I also work for a freight company and all I can say it is a gamble with any of them, I would see at least 30 cartons a night that have been crushed or wrecked,also satchels torn open from catch on the edge of something or when it rains I can honestly say that atleast a third of the frieght that needs to go on the aircraft would get soaked through, although I'm sure the majority of the contents are ok, the same cannot be said for the box the come in, the system is flawed and it is in most part unavoidable. Unsure of TNT's policy but for the most part I think it should be able to be claimed as usually insurance for a value of upto $500 is included in your cost.
my tips for sending freight are as follows:
1. you can never have enough packing inside the carton, have it so that the item cannot move round and so that if another carton was to sit on top the box would not collapse on it's self. or if dropped from waist height the item wouldn't break. also it is worth noting that if your are sending something small in a rather large box you will be charged the cubic weight of the carton and not the weight of the item inside, get your value out of it!! you can work out the cubic weight with this formula: LxWxHx250= (eg. .65x.35x.80x250=45.5kg's)
2. tape the box well, this would include the edges along the box, it only takes alslight bit of rain or a lazy dockhand to throw the box into the sorting cage for it to split open.
3. Remember your carton does not travel in it's own little cage secure from everything else, it will be packed in with up to 2ton of other freight and your piece could be on the bottom of that.
4. the amount of freight that goes missing or loses it's con note is incredible, make sure you write the address on the box as well and keep a copy of the con note no. .
I hope this info can be of some use to you all.