Cheap Shipping

[Mike Gilbert]

There is a newer delivery service in the north central states, and I just found out one of their offices is in Holmen, which is just 11 miles from my home.   They serve just seven states so far:  Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois.   Sorry Michigan, but who knows but what you may be next?   According to their online calculator, I can ship a 20 lb box to northern Minnesota for a little over $7 dollars.    I think that is about a tenth of what it would cost through the USPS.   My customer has a friend that works for them, and he is looking into shipping box requirements.   I'll keep you updated as I learn more, but if anyone wants to check them out, their website is:  http://speedeedelivery.com  .   Wouldn't it be great if they expanded nationwide?   
Oh, and the estimated time of delivery was one day.

[John]

I don't see anything about "lives" on their site.  I'm assuming your customer's friend said they accept them, but it seems like it would be stated on the site somewhere.  It sounds like quite a deal! 
I've often wondered about checking into the guys with pickups and trailers that bid on pickup and delivery for a living to ship adult birds.  A couple years ago a couple of these guys that do that stopped by to buy some birds on their way home to the U.P. 
I went to UShip.com and see that they want $175 to send a 20 pound "livestock" package from my zip code to yours.

[Mike Gilbert]

I had a nice conversation with a SpeeDee Delivery representative today.  They ship lives;  they are used by Pheasants Forever and McMurray Hatchery among many others.   I am downloading some software right now so I can print my own labels;  once you have an account with them, they just bill you once a month.
Their next expansion will be into Missouri.   I believe he said they are serving the St Louis metro area already, then it will be Kansas City and the rest of the state.    After that he said either Michigan or Indiana.   He recommended the same containers as are required by the post office.   The rate calculator on the website does not include a fuel surcharge of 7%, and the container size must be under 130 inches to qualify for the minimum rate.   The single stall Horizon box I use is only about 63 inches, so I could strap two of them together and still be under the limit.   Inches are  computed by measuring the circumference of the box and adding its' length.    Bottom line:   I can ship a 20 lb box of large fowl to my customer in northern Minnesota for about $7.60 plus the cost of the box.   Not bad.