| Author | Subject: Shipping with Delta??? |
| Mark Sanders | Posted At 10:52:22 07/21/2001
Hi, I am planning a shipment of tortoises with Delta Air Cargo not Delta Dash. They will be shipped next day. Anyone know if I can expect any problems? I have heard that Delta Air Cargo will not ship unless you have an account with them. The tortoises have been paid for and the only charges for the buyer will be the shipping charges upon arrival. Thanks |
| Brian Oakley |
Re: Shipping with Delta???
6153.html Posted At 12:14:20 07/21/2001 First of all the Delta Air Cargo is the one that ships Delta Dash. Not like it is a seperate company or anything (if you did not know ??). "Dash" just gets there the same day. Now, to answer your question, I use Delta alot and have never had a problem with them. ONCE a flight got delayed due to whether in Atlanta, but one cannot blame the airlines for that. Good luck, Brian Oakley |
| Tig Means |
Re: Shipping with Delta???
6166.html Posted At 17:07:32 07/21/2001 I used Delta for about 3 years to ship mammals, and have had a few herps shipped to me via Delta Dash. I have always been pleased with the way my shipments are treated. I stopped using them for my mammals because they changed their prices from $96 to $169 with no notification to customers, and I had problems with the particular office in Wichita being a pain in the rear. The main office said the local office had to approve me as a known shipper and the local office said the main office had to approve me- meanwhile, after 3 years of shipping with them, my customers were still having to pay an extra $5. I did not have that problem when I was going through the Little Rock office the year previous. Anyway, unless the policies have changed, you should be able to ship even if you don't have an acct with them, they just might tack an extra $5 on the price. Another problem I had with them, which was more an annoyance than a problem, was that they never seemed to get the tracking #s logged in the computer until after they arrived at their destination. My customers would freak if they went to check the tracking and it said the shipment didn't exist. Once I figured out that this was a consistent problem, I started warning people that this would likely happen and then it wasn't an issue any more. When the occasional problem arose (flight delay, missing one flight and being put on the next), I would just start with calling the local office to verify if it had left there, then would call the hub where it was supposed to transfer, and they could always get me to whoever had had hands on the package to get the details of what was really going on. Sometimes I had to push to get that, but we always got it figured out. =) Anyway, those are some of the pitfalls I encountered, and hopefully the tips will help you avoid them! Something I was wondering- you can ship mammals through other airlines (Continental, Northwest, American, USAir), is it possible to ship herps through other airlines? Tig Hedgehog Valley http://antigonemeans.tripod.com/index.html Midnight Geckos http://nannyogg.tripod.com/index.html |
| Paul Wager |
Re: Shipping with Delta???
6171.html Posted At 18:57:53 07/21/2001 I've had snakes shipped to me through Northwest. Just marked live harmless reptiles. The guy at the counter asked me what kind they were and when I told him they were snakes he just shuttered and krindged and handed them over real fast :) Paul |
| Gary Schiavino |
Re: Shipping with Delta???
6196.html Posted At 20:08:14 07/22/2001 I've used Delta probably more than one two hundred times shipping more than 1000 animals over the past 15 years, and during that time, have lost only 1 baby chondro. True, I've heard horror stories about them, but I think overall, as long as your shipper packs the animal properly, there should not be any issues. Good luck |
| Ronda Van Winkle |
Re: Shipping with Delta???
6199.html Posted At 23:17:36 07/22/2001 I've run into problems both when I am shipping and when receiving. When receiving, it seems the shipments are low priority (even though it is marked "live animals") and get bumped off of flights. Instead of going the fastest, most direct route, Delta will but the box on whichever flight has room and gets the box a little closer to its destination. I'm left pacing the room not knowing when or where they will turn up next. The nice thing, though, is that there is a tracking number, and *usually* Delta can tell you exactly where the box is, even if its not where it is supposed to be. I don't recall exactly, but these were probably regular Air Cargo shipments and not Dash service. A few years back I tried to ship some snakes and Delta told me that there had been a policy change and unless I was a "known shipper" they would not accept my package. How do I get to be a known shipper? Ship three times within the past six months. Okay, how do I get my three shipments in if I not a known shipper? Can't do it. Its a big "catch-22" and they weren't about to make any exceptions. Maybe the office in your area will be a little more lenient. Good luck! Ronda |
| jeff pfeifer |
Re: Shipping with Delta???
6218.html Posted At 10:21:23 07/23/2001 I have had the same experience as Ronda with Delta. I've had animals get bumped off flights or get sent all over the country several times. You might have trouble becoming a "known shipper" also. I was told by the Detroit office that unless I was a business shipping out regularly, I would not be approved. Northwest and USAir will reserve space on flights, your animals won't get bumped, they use the most direct flights possible, and they actually act like they want your business. Jeff |
| Ken Harbart |
Re: Shipping with Delta???
6225.html Posted At 17:01:35 07/23/2001 The known shipper "policy" isn't peculiar to Delta. It is an actual FAA regulation, enacted in response to the TWA Flight 800 and ValuJet Flight 592 tragedies. Delta's relunctance to deal with unknown shippers is probably a result the FAA's aggressiveness in proactively checking the airlines for compliance. FAA employees routinely pose as unknown shippers in an effort to guage the cargo security acceptance practices of airlines. In one instance, 89% of the carriers tested improperly accepted the package. The most recent data that I have indicates that the failure rate is down to 21%. Legal action is taken against those airlines that fail to meet the standard. The FAA's stance may seem harsh, but domestic terrorism has become a very real threat as of late. That being said, it is not Delta's policy to refuse shipments from unknown shippers. I had a very lengthy conversation with an individual in their upper echelon recently about this subject. Packages from unknown shippers must be inspected, accepted, and booked by a manager. After three consecutive shipments within a six month period, you are elligible to be classified as a known shipper. If your local cargo facility is not familiar with this policy, ask them to call the Pet Desk for verification. As for animal shipments getting "bumped", it happens with all the airlines, and is dependent on several factors. All airlines have a finite amount of space in which to carry cargo, and cargo is generally loaded on a "first come..." basis. Additionally, packages with a higher priority, such as Dash (Delta) and PDQ (US Air), take precedence over a package sent second day air- even if they are labeled as live animals. Another consideration is the type of cargo already on the aircraft. For instance, ASA (among many other carriers) will bump live animals off of a flight containing dry ice. That being said, the easiest way to get a direct flight from any major airline is to live near one of their hub airports. It would be advantageous for someone living near Atlanta or Salt Lake City to use Delta; whereas myself, John A, and Jeff are apt to get direct service from Northwest, since DTW is one of their hubs. In the end though, I prefer US Air. Although they still abide by the above priority & hazardous cargo criteria, they seem to be more "user friendly" when dealing with unknown shippers, altough most packages are likely to be routed through PA or NC, since that's the location of their hubs. Finally, touching on what Jeff said about Delta cargo here at DTW... I've found the disparity between the quality of service (Delta vs US Air) here at DTW to be quite amusing and frustrating. Both airlines use the same facility & employees, yet you will invariably get better service from them if you choose US Air! |
| James northrup |
shipping at all!!!
9205.html Posted At 12:10:38 09/19/2001 Help! my gf was going to ship my two cats to sanfran where i have relocated from tampa. the hijacking occured the tuesday before that weekend! I am frantic trying to figure out logistics without having to fly back to tampa and drive my screaming cats for 4 days across 300 miles! faa has enforced known shipper status on all cargo. period. what options are available for the little guy whose life is being wrenched at two ends of the continent? |
| James northrup |
shipping at all!!!
9206.html Posted At 12:11:17 09/19/2001 Help! my gf was going to ship my two cats to sanfran where i have relocated from tampa. the hijacking occured the tuesday before that weekend! I am frantic trying to figure out logistics without having to fly back to tampa and drive my screaming cats for 4 days across 3000 miles! faa has enforced known shipper status on all cargo. period. what options are available for the little guy whose life is being wrenched at two ends of the continent? |