Skimboarding is an enjoyable hobby that will bring you many hours of pleasure. This please is accentuated when you have the proper technique.

Please find below the top 10 skimboarding tips that will help you become more skilled at skimboarding.

1. Choosing the right skimboard method. You should match your skimboard method to the type of beach you skimboard on. For beaches with steep slopes use ‘wave skimboarding’ whereby you skim into the waves and ride them just like you would in surfing.

When you are on a flat beech with relatively benign waves use the sand skimming method in shallow water.

2. Use the appropriate skimboard. You have to match your board to the skimboard method you are using. This is your only contact with the water so it is essential you get the board right. The critical factor is board shape, much more so than the design or prices of the board. For sand skimming you should use a round skimboard that resembles a disk in shape. For wave skimming use an oblong board similar in shape to a mini surf board.

3. Mounting the board. You should move onto the board with momentum almost as if you are running onto the board. The board is more likely to move with you in the direction of your motion. If you were to just jump on the board, you are more likely to topple over.

4. Riding the waves. Use the ’side slipping’ technique to get on the waves. As you are speeding across the water, tilt your board sideways with your feet facing out towards the ocean. You can slow down the rate of speed loss by carefully timing the ‘trimming’. When you near the wave, turn your skimboard around and ride the wave as per usual.

5. Wax your Board. By waxing your board you will increase the speed at which it travels over the water. This will decrease the friction between your board and the ocean and result in a swifter movement of your board.

6. Feet Position. Position your feet at the back of the board. This will maximize your balance and effectiveness.

7. Fit traction pads on a new board by using an alcohol solution. When you get a new board they tend to come in a high gloss finish. Determine the places where you want to fit traction pads and use an alcohol solution to de-gloss these areas. This will increase their ability to attach to the board giving your further peace of mind.

8. Putting traction pads back on: If the traction pads start to come off then you need to take immediate action. Apply super glue around the edges to prevent them from peeling further. You can use a hot hair dryer to remove the pads and then reattach them

9. Travelling with a skimboard. Protect your board from damage by purchasing a padded travel bag. You can wrap it in a towel or other padded material to further protect it. Airline will charge extra for carrying sports equipment so check out the prices in advance.

10. Skimboard Safety. You should take time and do adequate stretching before you hit the water. This enhances flexibility and mitigates injuries. Use sun screen and sun glasses to protect yourself from damaging UV rays.

There are many excellent resources for skimboarding tips, equipment reviews, video lessons and more online.

Thanks to Hobeze for that great article on Skimboard Tips!
Check out our skim boards starting at ONLY $49.95 with FREE SHIPPING ! @ http://www.i10Direct.com

Jun
9
2011

Carrier News

USPS Adds “Adult Signature” Option

An article by shipsurance    No Comments

In a move geared to further compete with FedEx and UPS, the United States Postal Service has added two new services: Adult Signature Required and Adult Signature Restricted Delivery. These new services are meant to be used when a packages need to be received by an adult over 21 years of age.

The two services are described as:

• Adult Signature Required
  Requires the signature of anyone in the household who is 21 years of age or older and costs $4.75 per package.
• Adult Signature Restricted Delivery
  Requires the signature of the addressee or their authorized agent, who is 21 years of age or older, and costs $4.95 per package.

The two new services are available for the following products:

• Priority Mail©
• Express Mail©
• Critical Mail
• Parcel Select© Barcoded Nonpresort
• Parcel Select© Regional Ground

For more details, visit http://www.usps.com/shipping/adultsignature.htm

Tags: usps

The US Postal Service is making a major effort to fight its way back into contention in the US package business, with a bid to make track and trace services the norm for all products.

From this fall, the USPS is to offer free track and trace services for all commercial parcels that have a full-service Intelligent Mail barcode, initially excepting Lightweight Parcel Select parcels, the former Standard Mail parcels category.

Jim Cochrane, vice president of product information at the USPS, told the National Postal Forum yesterday that in the long-term, the newly rebranded USPS Tracking service would offer free visibility on all items.

From January, with approval from the Board of Governors, the USPS is aiming to offer visibility on all parcel products, he said, adding that the Postal Service is also looking at increasing visibility in other mail products.

“By October 1 this year we will have tracking that is every bit as good as anybody else in the marketplace,” Cochrane declared yesterday. “This will be the basis for our growth here.”

The package business is one of Postmaster General Pat Donahoe’s top priorities for chasing growth at the moment, with the organisation currently seeing success from its flat-rate box products under the “If it fits it ships” slogan, but also from advertising the fact that the Postal Service is not imposing fuel surcharges.

Visibility has been a key weakness of its service, which the USPS is now seeking to turn around. ”The package business gets it,” Cochrane said. “At UPS or FedEx it’s a universal part of their business.”

The Postal Service has been investing in scanning technology across its network, including use of OCR technology, passive scanning systems and more than 1,500 ring scanners for processing plants cannot use full systems, so that “nothing will leave a processing plant without a scan”.

The network is being set up to get from four different scanning points during the mailing process to 10 tracking events on every piece, said Cochrane.

Mailers at the National Postal Forum were excited by the prospects of the USPS visibility promises, particularly for the low-cost Priority Mail services, although speaking to Post&Parcel, Postal Service customers noted that it had been a long time in coming.

Priority Mail value

Addressing the Association of Priority Mail Users at the National Postal Forum, Cochrane said a lot of American businesses did not know about the value of Priority Mail, the Postal Service’s second-tier premium shipping service.

He said despite the low shipping prices compared to rival shippers, people in the US perceived reliability issues in USPS transportation and service performances.

Cochrane said all that should change with the offer of 100% visibility and tracking.

“We are making a pretty significant (step forward) from a world where we just confirmed delivery to one where we are providing tracking and tracing on every product.

The Delivery Confirm service is being phased out, to become part of a new USPS Tracking service offering visibility across the mail process.

Cochrane told Post&Parcel that the Postal Service had “backed off” from setting deadlines for its customers to use the Intelligent Mail barcode system, and will instead seek to entice them to use IMb.

“We took a look at the full-service requirements and there were some that were somewhat complex,” he said. “We now want to focus on the value of our full service offering – and make it so compelling that customers will want to use IMb.”

Network Performance

As well as allowing the USPS to compete with rivals where track and trace is now standard and conventional, the increased visibility will also allow the Postal Service to further improve and optimise its network in ways never possible before. Cochrane said it would help with spotting bottlenecks and reducing delays.

The system currently measures service to 300 zip codes, but the plan is to measure performance in all zip code areas from October.
Meeting business expectations was more about providing a consistent service, the USPS VP said.

“Customers want consistency – 98% of shipments in three days is better than 80% being delivered in two days,” he said. “We want to get to ‘world class’, and that means we have to get beyond the mid-90s to the high 90s (in service reliability).”

The IMb system would also help USPS to optimise the size of its network, more effectively responding to the volumes flowing through the system, Cochrane said.

The Postal Service is currently in the process of a major consolidation effort to reduce the excess processing volume in its infrastructure, with mail volumes having declined to levels not seen previously since 1993.

Source: James Cartledge, Post&Parcel

Tags: commercial parcels, intelligent mail, Track and Trace, USA, USPS

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If you are shipping articles across international borders, you may not realize that each country has a list of prohibited items that you cannot send in the mail to those countries. Guns, ammunition, hazardous substances and illegal narcotics are a pretty common standard for most countries, but many of the items listed below might take you by surprise.

1. Unused Envelopes. You got that correct. If you are mailing into Sri Lanka, do not send envelopes inside your envelopes. And don’t send blank stationery, or pens, pencils, chalk or erasers. I have a feeling that the government there doesn’t want your correspondence to receive a response.
2. Chessboards. I’m not sure if the American soldiers in Afghanistan are playing chess or not, but you cannot mail chessboards into Afghanistan. Absolutely prohibited!
3. Playing cards. This item has made it onto the lists of several countries. And, no, it is not OK to send them one card at a time. A deck of cards, is a deck of cards, no matter how many envelopes it takes to send it in.
4. Musical greeting cards. Sorry friends, but if you sent a musical birthday card to your relatives in Cuba or Quatar, it probably got confiscated before it reached them. Birthday and holiday greetings must be of a silent nature. No cute little tunes playing while you read your card.
5. Unused postage stamps. This is actually a very common item. Many countries prohibit the mailing of unused postage stamps within your correspondence. Apparently, they want to make sure each individual buys their postage stamps locally. There is no gifting of postage, at least not via postal delivery.
6. Soap. This is a no-no in many countries, including the United States. No shipping soap across borders. Each country must use native soaps. Who knows what might happen to the Italians if they started showering with soap made in Ireland? They might all end up with freckles.
7. Shoes. No putting your shoes in the mail and shipping them over to some poor soul that doesn’t have a pair in another country. No trading shoes across the borders either. There are some strict rules about mail carriers transporting sneakers.
8. Blank invoices. You can send your billing invoices in the mail to any country, but there are certain countries that won’t let you send a blank invoice form in the mail to its citizens.
9. Currency. Please don’t send cash. Even if it weren’t illegal, it just isn’t wise to send cash of any type through the mail system. This is true, regardless of where you live or where you’re sending to.
10. Cigarettes. Did you ask your cousin in France to mail you some cigarettes in the U.S.? That’s not going to fly with the custom’s agent. Mailing of cigarettes is prohibited in many countries around the world, including the U.S.

This is just a small sampling of prohibited items. The Universal Postal Unit provides a complete listing  of items prohibited or restricted in each country’s mail system.

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To Do List:
1.) Make sure we do not ship Blingvelopes, Shiny Shippers, or any other envelopes to Sri Lanka! (I don’t look good in stripes)

Sincerely,
Jason Archambault
FastPack Packaging Inc.
www.fastpack.net

Mar
24
2011

Carrier News // General

How Close Are We To A Five-Day USPS Delivery Schedule?

An article by shipsurance    No Comments

The United States Postal Service is operating at a huge loss. Competition from email and the other carriers has forced their hand. They have been looking into a five day delivery week for some time now and it seems the Postmaster General is on board.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe issued the following statement today.

“We have received the Commission’s advisory opinion on our proposal to move to a five-day delivery schedule. We have been awaiting the document and look forward to studying the views expressed by the Commissioners. Five-day delivery is an integral part of our action plan for the future.

“It’s important to remember that the Postal Service came well-prepared to this undertaking. Based on extensive outreach to our customers and other stakeholders, we developed an operational plan, analyzed the potential cost savings, and conducted extensive market research to document customer reaction and estimate mail volume changes that could result from implementation of this plan.

“Following tremendous losses in mail volumes and revenues, the Postal Service remains in the midst of a period of great financial instability. On March 30, 2010, we presented a compelling case to the PRC, reflected in the testimony of Postal experts in operations, marketing and finance, as well as a highly respected market research firm and academician. Their testimony demonstrated that the plan would effect a $3.1 billion annual saving and allow the Postal Service to continue providing excellent service in an economical and efficient manner.

“The Commission’s opinion is advisory only, and therefore, is not a final determination on the merits of our proposal. We remain convinced of our findings. As such, we will also continue to press our case with the Congress on this matter.”

Related Posts

• USPS offering $20,000 buyouts and shutting seven district offices
• USPS to Raise Rates in April 2011

Tags: shipping, usps

What are your thoughts on a potential 5 day delivery week?

Sincerely,
Jason Archambault
www.fastpack.net

Raising rates is inevitable when a company is trying to increase profits and shareholder value. When companies like UPS and FedEx raise their rates on their shipping services, there are many understandable factors they take into consideration besides their stock prices. Inflation, increased fuel costs, increased competition, and increased general overhead all play a part. We understand these reasons and pay for the raise in service fees.

However, when ancillary service charges are raised it is not so understandable. Mainly: Declared value coverage (often called shipping insurance). This additional service fee from UPS and FedEx is not due to increases in lost or damages packages in their systems. It is due to the need on increasing their bottom lines. The problem is, this increase also hits the bottom line of small to medium size businesses.

In 2011, UPS and FedEx raised their declared value fees by 7%. They now charge $0.75 per $100 of coverage, with a $2.25 minimum. 7% may seem reasonable, but that is only part of the story. Did you know that since 2004, this fee has gone up 215%!

If your business is shipping packages on a regular basis, this increase can definitely hurt your bottom line. A $5,000 spend in 2004 is now $10,700. Many businesses we speak to do not even know that the rates are this high. Many believe they are still paying $0.35!

This is another reason why Shipsurance is a great option for your business. While you continue to rely on UPS and FedEx for their core business (shipping) you can rely on us for our core business (shipping insurance). Our rates have not risen and our claims processing has gotten more efficient over time. Can UPS and FedEx say that?

Related Posts

• USPS to Raise Rates in April 2011
• USPS Rate Changes for 2011
• FedEx Also Raising Declared Value Costs for 2010
• UPS 2010 Rate Changes Include Higher Declared Value Fees

Great breakdown of the numbers!

Sincerely,
Jason Archambault
www.fastpack.net

We are always asked the same question: Who is better, FedEx or UPS? It is impossible to give a clear answer as both offer tremendous services and the claims we process are evenly distributed.

Using industry data, Package Fox has come up with a great graphic that compares the two shipping giants by the numbers. See below.

Related Posts

None

Ah, the age old question, UPS or FedEx……

Enjoy,
Jason Archambault
FastPack Packaging Inc.
www.fastpack.net
www.FastPackOutlet.com

The United States Postal Service has proposed a rate increase for their First Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Media Mail services effective April 17, 2011. They also announced changes for the First Class International service. The new rate change is a 1.7 % increase on average. They will also introduce Commercial Base Rates for First Class Parcels. Priority Mail and Express Mail are not affected by this specific increase. These rates need to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Committee but they are likely to be approved as they are within the allowable annual increase of  1.7%.

DETAILS:

New Commercial Base Prices
This will be a new rate class that is available for online postage users ONLY, and will save shippers $0.15 per mail piece. These new rates start at $1.56. Commercial Base rates give discounts to shippers who purchase their postage online through Endicia, Stamps.com, the USPS Click N Ship, or other third-party online postage services.
First Class Letters
1 oz. ounce First Class Letters will remain at $0.44 and 1 oz. First Class Flats will remain at $0.88. However, each additional ounce (or half ounce for 3.5 ounce letters) will cost an extra $0.20 (up from the current  cost of $0.17).
First Class Packages
Retail rates will start at $1.71 (up from the current  cost of $1.22)
Media Mail
Rates will start at $2.41 (up from the current  cost of $2.38)
Parcel Post
Rates will start at $5.10 (up from the current  cost of $4.90)
First Class International
Letter prices will change for group one (1) and group two (2) by an average of $0.06.
Flat prices will change for all country groups by an average of $0.53.
Package prices will change for all country groups by an average of $0.78

Click here for more information from the USPS rate change

Related Posts

• USPS Rate Changes for 2011

Good explanation of upcoming increases from Shipsurance.

Sinecerly,
Jason Archambault
www.fastpack.net.

It pulls, stretches, bubbles, hardens, crunches, and melts! We eat about 7-billion tons of it yearly. We’re talking about Candy–loved by kids and savored by adults. Candy-making evolved from a handmade operation to high-tech mass production. Nowhere is that more apparent than at Hershey’s. On a tour of their newest production facility, we learn how they process the cocoa bean. At See’s Candy, we see how they make their famous boxed chocolates–on a slightly smaller scale than Hershey’s. We get a sweet history lesson at Schimpff’s Confectionery, where they still use small kettles, natural flavors, and hand-operated equipment. Then, we visit Jelly Belly, purveyors of the original gourmet jellybean. Saltwater-taffy pullers hypnotize us on our sweet-tooth tour; we gaze at extruders making miles of licorice rope; and watch as nostalgia candy bars Abba-Zaba and Big Hunk get packaged. And in this sugary hour, we digest the latest sensations–gourmet chocolates and scorpion on a stick!

TVPG

We are excited to see this episode. Let us know if you enjoy it!

Happy Popping!

Jason Archambault
FastPack Packaging Inc.
www.fastpack.net
Bubble Wrap in Clear, Purple, Red, Green, and Blue!