Author Topic: Shipping on Saturdays.  (Read 10220 times)

DeWayne Edgin

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Shipping on Saturdays.
« on: April 23, 2016, 11:48:28 AM »
I was informed from another breeder that you can ship birds on a Saturday! I didn`t know that and i thought the USPS just froze on the weekends. Well i was wrong. I toke a box of eggs to my local PO last Saturday and the lady asked me if i wanted it shipped express 2 day for $40. I said no they are just eggs. So i did the regular $12 and change. Well the eggs arrived to the Carolinas from Pa on that Monday! So it only toke 2 days anyway. But i asked the lady if packages stayed in transit on Sundays and she said yes.So i asked if dirds would be ok to ship on Saturdays and she said it was better to send them then. Well since my eggs went through so fast and i saved a great deal of money, im going to try to use Saturdays to ship. Some people probably already knew this but i thought this may be helpful to the ones that didn`t know. Like me. Lol

Susan Mouw

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2016, 01:23:15 PM »
That's good to know, DeWayne.  I always thought it was best to ship on Tuesday, so they wouldn't be sitting over a weekend in a PO somewhere.

Thanks for sharing!
Susan Mouw
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DeWayne Edgin

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2016, 02:35:25 PM »
Well for the express shipping, you wouldn`t want to ship on a Thursday or Friday. The PO is closed on Sundays and they don`t deliver mail on Sundays but the airplanes and trucks still move the mail.

Don

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2016, 07:05:27 AM »
Thanks DeWayne for that reminder.  I have seen more and more USPS delivery trucks out on Sunday in the past months.  I don't know the specifics, but I wonder if they are being forced to try to compete with some of the other carriers now. 
Don Cash
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DeWayne Edgin

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2016, 11:25:02 AM »
Maybe in some areas but they do not deliver in my area on Sundays. Maybe a few other members on here from other States know more about the USPS in their home states. I just know the transite doesn`t stop on Sundays and that can help me get into shipping since my work schedule is so rough on my hours at home.  :)

Ernie Haire

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2016, 01:59:05 PM »
There are three different small town Post Offices within about ten miles of me. There is only one that is open on Saturday morning. I use them when I need to ship on Saturday. The mail continues to move over the weekend whether the Post Office is open or not.

I am blessed in the fact that I can pick and chose which Post Office to ship my eggs from. All three of the Post Offices send their mail to different sorting facilities. I choose which Post Office to use based on where my hatching eggs are going. My Post Office sends the mail to Dallas to be sorted and then it is sent on its way. The Post Office in Overton sends its mail to Shreveport, LA to be sorted and then it is sent on its way. The Post Office in Price, Texas sends its mail to be sorted in Houston and then sent on its way. Sometimes, it saves a day in the mail if I ship from different Post Offices.

Ernie Haire
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Arp, Texas

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2016, 05:07:03 PM »
Ernie, it sounds like you really have a handle on your egg shipping situation. You are so fortunate to have 3 options available to use.
Gordon Gilliam

Ernie Haire

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2016, 07:38:54 PM »
I am truly blessed to have three different options for shipping. The people at all three of my Post Offices are great to work with. Like anything else, once they are out of my care and their care, our eggs are at the mercy of people we don't know.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire
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Arp, Texas

DeWayne Edgin

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #8 on: May 02, 2016, 08:57:22 PM »
Well i shipped out a box of chicks on Saturday! But they didn`t make it to MS today so i called my PO. The lady told me that they always ship express on Saturdays but she got a call from her boss saying not to do it again!! Somehow they gave it to FedEx to deliver and now i can`t find it!  >:( 

I guess i wont be shipping anymore and you would think that they would owe me a refund since it didn`t arrive in 2 days! I hope they get there alive!

Birdcrazy

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2016, 11:15:16 PM »
That's terrible DeWayne. It's bad enough to get damaged merchandise in the mail, but horrifying to receive DOA chicks. My experience is some of the postal workers can be like mother hens. I had one beg me to open the box at the post office so she could see them. She said "you aren't going to eat them are you. They are so cute!" Then you see the other side that when you go to get your chicks the guy says " I'll go get your chicks, they are out on the back dock (below freezing temperatures). Here they come, loud complaining chirps. you open the box and 1/3 are DOA and the rest not far behind. The postal workers seems unconcerned when you ask him why he didn't at least bring them in earlier from the cold. At least I can say lately my experience has been the positive one. I hope you find your chicks and they arrive safely.
Gordon Gilliam

Susan Mouw

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #10 on: May 03, 2016, 09:22:00 AM »
Well i shipped out a box of chicks on Saturday! But they didn`t make it to MS today so i called my PO. The lady told me that they always ship express on Saturdays but she got a call from her boss saying not to do it again!! Somehow they gave it to FedEx to deliver and now i can`t find it!  >:( 

I guess i wont be shipping anymore and you would think that they would owe me a refund since it didn`t arrive in 2 days! I hope they get there alive!

I went through this recently with a shipment to Florida.  Shipped on Monday, went into the tracking system "black hole" after 10 pm Monday night - couldn't find them, no one knew where they were for two days.  No tracking updates Tuesday or Wednesday. Showed up around 10AM Thursday - all alive, thankfully.

Shipped Priority Express with guaranteed two days, but they wouldn't refund because it was within the 72 hour window they have on all live shipments.
Susan Mouw
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Jean

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #11 on: May 03, 2016, 10:06:00 AM »
If they were day olds, they should be fine.  I bet they are there already this morning.
Jean

DeWayne Edgin

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2016, 10:14:28 PM »
I toke the chicks right out of the incubator and put them in the box. Then i toke them right in to the PO. They arrived this affternoon and 12 was dead. 6 more look like they won`t make it either. I shipped 2 day express and they will be hearing from me tomorrow!

Paul

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #13 on: May 04, 2016, 02:32:42 PM »
  We set our incubators on Monday mornings usually between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM.  It is delayed to Tuesday mornings when the Monday that we need to set eggs falls three weeks before President’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day.  If the chicks hatch early-like on Sunday they are sent out on Monday.  If they hatch on time-they ship out on Tuesday.  If they hatch late-they ship on Wednesday.  This has worked for over 20 years.  A few years ago the PO would refund shipping charge if the express mail was late, but not now if delivered in 3 days.  If the chicks are dead-it doesn’t get a postage refund or any insurance fund-its your tough LUCK!  We have had a few boxes killed in the past.  We have learned to ship a 72 hour heat pack with the chicks.  The heat pack is placed under the toe pads.  The red stripes must be up for the heat packs to work.  Tried taping them to the top on the inside, but don’t recommend that.  If it comes loose it may crush the chicks!

  This Spring we sent a box to Missouri.  It was put on the wrong plane and went to California first, then from there to Missouri.  We lost ¼ of the box, which we made good, but the PO didn’t.

  Thirty-three years ago, I was a sub carrier for a rural route out of our local PO.  I saw what goes on behind the scenes.  Every morning the postmaster pushed a huge cart overflowing with packages into the center of the room with 6 smaller carts on each side in a line.  He would sort the packages and throw them to the carts for the different routes.  Then each delivery person would have to go get their cart to deliver the packages.  This rough treatment is why we quit shipping hatching eggs for several years until finding out about a new product of a block of foam with holes in it, to hold eggs.  We have had good success with getting eggs shipped!

  Didn’t mean to get off track.

  A large box of chicks came for one of my deliveries and the postmaster told me that they were in the back room so we didn’t have to hear them!  They weren’t outside but in a non-heated area-way too cold for the babies.  The problem is the PO employees don’t know that the chicks are chirping because they are cold!  They hatch at 99.5ºF!  We fanciers, need to inform them every time we get an opportunity to do so!

  We fanciers are blessed to have the PO to carry our birds-no others (Fed EX, UPS, DHL, bus station) carry them.  We will be sending them to our 48th state this month.  This wouldn’t have happened without the PO service!
« Last Edit: May 04, 2016, 08:38:30 PM by Paul »
Paul Smith

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Re: Shipping on Saturdays.
« Reply #14 on: May 04, 2016, 04:16:54 PM »
Thanks for the input Paul. You have probably shipped more chicks in 1 day than I have in a lifetime. Overall my experience with the USPS has been pretty good. I did learn one thing, don't try to rush them, they work at their own speed.
Gordon Gilliam