PDA

View Full Version : Reliability of Resupply?



Barbarosa
05-30-2008, 16:20
I recently had a resupply that I mailed not show up at a hostel (the name of which is withheld as it was an otherwise fine place). A FedEx track indicated that my package was left at the front door of the hostel one week before I arrived. Some hikers (triple crowners) that were staying there told me that they do not send resupply, in part because at times resupply does not "show up" and in part because they can be more flexible just going to a grocery store etc.

I would like to know if others have had issues with mailed resupply, or if my experience was a fluke. Also please post views on merits of mailing resupply or just finding a place to buy it.

4eyedbuzzard
05-30-2008, 16:28
Unless you've got special dietary or medical needs that can only be resupplied that way, I think buying on the local economy is less complicated. Why your box was left outside is another issue altogether, but if you most do drops, mail it to yourself at General Delivery/Hold for AT Hiker to the Post Office. It's probably more secure there than sitting outside on the porch of a hostel.

rafe
05-30-2008, 16:28
I try to minimize mail drops in the first place, but when I have used them, I've sent the packages to the post office. Sure, you have to deal with their office hours, but I've never had a package lost that way.

minnesotasmith
05-30-2008, 16:31
Had about 30 of them on my 2006 thru. Twice were delayed about a day. None went missing. Mail drops do require a high level of organization, generally knowing yourself and your tastes pretty well, someone at home you can trust, so they're not for everyone. Certainly, if you like unusual/especially healthy food, they're more worth doing. And, for some areas along the way where a wide variety of reasonably-priced food is inconvenient to get to (Fontana, Standing Bear, rural Maine, Glencliff, etc.), even eat-anything hikers would do well IMO to consider full-resupply drops.

If you'll read Jack Tarlin's invaluably through piece on resupply in the WB Articles section, you'll get a better idea on this topic. I carried a copy of it with me the whole way (tossing pages as I got past sections); you may want to as well. ;)

Appalachian Tater
05-30-2008, 16:49
I had a mail drop returned from a post office while hiking despite very clear instructions regarding general delivery and holding for a hiker. This was not on the A.T. Although all A.T. post offices are familiar with General Delivery, be careful when using it on other trails.

Blissful
05-30-2008, 16:49
I had two boxes missing in Maine - in one the box showed up but the contents were gone, and in the other at Monson, the box never came.

Since it was Fed Ex, you should be able to claim it and at least get compensation, since Fed Ex should not have left it there without alerting the owner.

I sent many boxes to hostels and motels, no problems, except for the two I sent surface to Maine.

4eyedbuzzard
05-30-2008, 17:01
Technically, according to the postal manual they are supposed to hold GD mail for 30 days before returning it. Many here in New England just rountinely hold them until the end of "thru-hiker" season before returning them.

A good tip is to put everything inside a tyvek or sturdy plastic bag as well and then put it inside the box, and to include a mailing label on the bag or somewhere inside with or on the contents. If the box gets eaten by the conveyor/sorting machinery or the label gets destroyed they'll look for a delivery address inside or on the "remains".