Weird and wacky delivery stories

The world’s first courier service is believed to have been formed in Egypt, four and a half thousand years ago.

Image Credit

Since then, the industry has become a worldwide phenomenon, despite recent competition from the digital world. But according to Ibis World, although traditional postal mail delivery has declined in recent years, the market remains buoyant for specialist delivery services.

Delivering packages might appear to be a straightforward proposition, but as the following four stories indicate, life is not always as simple as we might wish it to be.

Image Credit

1 Parcel up your children

On learning, way back in 1913, that the US postal service was now allowing large packages to be transported through its mail delivery service, one enterprising couple decided to entrust their most precious package of all to its care. Bundling up their eight-month-old son, they shipped him to his grandparents, trusting in the speed and safety of the national mail delivery system.

Their son arrived safely at his destination, and having spent just 15 cents on this unusual infant transportation system, the couple were quick to sing the system’s praises, leading to other parents quickly following suit. The US postal service, realising that this was not what the system had been designed for, quickly passed an amendment making it illegal to transport children via the national mail network. Now that’s not something that you would see on used pallet racking Ireland way sitting in a warehouse ready for picking!

2 Special delivery – straight to the kitchen!

Imagine the surprise experienced by one Dorset resident, when his brand new microwave was delivered right into his kitchen, thanks to the courier’s driving error. He’d intended to stop outside the house, and make the delivery in the more normal manner, but something, somewhere went wrong, and the entire van made its way into the kitchen too.

3 Bear lurking by front door

No one would condemn the Canadian delivery driver who found himself unable, or at least unwilling, to deliver a package. Well, finding a bear at the door would be reason enough to leave any parcel delivery for another day.

4 Trapped by a package

Spare a thought for the elderly couple who found themselves trapped when their delivery driver positioned their parcel in such a way that they were unable to open their own front door. Hard lessons were learned that day!