The Framers Forum

I think my Tuffenels Driver is after the World Record for damaged deliveries - 17 out of 17 so far and counting !! I just wonder if anyone else has this problem or is it just my delivery driver - and I wonder why oh why do the suppliers think this is the best way of sending supplies ? Am slowly moving my orders to own van suppliers even if its pushing my cost of materials up !

In most cases it's not the drivers fault, as they do not load their trucks, it's the depot staff that do, and they don't know which order the round is, so they just load the truck any old way, now the driver will start the round and follow the instructions, doing the timed deliveries first, so imagine how frustrating it is to find the package you want is on the bottom of the load, by the time they get half way through the round, they have moved most package half a dozen time, so they start to throw them around (I know I would if it was me) they have to walk over packages etc...
Why do suppliers use Tuffenels, they are the cheapest, that's what it boils down too .

Or you might just have a bad driver, where I'm now based, mine is great

cheapest carrier - sounds like a false economy to me - upsets the customers, more work doing credits and damages your reputation

and he's taken his tally to 20 out of 20

I try to order larger amounts, that way some of the order derives some protection from being protected by the rest of the bundle. I also like to order board materials in full packs, if they succeed in damaging the corners at least most of the board don't tend to get much more damage that that. I do not expect deliveries to arrive undamaged all the time, that just not being very realistic. Over the years, I have developed some sort of strategy to use as much as I can of damaged bits of moulding and even damaged board material as well.

Slightly damaged pieces of moulding go into a scrap bin and then every now and then, when I got nothing better to do, I go through the scrap bin looking for scraps which match up and are enough to consider making a frame. I mostly use bare wood mouldings and can often steam out small dings. It is also possible to use mouldings with more severe damage by converting them in to destressed moulding to make destressed frames. Who is locking for dings as part of a destressed frame? No one!

I am often slicing up moulding scraps to make this and that. It's not always slips, spacers and fillers, but can be whatever is needed to complete current jobs and also can include supports necessary for object framing and who knows what. Amoungst other tools i have scroll saw, which enables me to easily cut difficult shapes and this is also extremely useful on numerous occasions. Often i am able to hide some damaged mouldings within part of a stack moulding frame. If the damage can be hidden inside the rate of another moulding within a stacked frame combination, why not!

I have to say that I can't remember the last time I had damaged goods from a carrier. I did once have
a bundle of moulding covered in oil. There was an engine in transit and whoever loaded it omitted to
drain it. I accepted it, there was only a tiny spot on one of the ends. The driver was actually
more annoyed than I was.

Are you making sure the driver is marking them as damaged?
I'd start refusing delivery and let your supplier know why you've refused them.
Our drivers have been chopping and changing during lockdown, we get boy racers, guys who throw the parcels down.
I tell them to either change their driving/attitude or not bother to show their faces round here again...this is the wild west after all!

One christmas, I had a bundle of moulding delivered which was soaked in whiskey. The van driver was busy apologising to everyone he had been delivering to, because of all the whiskey was all over everything. The moulding were o.k., but the corigated cardboard was a bit squiggy.

Six weeks waiting london to dublin thanks to brexit for one pack of moulding

We have very good service from Tuffnels: always the same driver, very polite, always delivers the same time in the morning very little damage. Sometimes LJ packaging is torn a little but to be fair it is not that strong.

This was my last delivery but to be fair it is the first one that has been damaged.
The whole box was separated so not sure how it happened.
The driver was extremely apologetic and took photos.