Date: Fri 15-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: BILLB

Quick Words:

business-UPS-strike-

Full Text:

UPS Teamsters' Strike Delivers A Blow To Local Businesses

(with photo)

BY BILL BRASSARD, JR

The United Brotherhood of Teamsters' strike against United Parcel Service is

having an effect on local businesses and the post office.

Consider the following:

Roy H. Scheunemann, owner of Auros Paper & Supply Company, has been loading

50-pound packages of blueprint and drafting paper into his Jeep Cherokee and

hauling them to the Botsford Post Office. There he meets other small business

owners doing the same thing.

At Mail Boxes Etc, a UPS authorized shipping outlet, business is down 60

percent, according to owner Robert Ostro.

At Pitney Bowes on Edmund Road, the company is sending parcels by every

alternate carrier it can think of. "We're using trucking companies, Airborne

Express, and the post office, but all combined they're not big enough and our

entire process is delayed and moving at a snail's pace," said Larry Scharbach,

manager of transportation.

On Monday, Newtown Manufacturing tried to send some packages only to find that

Federal Express was at capacity by 9:30 am.

Newtown Post Office, swamped with incoming parcels, had carriers on the road

last Sunday making residential deliveries.

Like Christmas

The post office appears to be keeping its head above the sea of packages. "Our

volumes are just like Christmas," said postmaster Richard McGuire on Monday

afternoon, "but we're holding our own. It's the large parcels that are causing

the delays. It takes longer for the carriers to deliver them."

Postal workers used to dealing with parcels of a few pounds are handling 40-

to 50-pound boxes. "We have a lot of parcels, huge parcels that in theory we

can handle but we don't see them that often," said Peggy Shab, customer

service supervisor. Postal regulations permit maximum size parcels of 70

pounds and 108 inches.

From Mr McGuire's standpoint, things could be worse. He said the Norwalk Post

Office had an unexpected 10,000 pieces of Express mail dropped on its loading

dock one night last week.

Federal Express is another alternate shipping choice but it too is near

capacity. A call to Fed Ex on Tuesday morning generated a message that said

due to high call volumes the company has been forced to limit the number of

packages it will accept and that it has suspended its money-back guarantees.

A Federal Express driver, who asked not to be identified, said, "We're doing

our best. It's hard to say no to people, but we can only take so much."

Trucking companies are absorbing some of the overflow business. Last Thursday,

a Sweeny Transportation box truck out of Chicopee, Mass., made a delivery to

The Bee. Driver Bob Song, a Danbury area resident, said the company

specializes in delivering heavy loads but is accepting packages that weigh as

little as two pounds. Sweeny operates 1,000 trucks on the East Coast, said Mr

Song.

In general, business owners and managers say the alternate carriers are doing

the job, but they're uncomfortable being out of their routine and they miss

UPS's sophisticated system of tracking parcels. "Normal carriers can't trace

as well as UPS," said Mr Scharbach.

Holding Their Breath

As the strike moved into its tenth day on Wednesday, small businesses were

holding their breath. Since delivery of products is usually efficient, it's

common practice for small operations to carry less inventory, but that makes

them vulnerable to shipping delays. Retailers report receiving occasional

shipments from UPS trucks being driven by company management, but orders are

behind schedule.

Carl Russo of Tunes, a music store in Sand Hill Plaza, said he's had shipments

of his product delayed. "It hasn't gotten out of hand at this point," he said

on Tuesday, "but there's the potential it could." Mr Russo placed a next-day

order last Thursday and received it by UPS on Tuesday. He said the driver was

from the company's research and development department. "We have a small

inventory," said Mr Russo. "You don't want to become a warehouse. We order as

required."

At The Book Review, boxes of books to be returned to publishers are piled up

in the storage room. "We've had three [UPS] deliveries in seven days but no

pick-ups," manager Bill Sullivan said. "Fortunately it's August and it's not

horrendously busy like during the holidays."

Mr Scheunemann, who last month moved his Auros Paper & Supply Company to

Newtown in the Simm Lane Business Park, has been scrambling to get his orders

out. When the strike came, he did not have an account with Federal Express.

"They're not opening new accounts now, so if I have to use them I bring it to

their center in Danbury," said Mr Scheunemann.

Actually, Mr Scheunemann prefers the post office to deliver his 30- to

50-pound packages of specialty paper used by architects and draftsmen. He

brings some to the Botsford branch, which is less busy than the Newtown Post

Office, he said. Other orders he puts into his own vehicle and drives them to

area customers. "I put the back seat down and away we go," said Mr

Scheunemann.

Larger Businesses

Mr Scharbach said that the Pitney Bowes corporation ships about 7,000 packages

a day. He was unable to estimate how many parcels the Newtown plant alone

sends out, but it's a large number. The local facility ships replacement parts

for photocopiers and mailing machines throughout the United States.

After a two-week vacation shutdown, Newtown Manufacturing reopened to learn of

the strike. Bill Watts, a vice president, said the company sends out about 30

packages a week with UPS. The packages contain custom machine parts for

customers across the country. "Some of the pieces are very small," said Mr

Watts. "You could hold 2,000 of them in the palm of your hand."

Mr Watts said the company has been calling customers to find out what type of

alternate shipping they prefer. They've been using Federal Express, Roadway

Package Service (RPS), and the post office. "I'm glad to learn about some of

these other services like RPS," said Mr Watts. "My guess is that people will

go back to UPS after the strike, but not entirely. They'll continue to use

some of the others."

Taunton Press uses UPS for about ten percent of its shipping of magazines,

books, and videos, and as of Tuesday had not been seriously impacted at its

Newtown headquarters, said Paul Seipold, manager of distribution services.

"I'm more concerned about the effect on our [magazine] distributors, some of

whom use UPS," he said. "People are scrambling. Our concern is that all the

[shipping] networks can get jammed."

Taunton Press publishes several magazines, and their flagship publications

Fine Woodworking and Fine Homebuilding each have a circulation of 350,000.

The strike has had little effect on The Bee Publishing Company, which mails

The Newtown Bee and Antiques and the Arts Weekly through the post office. Some

subscribers who have their antiques paper shipped by UPS are receiving it by

Priority mail. Bulk shipments of the Antiques and the Arts Weekly to antiques

shows, usually sent by UPS, are on hold.

Limiting Packages

The post office has limited customers to four packages at a time, although a

person may make unlimited trips to the counter. "If they want to wait in line

that many times, that's fine," said Mr McGuire.

The volume, which was highest late last week, appears to be leveling off, said

Mr McGuire. He believes many people waited to see if the strike would be

settled quickly. When it wasn't, they went ahead and posted their packages.

At Mail Boxes Etc in Sand Hill Plaza, August is normally one of the busiest

months for Mr Ostro. There are a lot of back-to-college parcels shipped at

this time, he said. "Half our business is packaging and shipping," he said.

"Most of the people who come in here to ship things use UPS, which is the

least expensive ground service for most large packages, either by weight or

size."

One of Mr Ostro's customers who was sending birthday presents to Albuquerque,

N.M., chose Federal Express and paid more than she would have if UPS had been

available.

Mr Ostro believes people are not shipping unless it's important. "I think

there's a lot of waiting going on," he said.

Given the lack of traffic in the store, Mr Ostro has seen a fall-off in sales

of accessories, as well as the use of his new color copier machine.

"Obviously, we're hoping for a quick settlement," he said.