Postal regulations for shipping hatching eggs -{this has been resolved, complaint filed with PO - th

[robhuncor]

Does anyone know what the post office regulations are? I'm new to posting on BYC but I'm not new to chickens and have been getting live birds & eggs shipped to me for years with no problem. In the last month I have received 2 orders of hatching eggs mailed to me - both of which were perfectly wrapped by the way, but this horrible woman on the desk in the PO gave me a hard time. The first order was marked "fragile" but did not indicate it was eggs. The sender put my phone # with a note to call for pickup. This woman told me that the post office does not call people for pickup. Thankfully my wonderful letter carrier called me, but when I went in to pickup, the "dragon lady" on the desk, threw a fit - but, she didn't know it was eggs. This morning's' shipment was clearly marked "eggs" - uh oh. She chewed out my letter carrier for calling me and she said it was not allowed to ship eggs. My excitement in receiving these great eggs was totally ruined by feeling terribly guilty about getting my letter carrier in trouble. I know this woman is a ticking time bomb - she personifies "going postal" - but I just want to know what the PO allows and I have not been able to find anything about it. I need ammunition to fight back. Thanks

 

[badflash]

She is an idiot and you should file a complaint.
USPS allows the shipping of eggs. It is under "Perishable Matter" here is the quote:

Eggs are mailable in domestic mail subject to the following general conditions:
They are individually cushioned.
They are otherwise packed to withstand shocks encountered during normal Postal Service handling.
They are not likely to be harmed by anticipated temperature changes while in Postal Service custody.

There is no requirement to put any sort of label. My experience of the last month is that the packages that were marked either as fragile or as hatching eggs became a challenge to the workers to either delay for 2 weeks, or to play basket ball with them. Out of 4 shipments of eggs, the only one that arrived on time and undamaged was not marked.

 

[badflash]

Also, Priority and Express Mail have a Hold for Pickup option. My Post Master calls me, but that is a courtesy. You can track via the Priority Mail or Express Mail tracking number to see if it arrived. You can also go to the tracking page and add e-mail or text notifications.

 

[robhuncor]

Thank you badflash! I knew she was crazy - in all my years doing this I've never had a problem. And my eggs always come priority mail. I'm going to write a letter to the postmaster and complain. Maybe you should also!