I have been shipping insects for 32 years, and have come to some conclusions that may help others understand the challenges. The United States Post Office is the shipper of choice by most invertebrate shippers, due to the cost savings over UPS, Fed Ex, etc. The Post Office has some practices and procedures you need to know to get your insects shipped in a manner that they survive the trip.
1. Depending on your local Post Office, early morning drop off is best, particularly if it is a high volume Post Office. What an early drop off will get you is the first truck outbound to the distribution center which may save you one days travel. On low volume Post Offices it is not uncommon to have one truck departing at the end of the day, so packing later and dropping off later is better for the beasts in the box.
2. Stickers instructing "Fragile" and "Handle With Care" are not heeded by sorting machinery, and need not be used.
3. High and low temperatures are the main killers of insects. There are several transportation places where temperatures can make your insects very dead: truck transportation from your Post Office to the USPS depot, from the USPS depot to the airport, loading at the airport, unloading at your regional airport, truck transportation to your USPS depot, truck transportation to your local post office, and the postal delivery truck to your home. With so many points in the journey that your order can be fried or frozen, dead on arrival (DOA's) do happen, and are unavoidable.
4. The final gauntlet where temperature can kill the beasts is your porch/mailbox/ gang mailbox. A package that has survived 7 potential temperature changes, and has happy insects inside, can die at the end of the journey. The trick here is to know your regular postal carrier and make sure they put the box where it won't be in direct sunlight in the hot months. In the cold months it is best to have the package shipped as a "Hold at Post Office," and you pick it up at your local Post Office. I will use the Hold at Post Office in hot weather as well. If you have the package delivered to your home, don't let it sit long in hot or cold weather.
5. The USPS Zone and Weight shipping system is at best nominal. The Click and Ship system where you print your labels at home, has several frustrating areas, including not saving addresses in your address book, when you pull up a saved address it will come up blank, and the pricing is a fluctuating mess. Third party shippers are a better bet by far.
I have just changed to a third party shipper which allows me to offer $12 Flat Rate shipping for any shipment under 3 pounds. 97% of my shipments are under 3 pounds, so this will be less cost for the customer, and I can use USPS, FedEX and UPS.
CHEERS!
Nick
1. Depending on your local Post Office, early morning drop off is best, particularly if it is a high volume Post Office. What an early drop off will get you is the first truck outbound to the distribution center which may save you one days travel. On low volume Post Offices it is not uncommon to have one truck departing at the end of the day, so packing later and dropping off later is better for the beasts in the box.
2. Stickers instructing "Fragile" and "Handle With Care" are not heeded by sorting machinery, and need not be used.
3. High and low temperatures are the main killers of insects. There are several transportation places where temperatures can make your insects very dead: truck transportation from your Post Office to the USPS depot, from the USPS depot to the airport, loading at the airport, unloading at your regional airport, truck transportation to your USPS depot, truck transportation to your local post office, and the postal delivery truck to your home. With so many points in the journey that your order can be fried or frozen, dead on arrival (DOA's) do happen, and are unavoidable.
4. The final gauntlet where temperature can kill the beasts is your porch/mailbox/ gang mailbox. A package that has survived 7 potential temperature changes, and has happy insects inside, can die at the end of the journey. The trick here is to know your regular postal carrier and make sure they put the box where it won't be in direct sunlight in the hot months. In the cold months it is best to have the package shipped as a "Hold at Post Office," and you pick it up at your local Post Office. I will use the Hold at Post Office in hot weather as well. If you have the package delivered to your home, don't let it sit long in hot or cold weather.
5. The USPS Zone and Weight shipping system is at best nominal. The Click and Ship system where you print your labels at home, has several frustrating areas, including not saving addresses in your address book, when you pull up a saved address it will come up blank, and the pricing is a fluctuating mess. Third party shippers are a better bet by far.
I have just changed to a third party shipper which allows me to offer $12 Flat Rate shipping for any shipment under 3 pounds. 97% of my shipments are under 3 pounds, so this will be less cost for the customer, and I can use USPS, FedEX and UPS.
CHEERS!
Nick
You rock.
