Hazmat Fees....Who gets it?

[Wyatt]

I have a theory on the collection of hazmat fees by retail shops and it got me wondering. I realize there are special licenses and associated expenses, but do they pay an actual hazmat fee per shipment? Something that goes to UPS, FedEx or government per package?

 

[Big Nugget]

Yes. The only time that we do not get charged shipping + hazmat on primers/powder is if the distributor is running some sort of special deal. Those deals are very FAR and FEW between.

 

[Wyatt]

Sorry, maybe I worded my question wrong. As a retail customer, if I purchase powder or primers online from a retail shop and pay the $25-$30 hazmat fee, do they have HAZMAT fees to ship my package?

 

[Constrictor]

Yes they pay that fee to ups.

 

[n6yga]

I'm pretty sure there are special handling routines that Fed-Ex and UPS do. That's part of the reason the stuff only ships ground. You can probably figure out the other reasons.

Haz-mat containers are different and I don't think they are allowed to throw the boxes around like regular packages!

Mark.

 

[cfullgraf]

In a brief internet search, it looks like the fees go to the government to pay for all things related to transporting HAZMAT materials. It pertains to other stuff than just gun powder and primers as well.

So, the customer pays the retailer who pays the shipper who pays Uncle Sam.

Probably over simplified.

 

[Kp321]

Retailers pay the haz-mat fees but normally buy enough at a time the fee is spread over the entire shipment so is not so much per pound of powder. I think 30 pounds of powder can go on one haz-mat fee. The largest retailers receive powder directly from the manufacturer or wholesaler in company owned trucks rather than common carrier.

 

[kcofohio]

WE CAN COMBINE UP TO 48 LBS. OF POWDER AND PRIMERS UNDER ONE HAZMAT TO SAVE YOU MONEY. IF SENDING FUNDS IN ADVANCE, PLEASE CALL FOR ASSISTANCE IN CALCULATING YOUR AMOUNT.

This was copied off of Powder Valley's web site.

My guess was more like 65 lb.

 

[345 DeSoto]

I got 5#'s of powder the other day, and had to pay the usual "Hazmat Fee". There wasn't ANYTHING special about how it was packed or delivered, A big box with a smaller box inside, with the powder can inside that...with a couple of air packs between the two boxes. The outside of the big box had Hazmat printing on it Nothing I could see to justify a $28 Fee...

 

[cfullgraf]

Nothing I could see to justify a $28 Fee...

The box should have had an ORM-D label on it identifying that hazardous materials are inside.

 

[GarySTL]

The ORM-D labels have been phased out. Now they use a diamond label.

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...-will-replace-orm-d-labels-on-ammo-shipments/

 

[cfullgraf]

Well, i received a shipment of ammunition that did not have the diamond label but had a lazer jet/inkjet printed label with ORM-D on it.

I cannot remember how the labeling on the CMP 30-06 was a couple months ago.

 

[Magnum Shooter]

Powder and primers are NOT classified as ORM-D. They are Haz-Mat. Ammo is ORM-D and not Haz-Mat. The fees are what the shipper charges for the extra paperwork and do not go to the government, at least not directly.

 

[FROGO207]

Sadly the truth is that you have to pay a Has-Mat fee for selected items shipped by common carrier or they will not ship it period. If you were able to get enough others together to order a pallet or two at a time delivered to one location then the freight costs would be lower. That is how it gets to the distributor. Wish I lived close enough to just drive to say Powder Valley and pick up my transportable limit.

 

[Wyatt]

I have been an active reloader for over 25 years and have probably paid 30+ hazmat fees to ship components so I am very well aware of the costs involved. Just this week I bought 2 pounds of powder online and the total price was just over $86 delivered. I knew it going in, so I'm not complaining….but it got me wondering. Are retailers making money on this fee or is it being passed on to UPS or other carriers?

I have followed Gunbot quite closely the last week (2200-0200 AKST) and have noticed one seller releasing the same exact (hard to find) powders during the overnight hours just about every night. I have a hard time believing they receive wholesale shipments of the same powder from the manufacturer or distribution center each day….but I digress ! They sell out in just a couple minutes and the limit is a surprisingly low 2#. Out of the 9 or 10 online sellers I regularly use, I cannot remember limits this low, although I could be wrong! Now I understand the limits to spread it around, but if the seller releases 100 pounds each night and limits it to 2 per customer, they are collecting 50 hazmat fees or about $1000 MORE a day than if they had an 8 or 10 pound order limits.

Just an observation, but it seems like a tidy profit if they in fact do keep some of the hazmat fees.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I order sodium nitrate as a salt for heat treating my knives and it is a rapid oxidizer. It's not dangerous in and of itself but it can be used to make powerful explosives and if something soaked with it catches fire (it melts at like 300 degrees) that object will burn with such voracity that putting it out is highly unlikely.

When I order it I have to pay Haz Mat fees as transporting it implies certain risks and handling procedures - like if the truck hauling it would catch on fire the driver need to be aware that the load contains hazardous materials and that in an emergency he (the transporter and his assigns) needs to take appropriate actions and be licensed and trained to be hauling said hazardous substances around.

Drivers with haz mat ratings get a little extra money for the knowledge and training and the companies they work for charge extra fees to cover the extra hassle. So that "extra" gets passed down the food chain to the consumer.

VooDoo

 

[Don McDowell]

27.50 hazmat will buy about 7 gallons of fuel, which is about what it takes for me to go to town and not find what I'm looking for. So when you combine your gas, and time, that hazmat fee for delivery to your door isn't the boogieman some make it out to be.

 

[Drail]

What I want to know is who exactly GETS all the money charged for HazMat fees. Someone is making a lot of money they weren't making before those fees started.

 

[Rule3]

I have a theory on the collection of hazmat fees by retail shops and it got me wondering. I realize there are special licenses and associated expenses, but do they pay an actual hazmat fee per shipment? Something that goes to UPS, FedEx or government per package?

Yes the LGS pays the same Haz Mat that you or I do, It is for all that special love and care that goes into shipping it. A heavier cardboard box and some Govt forms.

Ammo is ORMD and not hazardous when assembled (go figure?)

Spray paint and items like that are ORMD also.

 

[Don McDowell]

Those fee's go to the shipping companies, and they've been in place for a decade or more, so having a fit about them now is a bit late...

 

[grubbylabs]

In my area it only takes on average about 16lbs of powder or so to cancel out the Haz-Mat fee, making the cost of powder about equal with what I would pay for a pound in town.
Now include in that from powder valley I can add Primers, that also spreads the Haz-Mat fee out to the point that I am still saving money buy getting it from Powder Valley.

 

[david bachelder]

The government does not collect any of the HazMat fee. Your carrier collects it and keeps it. They charge HazMat fees due to the added cost of shipping hazardous material. Normally it involves employee training, employee certification, heavier boxes and lots of fancy stickers with fancy labels.

HazMat fees are not required, your carrier decides weather to collect them or not.

Your dealer probably pays HazMat Fees to his supplier, there again its possible that they do not.

FedEx and UPS usually demand HazMat fees, I don't believe USPS will allow you to ship any thing that requires HazMat.

USPS doesn't even allow ammunition, let alone explosives. DOT classifies Smokeless Powder and Primers as explosives. and they do not qualify for the ORM-D exemption. However the finished cartridges do.

Go figure.

 

[brickeyee]

" do they pay an actual hazmat fee per shipment"

THIS.
A multi-copy form is filled out and attached to every hazmat package.
Every driver that transports the package must pull off a copy.
They are often 7 copy forms, so sometimes more than one is attached by the shipper.

The carrier gets the money for the extra work by every driver.

 

[Magnum Shooter]

A multi-copy form is filled out and attached to every hazmat package.
Every driver that transports the package must pull off a copy.
They are often 7 copy forms, so sometimes more than one is attached by the shipper.

The carrier gets the money for the extra work by every driver.

And a copy of the paperwork must be kept in the door pocket of the truck. God help any driver that doesn’t, if stopped by the DOT or even the state police. The fee is charged by the carrier and it is up to them what to charge if anything, but they still have to do the paperwork. Trust me I have a class A drivers license with Haz-Mat endorsement.
I drove a load of plastic resin from Arkansas to a paper plant in Main. What a pain in the butt, stopping at all RR crossings with hazards on, looking and listening for trains, driving around not through most large cities and so on. The shipper didn’t charge a cent extra. Thats right NO Haz-Mat fee.