You're Trying to Steer My Package Wrong?

[catcul]

I was making out a shipping label with UPS's corporate website. I wanted to send a server to St. Cloud, Florida. It tried to send it to St. Cloud, Minnesota.

There is a difference.

[wolfie]

I believe I've mentioned this before on CS, but some years back I was doing the linehaul on an LTL load from Springfield MA to Montreal PQ. I collected the paperwork, and was taking a quick look at the master waybill as I was walking away from the dispatch window. Before I got to the door, I turned around and returned to the dispatch window, and asked the dispatcher if shipment X was really supposed to be on the trailer. Cue an order for a shunt driver to get it back in the door PRONTO.

Someone on the dock had seen that shipment X was supposed to go to Ontario, so they put it on the trailer going to Canada (there were a few others like that on the trailer - in Montreal, they'd be put on the trailer to Toronto). Slight problem - instead of going to the province of Ontario Canada, shipment X was going to the city of Ontario California. Doesn't help that the postal abbreviations for California and Canada are both "CA".

I read in the trade press about a case where a truck showed up at a facility in Duluth MN and the driver apologized for being late. The facility wasn't expecting the truck, so they took a look at his paperwork to see what was up. It turned out that the truck was supposed to deliver to another one of the company's facilities, in Duluth GA.

Be glad the website doesn't automatically translate foreign languages when making up a label - otherwise something for Eau Claire WI might be sent to Clearwater FL.

[Mr Hero]

Someone on the dock had seen that shipment X was supposed to go to Ontario, so they put it on the trailer going to Canada (there were a few others like that on the trailer - in Montreal, they'd be put on the trailer to Toronto). Slight problem - instead of going to the province of Ontario Canada, shipment X was going to the city of Ontario California. Doesn't help that the postal abbreviations for California and Canada are both "CA".

I was tracking a package online for an order I placed on Amazon. Imagine my heart attack when I saw that the package was in Ontario, CA. Rather than do the rational thing and googled it, I called Amazon customer service to let them know there was a problem. After a quick geography lesson from the Amazon rep, I hung up with a sigh of relief.

[Victory Sabre]

I live in one of the St. Clouds. I've sen Craigslist ads for a garage sale, and didn't recognize the address. I quickly figure out that it is for the other St Cloud.

[dawnfire]

I see it sometimes here in craigslist too. I'm in Melbourne Australia and there's listings for Melbourne Florida.

[CrystalynRose]

I'm in one of the St. Clouds too. And every so often, my mail will get routed through the wrong damn one. >.<

[Racket_Man]

I have an OLD school redirect tale I may have told before.

This is back in the early 1960's BEFORE ZIP codes were fully introduced/implemented here in the US.

I lived on a street with a state name.

My Aunt sent me a B-Day card with my parents full address meaning

RM
1234 State name St.
My town, My state

When I received the card AFTER my B-Day we noticed the post mark on the envelope. One was for street name State and one was for my "where I live" state.