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Letter Re: A Machine That Sorts Pennies by Composition
Mr. Rawles,
With a 70 pound weight limit, [USPS] Flat Rate [Priority Mail] boxes can be
a fantastic deal, especially for small heavy items, as you mentioned. Up
until
this month,
the two sizes available were
11" x 8.5" x 5.5" and
13.625" x 11.875" x 3.375". They cost $8.95 to send anywhere
in the U.S.A. Now there is a third alternative, a larger 12” x 12” x
5-1/2” box that costs $12.95 to send (or $10.95 to an APO/FPO address).
This is a real bargain.
I recently shipped a large quantity of these from Arizona to Alaska. Most
of them contained quite heavy items, such as reloading lead, hand tools, and
rocks.
These boxes would have cost up to $50.00 each at regular parcel post rates.
The automatic handling equipment evidently knocks the boxes around. Heavy
boxes get beat up a lot more than light boxes. If you ship a heavy box, it
should
be taped securely as you mentioned. It's a good idea to tape all edges, and
to wrap strapping tape around it in at least two directions.[JWR Adds: Be
sure to cover any strapping tape with a couple of layers of opaque tape or
Priority
Mail tape, since strapping tape is discouraged by the USPS, for fear that it
might gum up their automated parcel handling equipment.] You can ask the clerk
to mark it "heavy" and
sometimes they'll run it through their
strapping machine.
Incidentally, you can buy postage for Flat Rate Boxes online and just estimate
the weight since you aren't paying by weight anyway. Then you can have the
carrier pick it up
at your house. - K.L. - Alaska
