Delta Dash Shipping Question?

[donkiez]

Hey guys n gals, Im prepareing to ship some Ball Pythons with delta dash for the first time. Ive done FEDEx a lot but my most recent sale requsted Dash. All seems good, I ordered shipping supplies from shipyourreptile and planned on setting it up just like I did for a FEDEx shipment. Problem I have is when I called to book my shipment the lady mentioned that IATA guidelines for shipping/packaging my snakes included using Water Resistant Fiber Board, and not just regular cardboard. The lady I talked with could not give me any more info and was only reading general guidelines off a paper.

Did she have this right? Has anyone shipped Dash recently? Is this going to be a problem for me? That is the first and only place I heard of this requirement and even Ship Your Reptile seemed confused about it when I called them to inquire about their boxes.

[Don]

I have not shipped or received a shipment within a year. However, when I did receive shipments, they were in cardboard boxes. So, if this is the rule, it is new.

[Slim]

From a certain perspective, a card board box is made from Water Resistant Fiber Board.

- Water does not instantly permeate cardboard, therefore, it is water resistant. If Delta can't show you a document with a definition of water resistant, they can't tell you not to use the box you have.

- Card board boxes are made from paper pulp...or in other words, paper fibers. It has board like qualities.

Sooooo, it sounds to me like the box you already have is a Water Resistant Fiber Board box.



EDIT: I'm a Platinum level Delta SkyMiles flyer. I can promise that their left hand rarely talks to their right hand. Walk in there like you do it all the time and just do the thing...

[donkiez]

thanks guys, good info and kind of what I was figureing. My plan was to just walk in and pretend like it was all cool because they will be packed very well. Since its an hour drive for me and they have to be there at 5am to make the flight I want to make sure I was doing all I could to avoid any issues when I get there.

[Robyn@SYR]

Why are they requesting Dash? It is more expensive, and a lot more trouble driving to and from the airport.

If it is for insurance, that is the grand Delta okey doke. They do NOT insure live reptiles. You can pay for a "declared value" on your package but you would need to secure actual insurance from your own insurance company, Delta does not pay out any monies for lost or damaged packages.

If it is live arrival Insurance you want, check out the SYR Live Arrival Insurance option. We do pay for DOAs, please check the site for TOS and more details.

Slim is also right. We started using them to ship nearly 20 years ago, and yet every time you walk in there to ship a package it is like the first time they have ever heard of such a thing. Nightmare.