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Another thought on shipping

E

evansnakes

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Rich and some of you that have spent the past couple hundred years going to shows may remember a couple times, I think about 1994 or 1995 at Orlando there were guys going around to all the vendors trying to convince them that the industry needed help with shipping. Well, back then we really did not. But they were pitching a small package service company like a tiny FedEx that would only handle herps, transported on small charter flights running in and out of little back out of the way airports. I think that is not the best scenario but how about this thought:

A company that contracts direct with major airlines and shipping companies like FedEx and others. This company would deal direct with all the shippers in a professional manner to make them feel that instead of small time amateurs they are dealing with a slick operation that will conduct business in a manner they will be happy with and will do so above board and legally.

So what I am saying is this company would be like mail boxes etc used to be for ups before ups bought them out. You call or email company. Company gets info from airline or FedEx or whoever when flight leaves or where closest office is etc., and company notifies them of your shipment and gets you started. When you get to FedEx or airline they are expecting you and maybe they still inspect your package but as long as you do it right, they get it out. The company would be the known shipper and the company would negotiate guidelines for shipping with fedex and ups. Kind of like members of a co-op business' would pay an annual membership fee or a per usage fee to this company and in return the company would handle problems and trouble shoot with corporate managment of these companies who do not give time of day to individuals. So I am just thinking a couple steps beyond the fedex petition you guys posted.

I just think that if there were a legitimate corporate entity in between us and them we would be better off and they would feel better about dealing with us. I did not explain this well. Sorry, long day, but in theory I think it may be a good idea. So who wants to be the one to do it?
 
Instead of reinventing the wheel, why not just approach one of these already existing MailBoxes, etc. companies to see if they would be interested in the business? I think trying to do a startup nationwide service like this would be am immense undertaking.
 
My details on this are sketchy at best, so take that into consideration.

I was talking with the Delta reps here a couple of weeks ago and apparently this is already done with their service.
They explained that there is a company that acts as known shipper for people without Delta accounts. I was never clear whether this was a single operation, or multiple unconnected small buisnesses, but the method was they accepted your package and shipped it via Delta under their known shipper status. They charged a premium on the base shipping fees of $20 or so the best I could determine, resulting in a shipping charge of $89 plus fuel surcharge.
As I understood it they also has a pick up option, which added to the cost, but they came and got the package.

They said basically they were accepting responsibility for the acceptability of your package for shipping, and this was an option for people who rarely needed to ship via delta and could not maintain an account.

This is basically all I know about this. Since I have an account I didn't press them for the details I was fuzzy on.
I did wonder how this worked though, because I was told that I could not ship a snake for someone else on my account. Granted, if I bring a snake to the counter they have no way of knowing whether it's truly mine or not, so that rule is basically irrelevant, but it made me wonder what kind of deal these other shippers had in that their entire shipping buisness was comprised of packages belonging to other people.
They implied that this service was widely available but didn't actually say that it was common practice and an available option at all airports.
It was the first I had ever heard of this being done, but I thought it would be handy at times for people who rarely ever ship but find themselves in need of sending a venomous snake, or 100lb burm across the country.
 
Rich, I agree that is why I would not do anything like it but mail boxes etc and others like them as I said in previous post no longer exist they have been purchased by UPS and only deal with UPS and are now called "The UPS Store". Evan
 
The specific entity "Mailboxes Ect" is now the "UPS Store" but there are still a LOT of mailbox places that deal with all the carriers, fax and notory. They charge a HIGH price, but if you need to FAX or have something Notorized ($40 to them just last night for Notory) it is conveneint. There is one just up the street named "AIM Mail Center"

Hope the name helps.
 
I personally don't like handing out my social security#, bank accoutnt#s, having to give business references, Federal income tax #'s etc. to ship a snake. It seems like alot of info to ship something from here to there.
 
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