Got scolded by the post office

[abunaitoo]

I sell shells in a USPS med flat rate box.
I got scolding from them because the box was bulging on the sides.
Seems they don't like it when is sticks out a little.
Something about it's hard to pack.

[1hole]

Well, an overstuffed cardboard box is much more likely to burst open in handling and dump it's contents. You probably wouldn't like that either. ???

[Winger Ed.]

Some people are never happy.

[MUSTANG]

Just tell the Post Office they are the ones who did their advertisement:

Flat-Rate Package Options

If It Fits, It Ships®. Priority Mail® service offers a variety of Flat-Rate Boxes and Envelopes that ship for the same price to any domestic address, regardless of how much they weigh or how far they’re going. Prices vary by product, as shown in the table below. Our Express Mail® Flat-Rate Envelope eliminates the need to weigh contents and calculate postage for anything that can fit into the Flat-Rate Envelope. With flat-rate shipping, there’s no need to weigh anything that can fit (up to 70 pounds) if it is shipped domestically.
All USPS® Priority Mail and Express Mail packaging material is available free of charge at Post Offices™ or may be ordered online at no additional cost and shipped to any home or business.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

We have the same here, if it fits, it ships.

Yesterday I asked for a 1/2kg bag and slipped 6.4kg of cast boolits to a friend 3000 km away. The only thing bulging was the ladies eyes as she lifted it into the post bag.

[JimB..]

Are you selling sea shells by the sea shore?

[salpal48]

Don't worry. The post Office is Not to long for this world

[tomme boy]

I usually put the brass in the tyvek shipping bags they have. That way if it does rip the box the brass will stay in the bags. Sometimes I will do two bags if the brass is heavy. Plus I have lots of the brown threaded shipping tape.

[abunaitoo]

It wasn't round or bulging out, just not straight on the sides.
I've shipped many just like it.
Never had any problems.
Maybe they were just having a bad day.
Some people are just in the wrong positions.
Typical of gooberment workers.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I'll vote for "just having a bad day."

[tankgunner59]

I have shipped some flat rate boxes REAL full at times, but no one has scolded me yet.

[Markopolo]

well, i for one appreciate the post office.. UPS or Fedex will not deliver here...

[nicholst55]

well, i for one appreciate the post office.. UPS or Fedex will not deliver here...

I feel the same way; while UPS and FEDEX WILL deliver here, it is far, far more expensive!

[dragon813gt]

The postal employee was just telling you the rules. It used to be you could put a SFRB in a flat rate envelope and ship it for slightly less money. They put a stop to that and the envelope is supposed to stay flat like an envelope. The boxes are no different. They are supposed to stay w/ in their original dimensions. I know many bulged boxes have been shipped. But they should not have been. It’s one thing when a box is bulged and you ship through UPS and they charge accordingly. It’s another w/ the flat rate boxes.

[NyFirefighter357]

The bulged boxes don't run through the sorting machines well, neither do 70lb MFRB of lead! The woman in the post office wasn't happy with my 68lb MFRB. I told her, your rules not mine! lol

[abunaitoo]

Our post office told me the envelope can be bulging.
She said anything that can fit in it, is good to go.
Majority of the time, the post office is great.
It's just a few that have a power complex.
With the unions backing them up, they can get away with almost anything.

[Lloyd Smale]

they told me the same. Envelopes can be bulging because theres not much that can be done to stop it but flat rate boxes are not suppose to be bulged.

[lightman]

I'll be another that votes for "having a bad day". I have had good service from them for the most part. They do seem to be going down hill and I would like to see them return to their former level of service.

The Lady that works the counter at our post office told me that the envelope can bulge as long as the flap is closed all of the way. I usually put a line of staples across the flap as a precaution.

She also has never said anything about my small or medium boxes bulging. But I seldom load them where they bulge.

[bedbugbilly]

As they say - "there are two sides to every pancake". When I use flat rate boxes - and I have shipped a lot of items over the years in them - I have always packed them so they retain their original dimensions - if something doesn't fit in them - then a different box is needed and the postage rate will be what it is. Why pack a box so that it is bulging when you know how they are handled in transit? Tylek bags or not - an overstuffed box begs to be dropped, tossed and mishandled in transit. 99% of the items I have received in flat rate boxes are well packed - lead, cartridge cases, etc. and WELL TAPED - even reinforced with extra layers of cardboard to strengthen the box - but there are always those that "push it". I one purchased a RCBS Jr2 single stage press off of fleabay - a very nice little press and the idiot I purchased it from literally put it in a light weight shoebox that running shoes came in - no cushioning at all - taped the top on and slapped the label on it. The PO should never have accepted it - when it arrived, it had gone through WWIII - handle slipping out of a hole punched in during shipment and the press had been dropped and the pivot block of the press damaged so that the handle would no longer screw into it. I bought a set of Lyman 310 dies - 45 Colt and the seller just tossed them in a SFRB - no cushioning - sealed the flap and mailed it. When it arrived, the box was flat and empty - no dies inside.

It boils down to ""COMMON SENSE" - why push the limits? Yea . . . the clerk might have had a bad day but in the end - they were right regardless of "if it fits it ships". The flat rate boxes are intended to be packed so that they retain their original dimensions for ease of shipping and sorting machines - on the receiving end of an item, I would much rather receive what I ordered than to have it scattered all over the country because a bulging box got snagged, dropped or mishandled causing loss of what is inside.

On the "extreme end" of things - you wouldn't try to ship a long bamboo fishing rod in a SFRB but I am sure there are those who would try to . . . . . just sayin'

[BigAlofPa.]

I use the padded flat rate envelopes to ship brass. I put the brass in a ziplock bag 1st. I also tape around the edges of the padded envelope to prevent a blow out.