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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.

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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.

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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.

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GoggleField t1_isu6i66 wrote

And this is exactly why Amazon opened their own logistics shop.

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draggar t1_isslgee wrote

It's UPS. I've seen similar many times - even with packages originating a couple of towns over. It's fun when they go from Manchester to Chelmsford to Nashua - the truck literally drove past Nashua! :)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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DamnMaineYankee t1_issro46 wrote

Thank DeJoy - he’s slowly dismantling USPS to replace it with FEDEx

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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.

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macadamnut t1_istry4i wrote

Yeah, I had something go from Bangor to Lewiston via Newark, NJ.

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shapesize t1_istaukh wrote

You can’t get there from here…

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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?

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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

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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.

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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!<

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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.

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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.

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Kr00kTV t1_issp6mg wrote

It has nothing to do with LLBEAN, but it has to go to a sorting facility and then it gets shipped to you.

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StrawHat89 t1_istggct wrote

My guess is it's a UPS thing. All packages to MA go through Chelmsford first too.

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dbarz39 t1_issvelu wrote

Mine does it the mass to nh to mass to nh dance sometimes.

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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.

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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.

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207Simone t1_isupe4o wrote

I say if you live in Maine (or New England) and can get to Freeport or a outlet, you’re better off than ordering online then you have to order online it goes out of state blah blah blah…grateful I live 20 mins from Freeport

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theora55 t1_isuqb5k wrote

UPS can be wacky.

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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!

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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.

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kelster27 t1_iswfl1a wrote

Idk but side question- everyone else groan when they see Waterville UPS come up because it means your packages are going to arrive late?

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ShovelPaladin77 t1_istkig8 wrote

It's done like that because of the way it is.

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riefpirate t1_istpgg9 wrote

I didn't think they made much of anything in Maine anymore do they ?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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New_Sun6390 t1_istkvxj wrote

What state are you in?

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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!

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MisterMan-Maine t1_isu8k1z wrote

What crack dealer are you using? I want to know so I can avoid the whole region.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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? 🙄

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GuppyGB t1_istl24k wrote

I wish they would. My $25 gift card deserves it's own truck.

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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.

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