On Fri, 27 Jul 2001, Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote:
 IOW, if packages ABCDEFGHIJK are sent sequntially, and B is late,
 rather than have CDEFGHIJK all be a little late, they will then be
 delivered ACDEFGHIJKB.
 Almost all of their packages are on time.  The late one may be VERY
 late. 
I think service guarantees are the reason behind their sequencing scheme.
Broken guarantees cost them money.  Once package B is late, its guarantee
is broken, and nothing's going to change that.  Letting B delay CDEFGHIJK
would mean many more broken guarantees.  Putting B off until the end
(assuming CDEFGHIJK arrive on time) results in only one broken guarantee.
--
Jeffrey S. Sharp
jss(a)subatomix.com