Narrative Summary

I manufacture commercial gym equipment. I shipped a 140-pound pulley assembly via FedEx Ground. It was packed in a heavy-duty, double-wall corrugated box rated for 150 pounds, with internal wood bracing. The box arrived completely shattered, and the steel assembly was bent. FedEx denied the $800 claim, with the adjuster stating: "Items of this extreme weight must be palletized and shipped via FedEx Freight. Standard Ground parcel packaging is inadequate."

The Resolution Strategy

When parcel handlers drop extremely heavy packages, adjusters often try to shift the blame to the shipper by claiming the item "belonged on a pallet," artificially imposing freight standards onto parcel shipments.

Using an Authori-generated appeal letter, the defense dismantled this argument using the published FedEx Ground Tariff and Service Guide.

The appeal letter explicitly cited the FedEx network limits, which state that FedEx Ground officially accepts packages up to exactly 150 pounds. The appeal argued that because the 140-pound package was legally tendered and accepted under Ground parcel terms, FedEx cannot retroactively apply FedEx Freight crating standards to deny the claim. By combining the 150-pound network rule with proof of a 275# burst-strength box, the appeal trapped FedEx in their own terms of service. They reversed the denial and issued the $800 check.