My personal experience: UPS is the worse. They are not helpful at all and have no clue of the location of the package except of what you (seeing the tracking info) already know. I had a package coming to me from MA to NJ... and would you believe that the package went from MA to PA then to NJ? That was a waste of time and money (gasoline money).
Never had a problem with FedEX. I called them once to see why a package was not shipping that day and the person was very kind and gave me exactly the what, where and why information. They knew where the package was at and in what truck. They are the best in my book.
USPS is reliable as well. Not great on tracking info, but dependable.
The best way to insure that your packages don't get damaged or damaged really bad would be over-night, Next-Day or Two days. Of course these methods of shipping are more expensive, but worth it. Anything less, you are risking too many people handling the package and damaging the product.
Just my two cents.