So...I am totally and utterly confused about shipping live birds. I am preparing to ship a couple of juveniles, and I want to be sure I do everything right, so I contacted my local post office to get any restrictions. I know it's been mentioned that I need to steer clear of dry ice shipments and that there are some zip codes that are not accepting lives. My post office had our regional "Business Solutions Specialist" contact me. I gave her a list of questions and also told her I need a way to determine if there will be a problem with a specific route because of dry ice. I asked for a list of zips that do not accept lives. She has been researching this for several days, and this is the response I just received...
"....there are no zip codes that should not accept live birds. Now, some post offices may not be able to guarantee a 1-2 delivery to certain destinations, but as far as accepting them once they get there, this should not be a problem.
Also, since you're printing and paying all your postage online, it is not going to be a problem for you to drop them off at the Bluebonnet office. That's going to be the most direct route for the birds. The Baton Rouge postmaster and the plant manager have both said this is fine. The manager recommends that you try getting them shipped on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, just so you're not running into the weekend. Thursdays should be fine too. Also, you can drop them anytime before 6pm, however, the earlier the better.
And just to reassure you on the safety of the birds, again, dry ice usage is heavily regulated and only minimal amounts are allowed. On the plane, the birds will be stored in an area near the pilot, so the temperature will be regulated and the area will be pressurized.
If you have anymore questions, please let me know!
Lacey S-----
Business Solutions Specialist
United States Postal Service"
So the good news is they are going to allow me to drop off lives directly at the sort facility to decrease the number of transits. The bad news is that the rest of it conflicts with the experiences of many of you. Who should I be contacting at the USPS to get accurate information?
As far as PO's not accepting lives, its some sort facilities, and it can be different for each person depending on where they are shipping from. I cant send through St Louis or Memphis both because of dry ice shipments. This is straight from our live animal handler manager at our sort facility. Orlando happens to have a ton of dry ice shipments daily, so we have to call the sort facility directly to get the OK to send. They have a book they refer to and ask for my receiving zip code to see if it is one who is listed, if it is we cant ship there and have to get the closet location we can send to and call the customer to see if they are willing to drive (what ever the distance) to pick up the birds.
I know someone else who doesnt have air service from their location to a list of zip codes and so they cant ship any lives to them. Its a learning curve for each location to know if there are restrictions or not. I have a friend in TN and had a heck of a time sending to her, but she knows this ahead of time and we route them to a neighboring PO and she drives to pick them up.
You do need to learn your express schedule as madamwlf mentioned so you know when to have your box dropped off. For me I have to have them at my PO by 9:30 am or 4:00pm to make the express truck back to the sort hub in Orlando.
I mentioned before local PO offices dont know diddly squat on the rules/regs/restrictions of shipping. If you want the real answers chat with the sort hub manager (usually a dock manager or special cargo manager) as they know the in's and out's and can give you a heads up on how things really happen.
