as far as ups vs fed ex, Ive shipped and ordered alot of heavier and larger items like drums and things and fed ex always manages to destroy the boxes and not bother to get out of thier damn truck to come to my apt and give it to me. I always have to drive to fed ex to pick up my stuff. I will be at home all day watching the tracking and waiting for delivery and all of the sudden it says delivery attempted, and noone even came to my door. They are lazy, they disregaurd the contents of any box and just pitch around thier warehouses, Iwouldnt even trust them with an envelope. I have never had any problem shippin or recieving from ups. Everything is aday early and I will always get a knock on my door and a Note directing me to the apartment office if I am not home. Ive also NEVER recieved a damaged box, I think fedex has a special machine in thier trucks that shreds and crushes corners on boxes kinda like this thing