Postal Service Snake Shipping Poll

[ballbreeder]

UPS and FedEx are not Government agencies - it's against their policy, not against the law. And FedEx does allow you to become certified to ship through them. Contact them for your local account rep to find out the process. UPS allows some companies to ship through them, like Ship Your Reptiles.

USPS is government run and government governed. Violating their rules, is violating the law.

Again, not sure what the actual law is. I do know that the Postal Service is no longer government run and that no tax money funds it. It's on its own now to raise the money it needs to survive, via postage and services. Regan set it out on its own in the 80's.

With that said, any comments on the actual discussion topic? What would happen if the post office actually started openly shipping snakes? Beneficial or not? Thank you ColinWeaver for answering the topic question.

By the way, I do agree it would be a very very bad idea to just ship a snake via the postal service with their current ban. No one in their right mind would do that. I don't think it's a bad idea to discuss it with your local post master and find out what the laws really are, however.

[Meltdown Morphs]

As another fellow USPS worker, I would say it would benefit the USPS somewhat -IF- they started accecpting the shipment of reptiles. I've personally been on all ends of the mail process from incomming packages to letters sent to the carries for daily delivery.
but it could also be detrimental to both, Shipping reptiles would require more care per package, which means more people to handle them. As of now the post office seems to be in a severe hiring freeze (least where I'm located) and making more work with fewer people isint really a good plan.

Also for those of you who have mail issues ( not directly going at anyone here) but more that 50% of mail issues come from the customers. People who want to try to cram every thing into one letter to not have to pay a tad more postage. People who put pens, candy canes, chocolates. necklaces...socks....in an envelope. The stupid thing is the USPS wil not inform peopple of what not to put in letters just the weights to still pass as a 'letter' and not a parcel, letters have to be able to bend to roughly the shape of a 'C' otherwise it either (1). Rips the letter itself open. (2) damages Whats inside the letter. (3)Jams the machines its processed through and damages others peoples mail who also hit the jam and knocking it out of delivery order. I Hope to be an informant for every person who comes up to rage at the post office for why their mail is screwed, I've heard several stories from my mother whos been with the USPS for 25+ years but the USPS need s to get control of what little they have left before taking on a whole new genre imo. There smore underlying issues than the public knows.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Ok, the actual law:

You MUST LABEL YOUR PACKAGE. You must state clearly ON THE BOX that it contains live animals--you must write it big enough so everyone can read it. The point is, everyone handling the box who's paying any attention should know that there are live animals inside.

You must have the number and species, and common names (yes, all three items) listed clearly in a place that is accessible WITHOUT opening the box. It may be written on the box, or it may be on a slip of paper in an envelope attached to the box. If you hide it under the shipping label in the plastic pouch, that's FINE, but you must leave a note on the box (not hidden) stating that the information is there under the shipping label.

This is what is required by the Lacey Act, and there's no wiggle room. It doesn't matter if you use USPS, UPS, Fed Ex, or Delta Dash--you must still abide by this law, and label your package correctly. I will also point out that it doesn't matter how you feel, or whether you think it's a risk that people will abuse the package more because it's labeled, etc--this law is a LAW, and it is not negotiable. A person sending a package that is not labeled in this fashion is a felon. A person receiving a package that is incorrectly labeled is ALSO A FELON IF THEY KNOW WHAT IS IN THE PACKAGE. The only legal recourse for someone who has an incorrectly labeled package delivered is to refuse it, and of course no one will risk an animal's life that way. This is why it's so crucial for folks to demand that sellers come into compliance, if they aren't.

Now, because USPS does not permit the shipping of snakes, if you correctly label your package, they will reject it. Thus, the only way to ship snakes through USPS is to do so illegally--by not marking your package correctly. Is this more understandable for folks?

Now, as to the track records of UPS, Fed Ex, and USPS...
Get serious, folks--they all suck. Royally, repeatedly, and thoroughly. Arguing over which one is worse is pointless. You will find horror stories about all three services. People choose one--if they have good luck with it, they stick with it. If they don't, they switch to another one. Chances are, eventually they'll have a bad experience with that one too.

Now, individual hubs also vary in quality. In some places, you can't trust the local offices for one company, but another is fine. In a different place, it'll be the other way around.

In the past, I shipped geckos using USPS. They were fine, and on time. I've shipped animals using Fed Ex. Ditto.
I'm currently using UPS (through SYR). They've been fine. There was one delay due to weather, but that wasn't their fault, that was a snowstorm at an airport. It was only a half a day, and I had them hold the package at the hub when it arrived at the destination, and it was fine.

I'm quite sure that eventually, there will be a problem. It's pretty much inevitable. Shipping animals is risky, and we all know that. Which service the problem will be with, well, it could be any of them.