New Shipping Requirements

[Paul]

The past 10 years we have used paper towel boxes which have been customized to ship a trio.  Cardboard partitions were cut and taped inside the paper towel box forming 3 compartments.  This was done to prevent our customers from having to buy a shipping box which cost over $20 several years ago, and weighed seven pounds more than our lightweight customized towel boxes.  There also was a period of time that we used a special trio shipper and had our customers to send the empty box back by priority mail.  This was used for almost 2 years then retired, but it still weighed almost 11 pounds-7 pounds more than the cardboard boxes that we customized.

Monday Oct. 22, I hurriedly left the Cooke County Courthouse to go home, box five birds, take them to our local post office, eat lunch and be back at the courthouse for jury duty within 90 minutes.  Just barely made it in time.  Tuesday morning, I was already outside tending to our birds when the post office personnel called at 6:00 AM to come get the three boxes of birds that I mailed Monday.  This sure created a very hurried rush to be able to tend to all the stock, make a trip to the post office, return home, put the birds up, then back to town to be in the juror\'s seat by 9:00 AM;but with Angela\'s help, I made it!

All of this could have been prevented if I had known that now the post office will only accept adult chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, doves, pigeons, pheasants, partridges, quail, ducks, geese and swans that are mailed in a special bio-secure box with 100% of the air vent holes covered with the bio-filter material.  NO EXCEPTION.  There is only one manufacturer-Horizon Micro Environments, LLC in the U.S.  The day old chicks may still be mailed without a bio-secure box at this time.  A paper with this info was taped to each of the three boxes they returned to us.  Wednesday morning we ordered some bio-secure shipping boxes.

[Mike Gilbert]

I recently used a box that was made by Horizon, but did not have the bio-secure air filter covering the holes.   Using landscape fabric, a glue stick, and duct tape, I covered the holes on the inside of the box with the fabric.   It worked.
The box went through unquestioned, even though it was strapped to another box from Horizon that did have the custom air filter fabric.   The landscape fabric is porous, but I did poke a few pin holes in it to make sure the birds would get enough air.

[John]

You guys must have missed the topic from earlier this year:
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=567

The PetPort boxes (also made by Horizon) only cost about $5 each when I bought them in bulk a couple years ago.  They are much lighter and cheaper than the big Horizon N.E.S.T. boxes that I used to use and sometimes tape two together to save on shipping.
http://www.petports.com/

[John]

The PetPort Single Stall Shipper
 ..



To purchase them in quantities less than 10, please send e-mail to David and Eildeana Matthews at  
cdmejm@brick.net
 


The white exterior wards off direct sunlight and all boxes are equipped with sturdy plastic handles. The PetPort Single for birds also meets and exceeds all Post Office rules and regulations for shipping adult chickens via the USPS\'s Express Mail service.

Dimensions are 18\" x 8\" x 18\" tall
Weight empty: approx. 1 lb, 6 oz.
Maximum weight of container when full: 8 lbs.

Key Benefits
Designed primarily for aggressive birds that MUST be in complete isolation.
Ventilation only on 3 sides so it\'s possible to tape several together.
The PetPort Single Stall shipper is NOT Biologically-Secure! It has NO FILTERS covering the ventilation holes.
For this reason, the U.S. Post Office has approved this container only for the transporting of adult chickens. It is unlawful to mail any other bird! For more information on the transporting of birds via the U.S. Postal Service, please follow this link: PO Rules & Regulations
Pricing
Description Price
 
Package of
(10)  Petports
See Internet Special
Small carton of (20) $95.00, that\'s only $4.75 @
Large carton of (40) $158.00, that\'s only $3.95 @
or buy in bulk:
5 Large cartons (200 total) $3.25 @,
Total of $650.00  

 

[faith valley]

You can also email/call Horizon and they will mail you bio filters to install on any of thier boxes that you purchased before the bio filter rule went into effect. There is no charge for the filters either.

Just a thought.

~Patty~

[Mike Gilbert]

I guess I was aware of the new requirements, but my local post office was not enforcing the rule, and shipments went through OK.   Then one day last month they notified us, and of course we had the one box left over without the fabric installed.    It only took about ten minutes to install the substitute fabric using glue and duct tape.

[bantamhill]

There is also one other new process that may affect some of you. I dropped off a box of birds to mail Tuesday and was told that I needed prior approval to mail the birds. I was asked to take them home and they would let me know if they could be shipped that day or not. Of course I was on my way to work and could not turn around and go home, so the birds went to work with me. I called home to check on something else and Anastasia said the post office had called about 20 minutes after I had left and said the birds could be mailed. I found out after talking to the postmaster that the authorization he had would work from the Jefferson City locations so I took them to the Jefferson City post office and they called him to find out what he was talking about . . . they were not aware of the new process. So, you might check and see if you have to have prior approval and it has to be done the day of shipping . . . it cannot be done ahead of time. I seem to be affected because of which airlines with postal contracts fly out of St. Louis and whether they have a flight that day.

I learned something new!

Michael

[John]

needed prior approval to mail the birds

That is the procedure I\'ve had for the past two or more years.  The Post Office made a deal with NorthWest to take all Lives from Detroit and Minneapolis with $1 per pound surcharge.  This was before FedEx would take any lives and the deal only affected Lives shipped from those two locations.  The $1 per pound really adds up when I ship adult birds, but it is \"no hassle\" compared to the hoops they wanted me to jump thru a few years ago.  
When I get an order for chicks I check the zip codes that I can mail Lives to thru Detroit and most are on my list that is also posted on my website.  As long as the NOAA weather forecast says the expected temperatures are within the range to ship I call the Post Office at Detroit Metro Airport, in the morning, to find out if there is an \"available lift\" for \"lives\" and give them the first 3 digits of the zip code they are going to.  They say yes.  Then when I take the birds to my local Post Office I tell them I already made the call and it\'s a go.  I mail the birds, on Mondays, about an hour before the Post Office closes, so they don\'t sit around all day.  They are then trucked to Detroit and generally get on a plane late that evening.  Most of the chicks I sent this past year were only in the mail from Monday afternoon thru Wednesday morning.

[Guest]

I guess I have it a little bit better.  I live about 30 minutes away from the Tulsa International Airport.  There is a USPS PO right there at the airport with the runways out back of the building.  It is the Tulsa AMF (Air Mail Facility).  There are two planes leaving out of there every PO business night.  The first leaves around 11pm and it transports all the fruits/vegetables etc w/dry ice and other rush items.  The second plane has the lives on it and everything else (no dry ice so safe for animals).

The PO closes at 8 pm.  So, I have plenty of time to make my way to ship birds.  They have told me to have anything in by 7 or 7:30 pm just to make sure.

I always ship on Monday and will call if there is any doubt about temps and give the ship to address...they give me the green light for that day.  Otherwise, no need to call.

My \"local\" PO is 12 or 13 miles the opposite direction, away from the airport, so I just drive the birdies to the airport, saves the stress on them (and me) wondering if they will get there that night for the plane ride.

[Paul]

We have had to check with our regional PO for about two years to get prior approval to ship each box of birds.  They know a week in advance if Express mail lives may be shipped to a zip code.  They only need the first 3 digits.  I was surprised that Susan didn\'t infom me about the required
bio-secure boxes, when I called her to check the three zip codes.

We have also been paying the 99¢ per pound surcharge for lives for about 2 years.  Our birds have to be in our local PO by 3:00 PM to catch the first truck to Ft. Worth to get sent express mail \"lives\".  There is a second truck at 5:00 PM but it is too late to carry the express mail lives.  Shipping birds seems to continue to get more difficult and expensive.

[Paul]

We no longer have to call the regional PO to get prior approval to ship express mail lives.