GroundTrac To the Rescue
by Dwayne Anthony

Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", November 1993, page 26

As a valuable service to your readers, I'd like to relay a recent trade transaction that thoroughly rattled the nerves of two collectors. This is a true story. Only the  names have been changed to protect the insane... oh, I mean the innocent. My purpose for sharing this agonizing incident with your subscribers is to hopefully prevent them from encountering a similar "nail biting" experience.

Collector No. 1, "Carl R. Nut" of California (know for being a color glass fanatic), and Collector No. 2, "Ecy N. Eym" of Wyoming (known for his E.C.&M. appetite), agreed to simultaneously ship their packages to each other on the same day, that being a Monday. The idea was that each would receive their trade items the same day, inspect them, then communicate by phone to consummate the deal. It all seemed so simple...

Monday morning arrives and Carl R. Nut approaches the shipping counter at his local UPS office. The clerk notifies him that a new service called GroundTrac is now available. Further explanation reveals that GroundTrac is a new state-of-the-art package tracking system for shipments to and from any address in the 48 contiguous states. For an additional charge of just 75 cents, UPS will place a stamp -- containing a bar code and numbers -- on your package. By simply calling a  1-800 phone number at any time following the shipment of your package, you can locate its whereabouts within moments. Considering the value of his package, Carl R. Nut decides this is a good idea and opts for GroundTrac.

On the same day, with two packages in hand Ecy N. Eym heads for his local UPS Office. Upon his arrival, there is no mention to him of the new GroundTrac option. He ships his two packages via normal service. Both UPS offices informed the collectors that their shipments would arrive at their final destination points in four working days.

Thursday morning arrives. Carl R. Nut phones the UPS 1-800 number, calls off the GroundTrac numbers on his receipt, and within moments his package is located. He's relieved to know that it arrived in its destination city, with delivery scheduled that same day. With the anxiety and anticipation building, he assumes his packages also will be arriving at any time. He awaits the sound of the "Big Brownie on Wheels" (the UPS truck) roaring to a stop in front of his home. It doesn't happen. As the sun drops over the horizon in California, Carl R. Nut realizes he will have to wait another day. He calls Ecy N. Eym that evening, and yes, he has received his package. Discussion between the two surmise that the California bound packages will arrive the following day.

Friday morning arrives with a renewed sense of excitement. All too soon though, the excitement slowly fades to gloom as Friday winds down and still no sign of the UPS man! The two collectors exchange phone calls and the horrendous thoughts of lost packages begins to filter into their conversation. A frantic late evening call to UPS is futile since the packages did not have a GroundTrac number. The collectors would have to wait until the following Monday to run a trace on the packages!

The weekend was pure hell! Nervous days and sleepless nights were the order for these two poor souls. Sure, the packages were insured, but what a blow to the hobby if these exquisite gems were to disappear forever, never again to be admired by those collectors who truly appreciate their alluring beauty and uniqueness. Needless to say, GroundTrac would have been a blessing at this point. Would Monday ever arrive?

It did, finally, with an early morning call by Carl R. Nut to his local UPS office. Fortunately, he knew a UPS employee and she opened the avenues to a special urgent search for the missing parcels. A return call within twenty minutes informed him the packages are at the local UPS shipping station and being loaded on the truck for delivery. Within the next hour they appear at his door! Carl R. Nut opens the packages immediately with amazing speed and accuracy... Houdini would have been proud of this guy! To his delight, all is well! A couple quick "Kirk Gibson pumps" signals and end to several days of tension and uneasiness.

Alas, the story has a happy ending! If you haven't figured out the moral of this story yet, this is it: avoid frustration, use GroundTrac. When shipping your insulators by UPS -- especially high value pieces -- always consider the 75 cents for GroundTrac, just for the peace of mind.

Oh, by the way, the insulators involved in the delayed delivery were three CD 126 dome embossed Brookfields: a yellow olive with amber swirls; a purple, and a red amber. Now that's reason for concern!!!!