Fed Ex missing nuclear rods
- Thread starter Swanny
- Start date
Here is the link to the story. Not looking very good for FedEx Business.
FedEx searching for missing radioactive rod - Finance News
FedEx searching for missing radioactive rod - Finance News
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
From our experience with "freight", that's the WORST thing they could have done!
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
Here's one with a little more detail. Much ado about not much, really.
FedEx Locates Missing Shipment of Radioactive Rods - BusinessWeek
FedEx Locates Missing Shipment of Radioactive Rods - BusinessWeek
melanieanne
Seasoned Expediter
Just sum it up to this College Girls.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Actually I think it is a lot to do about much. With this knee-jerk reactionary government, the DHS should launch a full investigation finding out which subversive group may have planned using these, even if they were low level radiation rod. Congress should investigate FedEx, have Fred Smith testify and rake him through the coals to get answers about who knows what in Knoxville and demand that he answers for this lapse in judgment and security.
AND as a nation, maybe our DOT isn't doing enough to ensure our safety. Maybe this should be only an 'escorted' load with a team only tracked every inch of the way.
AND as a nation, maybe our DOT isn't doing enough to ensure our safety. Maybe this should be only an 'escorted' load with a team only tracked every inch of the way.
The link was there, I bet they are really trying to keep it out of the news.
If that was the case, a FedEx spokesperson would not have commented. Turtle said it well: " Much ado about not much, really."
I was once a seasonal worker at UPS when I was a college student. This was before the modern era and the sorter (me) had to memorize a bunch of zip codes that corresponded to the four big trailers I loaded in my four hour shift each night. The packages came down the chute fast and furious and it was everything I could do to keep up.
I saw dozens of packages get crushed beyond recognition every night on the conveyor system. That was almost certainly less than 0.5 percent of the total, giving them a 95.5% success rate, I would guess.
One of those packages came apart before my eyes. Three very expensive wool skirts on hangers dropped out of the box. The end had come open. I hung the skirts on a nearby rail to keep them clean and set the box along side of the cat walk to put it and the skirts back together when I had a moment, and then take the box to re-wrap where damaged stuff gets fixed.
Unfortunately for the person who ordered the skirts, the cleaning people at UPS were as quick and conscientious as I was. When I turned to retrieve the box, it was gone. The skirts went to lost items or some such place, probably lost forever.
Stuff like that happens in places like this but the companies maintain fantastic customer service levels just the same.
Had the radioactive freight in question been higher level stuff, FedEx would not have knowingly permitted it to go through the system as it did. It sounds like sunshine is more hazardous than the rods in question.
Note to shippers: When you ship stuff, pack it well. If you box stuff inside another box, label the stuff on the inside too.
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greg334
Veteran Expediter
UPS seasonal packaging sorting and FedEx freight are two completely different systems.
It isn't that simple nor should it be something swept under the rug. FedEx screwed up, they do that often but in this case there is a seriousness to it and a lot of the Freight and Ground places I been to, you will be surprised at the lack of security measures used.
It isn't that simple nor should it be something swept under the rug. FedEx screwed up, they do that often but in this case there is a seriousness to it and a lot of the Freight and Ground places I been to, you will be surprised at the lack of security measures used.
It's only mildly serious, at best. They're extremely low level radiation rods used to calibrate CAT scanners. It's the same thing that's used to detect radiation sources at airports and at border crossings. They're germanium isotopes. Like Phil said, you could stand in the sun for days holding on to one of these rods, and you'll get a sunburn weeks before you'll get any kind of radiation burns. A friend who lives in the upstairs apartment that we have works in the radiology department at the hospital here, and he works with those things every day. Germanium is used in semiconductors, optics, makes up most of the core of fiber optics, and is the primary substrate of rewritable DVD's.
Just because the rods are "radioactive" doesn't mean they are even remotely the same as enriched u-235 for a nuclear bomb or something. People see "radioactive" and the go nuts. I wonder how many people realize that the human body naturally contains radioactive potassium-40. OMG!
Just because the rods are "radioactive" doesn't mean they are even remotely the same as enriched u-235 for a nuclear bomb or something. People see "radioactive" and the go nuts. I wonder how many people realize that the human body naturally contains radioactive potassium-40. OMG!
Kind of like how when some poor kid brings a peanut butter sandwich to school nowadays and the reaction is like someone brought a bomb in their backpack..
Different companies also. I'm sure UPS's parcel sorting is very similar to FedEx's parcel sorting.
According to the article in the link: The package was sent by plane Nov. 22 from Fargo, North Dakota, Munoz said.
FedEx Freight was not involved.
The Air Force did not transport this radioactive shipment. But a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker was dispatched from Grand Forks AFB to refuel the FedEX plane while airborne and en route to Memphis.
FedEx National was also involved by picking up a dummy shipment and acting as a decoy to thwart any terrorist types. The decoy shipment also consisted of 3 cylinders. One each containing; He, N2O and Milwaukee's Best. This shipment also went through Memphis and terminated in Knoxville where the sorters got drunk, giggled, had silly talk and forgot all about the original shipment of weapons grade plutonium.
I don't believe for a second that the original cylinders contained germanium isotopes. I have germaniums in my garden and I'm not dead or even glowing. Although I have gotten a sunburn gardening.
FedEx National was also involved by picking up a dummy shipment and acting as a decoy to thwart any terrorist types. The decoy shipment also consisted of 3 cylinders. One each containing; He, N2O and Milwaukee's Best. This shipment also went through Memphis and terminated in Knoxville where the sorters got drunk, giggled, had silly talk and forgot all about the original shipment of weapons grade plutonium.
I don't believe for a second that the original cylinders contained germanium isotopes. I have germaniums in my garden and I'm not dead or even glowing. Although I have gotten a sunburn gardening.
We have reached the point in a thread like this where FedEx critics are about to rise, as they do whenever FedEx gets negative press or something changes within the company. To save them the trouble, allow me to offer this.
Notwithstanding the fact that the package was found and was not dangerous, this missing package thing can only mean one thing.
FedEx is about to collapse like a house of cards. The end of FedEx Custom Critical is certain, and if not that, its reefer freight will evaporate and the trucks that haul it are instantly doomed. The secret dogs that populate White Glove trucks will homeless in such numbers that euthanasia will be the only solution. The world will be deprived of the great joy that their puppies would have otherwise brought; and so close to Christmas too! What a terrible shame.
Bad for FedEx. Bad for contractors. Bad for puppies. Bad. Bad. Bad.
Notwithstanding the fact that the package was found and was not dangerous, this missing package thing can only mean one thing.
FedEx is about to collapse like a house of cards. The end of FedEx Custom Critical is certain, and if not that, its reefer freight will evaporate and the trucks that haul it are instantly doomed. The secret dogs that populate White Glove trucks will homeless in such numbers that euthanasia will be the only solution. The world will be deprived of the great joy that their puppies would have otherwise brought; and so close to Christmas too! What a terrible shame.
Bad for FedEx. Bad for contractors. Bad for puppies. Bad. Bad. Bad.