit in a mail bag.
I don't know how the USPS handles things now, but in those "old days"
I would never ship Parcel Post unless the item was indestructible.
I think it is better now, in large part caused by competition from
UPS.

9)  Another option is surface Fedex (Green).  I guess this is the
reincarnation of Railway Express.  I have heard good things about
it from some people.  But it appears that results can vary.  Apparently
because some areas are served by contract operations rather than
by Fedex employees.  Of the seven items that have been shipped
to us by Fedex Green we have had problems with all of them.  Usually
the item just disappears in the computer system once it arrives at
DFW and never shows up again, although the package usually
arrives a week or TWO later.  But we have had two packages that
NEVER showed up.  The problem is so bad with this area's Fedex
Green operation that the regular Fedex drivers have commented
about what they have heard.  Our area is "served" by a contract
operator.  If we order from some company that has a contract with
Fedex to use them exclusively and the item is most suited to
ground shipment then we will buy from someone else rather than
have an item shipped Green.  But others have been pleased with
Green in their area.

10)  One last thing.  I am not exactly sure what NAFTA was supposed
to do, but we have found that the hardest/most expensive place in
the world to ship to is CANADA.  It is on the Canadian end and
there seems to be an extra layer of paperwork that causes a lot
of extra delay as well as costing a lot of extra money.  And I know
from Canadians that they often will ship something to the US
by driving it across the border and then ship it from inside the US.

CAVEAT--My observations are a few years old (except for Fedex
Green and USPS observations), so things may have changed at
some level.  But these are my experiences with shipping (and receiving)
a lot of ham amps while at Alpha.

Bottom line: it is the packaging, packaging, packaging.  Especially
if the amp has more emotional value than dollar value -- like some
of the absolutely CHERRY Alpha 77s that we handled.  You can't
go out and just buy another really clean Alpha 77 or any amp that
is no longer in production.

73--John  W0UN