How to ship 8 juvenile cichlids? HELP!
- Thread starter Liz Sagara
- Start date
Don't put too much faith into the "Guaranteed by" times on FedEx/UPS. They are rarely accurate for me. FedEx guarantees packages by 12PM Noon at my house, but there is only one FedEx Express truck in my area and sometimes I don't get packages until 3 or 4pm. On Christmas Eve, I received a box of fish at 7:30pm and they died not long after getting here. It was just too cold and stressful.
Your best bet is to have the fish shipped FedEx Standard Overnight and held for weekday pickup at your local FedEx hub (it's a few bucks cheaper than Priority Overnight but they almost always arrive at the FedEx facility at the same time every morning).
If you're not sure which FedEx office the package will be held at, call FedEx (1-800-GO-FEDEX) and explain that you want to have a shipment held for pickup and give them your address. They will tell you which FedEx facility the package will stop at. These locations are always FedEx Staffed locations; rarely do they get held at places like FedEx Kinko's.
Your best bet is to have the fish shipped FedEx Standard Overnight and held for weekday pickup at your local FedEx hub (it's a few bucks cheaper than Priority Overnight but they almost always arrive at the FedEx facility at the same time every morning).
If you're not sure which FedEx office the package will be held at, call FedEx (1-800-GO-FEDEX) and explain that you want to have a shipment held for pickup and give them your address. They will tell you which FedEx facility the package will stop at. These locations are always FedEx Staffed locations; rarely do they get held at places like FedEx Kinko's.
Based on shipping parts, I agree with Ryan completely. Next Day Early AM is quite a bit more expensive...and it doesn't always happen. In this case, since we are doing Hold for Pickup, it's not practical anyway. As Ryan stated, the packages will all arrive at the terminal at the same time. With deliveries, Early AM gets priority, but that's about it.
The good news is, we're shipping from a fairly large city to a fairly large city. The fish won't have to make extra hops to get to terminals or drop off locations.
One question...the small Fed Ex stores aren't actually terminals, are they? I am thinking we need to find the actual terminal for your city and have them held there if it's not too far away.
Either way, I don't think we have a big risk. They fish will go into the box Monday around noon. They should hit your city very early Tuesday morning. Once the packages get sorted and distributed, they should be available at worst case around noon Tuesday. Even if there's a glitch or two, you should have them in your hands no later than Tuesday evening.
I'll take extra precautions on this end, but like I said earlier, after reading Ryan's comments, I feel a lot better about this
lol, this little guys have had more upfront precautions and discussions taking place than an overseas shipment! But, I am thankful for all the input. I wouldn't want to ship them if there was a big risk of them not making it. I am thinking the risks are pretty low at this point.
Thanks!
The good news is, we're shipping from a fairly large city to a fairly large city. The fish won't have to make extra hops to get to terminals or drop off locations.
One question...the small Fed Ex stores aren't actually terminals, are they? I am thinking we need to find the actual terminal for your city and have them held there if it's not too far away.
Either way, I don't think we have a big risk. They fish will go into the box Monday around noon. They should hit your city very early Tuesday morning. Once the packages get sorted and distributed, they should be available at worst case around noon Tuesday. Even if there's a glitch or two, you should have them in your hands no later than Tuesday evening.
I'll take extra precautions on this end, but like I said earlier, after reading Ryan's comments, I feel a lot better about this
lol, this little guys have had more upfront precautions and discussions taking place than an overseas shipment! But, I am thankful for all the input. I wouldn't want to ship them if there was a big risk of them not making it. I am thinking the risks are pretty low at this point.
Thanks!
Clarification...
I just got a call from Clint Gowen, Live Animal Shipping Executive at Fed Ex. You "can" ship as a private individual, but there are many stipulations. You have to send your packaging to them to be inspected and a report is sent in to the legal department. Once they approve it, they will ship your packaging materials back to you with an authorization form. You can then ship. He said the process takes about a week.
He was an extremely nice and helpful guy. But, the long and short of it is, if you plan on shipping livestock, you're better off going through your LFS and paying them something to help you out.
I just got a call from Clint Gowen, Live Animal Shipping Executive at Fed Ex. You "can" ship as a private individual, but there are many stipulations. You have to send your packaging to them to be inspected and a report is sent in to the legal department. Once they approve it, they will ship your packaging materials back to you with an authorization form. You can then ship. He said the process takes about a week.
He was an extremely nice and helpful guy. But, the long and short of it is, if you plan on shipping livestock, you're better off going through your LFS and paying them something to help you out.
It depends on which FedEx person you talk to. Some enforce it, others do not. Even if you have an approved account, they will not insure the package.
The easy solution is to not tell them what's in the box. I always just tell them it's aquarium supplies.
The easy solution is to not tell them what's in the box. I always just tell them it's aquarium supplies.
It wouldn't matter either way. Even if you go through the process to get an approved account, they will not guarantee livestock. The drivers do not take any special precautions -- they treat every package the same. I was told by several FedEx employees that it was useless for me to write "Keep Warm" or "Fragile" on the box because they don't look at that. That's why the packing is so important.
I've shipped tons of fish through FedEx and USPS Priority Mail. I've never lost any. If you bag them right and use plenty of cushioning, they can take being tossed around in a box.
I've shipped tons of fish through FedEx and USPS Priority Mail. I've never lost any. If you bag them right and use plenty of cushioning, they can take being tossed around in a box.
