Why do ammo vendors use UPS?

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heypete

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I know that one cannot ship ammo in the US Mail, but I've always wondered why they almost always use UPS exclusively to ship ammunition.

Every non-USPS ground shipment I've shipped has been cheaper when shipped with FedEx, and has gotten delivered on-time and undamaged a much higher percentage than those delivered by UPS.

Does FedEx charge some extra fees for shipping ammo that would make it not economical for vendors? It's never really seemed to make much sense to me why they wouldn't use FedEx.

Any thoughts?
 
I ship UPS because they have normal pick ups in my town. I like to use Fed Ex because it can save my customer up to 10.00 on some ammo orders. Fed Ex just does not have any regular pick ups in my tri county area.
 
Because a lot of ammo dealers tend to get a bit of a discount for bulk shipping. I have shipped ammo using UPS and it's easier. You just mark on the box OMD Small Arms Cartrideges, drop it at the regional shipping center, and you are good to go. FedEx wanted me to fill out a Hazardous Materials sheet or other nonsense.
 
Hmm. I wonder if FedEx could have some means of having a "Regular shipper of Hazardous Goods" thing on file for a regular shipper.

Anyway, if UPS makes it easier to ship ammo, I have no problem then. I was just curious. :D
 
UPS gets my stufff here on time. I buy mostly from people who use UPS.

FedEx sometimes gets 'lost'. I live where there are 3 towns sharing the same zip code, and three streets that have the same name as mine.

Post Office is a waste of time. Most stuff sent that way takes years to get here and is usually smashed.
 
When buying case amounts of ammo, especially if you have a hazmat tag included, I like UPS better than FedEx.

The UPS man/woman will leave my stuff on the porch but if there is a hazmat tag, FedEx always wants a signature. I don't blame them, but not being home when they try to deliver then calling and getting them to remove it from the truck and hold it at the depot...which is 25 miles away is a bit of a hassle.

FedEx even made me go through this hassle for a PELLET GUN!!! No kidding. Not their fault, mind you. The shipper wanted an adult signature and they were just following instructions but UPS normally lets me sign the delivery notice and leaves it the next day.

As far as package bashing....my experience is the heavier the box, the farther it gets dropped with both companies.

My UPS guy once told me that I buy the 'heaviest damn xxxx of any of the deliveries he makes'. Online ammo and supplies (especially Tannerite!) delivered to your door makes me very happy to live in the USA!
 
FedEx Ground has only been doing home deliveries since 2000. A lot of these shops already had UPS systems in place by then. Also, UPS tends to gives businesses betters pricing breaks than FedEx.
 
Post Office is a waste of time. Most stuff sent that way takes years to get here and is usually smashed.
Click to expand...

I've shipped a couple of thousand priority mail packages over the last 5 years or so, and other than a poor packing problem on my end when I first started (got it figured out pretty quick) nothing has ever been lost in transit and I've had zero complaints from customers about arrival condition. Three days to the west coast and 2 to near anywhere else in almost every case. Heck, USPS even ship the (free) boxes/supplies to you at no cost. If it can be fit in a flat rate envelope or box, their price can't be beat.
 
Virtually all of my ammo ordered online gets to me by UPS. My regular driver
has bitched occasionally about how heavy my packages frequently are. I
just smile and tell him to appreciate his job security. The more ammo I order
the less likely he is to have his route cut back or altered. Can't complain about the service either. It always gets to me on the assigned date and the boxes are not usually trashed like the USPS does.
 
what is getting annoying to me is fedex is going 'supersecurity' on absoutely everything that is getting sent. Either they are finally addressing a problem they had, or they lowered the cost for the most secure shipping means.

Now, every flipping package has got to be signed for only by the person who it is being shipped to. No more 'sign the ticket, leave it at the door' no more 'have my neighbor sign for it' I even had my gfriend be at my place to acept, but they wouldn't let her have it.

This is absoutely simple stuff too. I purchased a replacemnt cellphone with 'minutes' from one of those pay as you go places, for $10 worth of minutes. It was more costly to drive over and get it at teh fedex shop after 3 times of trying to deliver it at 10am, normal working hours for most folks.

Same thing when I bought a 15.99 'beep free' belt online for ease getting through our work metal detector (i work electronics logistics...stealing ipods made em really tweak up the metal detectors)


Now, I could see requiring the actual signature for ammo etc, but not for a lot of other stuff. What's nice about UPS, I get the first sticker on the window that says 'been here 1st attempt, need sig in person' I write on it 'I get home from work at 3pm, any time after that, great!' and lo and behold, on day 2, they manage to get there when I am home. Fedex? 1 attempt, no going back ever.
 
Here is a article that lays out the differences between UPS, FedEx and USPS on shipping ammunition. http://www.adazonusa.com/howtoshipammunitionorammo-a-45.html The bottom line to the article is that UPS will just take the package as long as you have a ORM-D Cartridges, small arms sticker on it. You can use a regular ORM-D, but they prefer the Cartridges version. FedEx requires a form with the shipment, and USPS says they follow the DOT rulls, but at the office locations, they usually will not take them and refer you to the other carriers.... Hope that helps.
 
CMP ships ammo exclusively with FedEx.

Last time my FedEx guy left me ammo, he left it on the porch. :)
 
Post Office has horrible service. Most ppl who don't mail stuff for a living don't realize how bad it is. UPS on the other hand will come by the same spot 3 times a day at the very same time every single day. Thats service.
 
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