i have read the whole post and find that it may not be a 100 percent one way or the other. i work for fedex ground in memphis. NOBODY that is a package handler was to be a package handler. i don't care if you are fedex,dhl,ups, i work qualtiy assurance which means if a box bust open tape it up.
some boxes are small and get crushed, it happends, but a box that size should not have 3/4 dowels, hell the old xxx had 2x4's for a reason! i have had boxes from both company some fine and some messed up.
i agree double boxing and a lot of inner packing can help alot, not soft **** on a 70 lb sub, i mean like 10 page thick newspaper.
the amout of packages i see a day. you are forced to work as fast as possible, no box recieves special attention cause it is heavy point blank a kick is not gonna prove a boxes strength, if it gets loaded on the bottom, everytime that trunk hits a bump that is a kick, so think about 300+ miles of that.
MAKE IT BULLET PROOF, it limits the possibilty of damage, not eliminates