Third Party Press

WARNING: Do NOT ship Firearms With FEDEX

Hambone

Hambone

Community Organizer
Staff member
IMHO Fedex service has deteriorated significantly in the last five years. I have always used them to legally ship firearms. I would never and will never do that again. I won't ship anything else with them as they are attempting to force me to pay them for their "service" of destroying my rifle. They tried to destroy the stock on a Finn M39 shipped to me. The run around was incredible and the employees were rude. They simply denied the claim out of hand, no reasons, no justification, then refused to discuss it or provide me access to anyone who would. I had to send a legal demand letter via certified mail to their CEO. I finally got a call from his secretary. At long last (this has been going on since July) I received the following explanation. In my opinion, they are incompetent, derelict, poorly managed, without a customer service orientation, abusive to their customers with claims, and their current situation seems to indicate this. Don't risk sending anything with them, particularly a firearm, unless you read all the fine print and have a lawyer.

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This email is in response to your correspondence dated September 12, 2022, regarding the FedEx Ground shipment traveling under tracking #777242043082.

The FedEx Ground Claims Dept. previously investigated this matter and denied the claim. We have reviewed the decision of our Claims Dept. and stand by that well-reasoned decision. Notwithstanding, please allow this email to provide you with additional relevant background.

The FedEx Service Guide and the FedEx Ground Tariff governs all shipments traveling through the FedEx Ground network. See https://www.fedex.com/en-us/service-guide.html.

The Tariff states:
Firearms

Only customers holding a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and federal, state, or local government agencies may ship firearms with FedEx. Customers holding an FFL must enter into an approved FedEx Firearms Shipping Compliance Agreement before shipping any firearms with FedEx. For more information, contact your FedEx account executive.

On behalf of customers holding an FFL who enter into an approved FedEx Firearms Shipping Compliance Agreement and federal, state, or local government agencies, FedEx Ground will transport and deliver firearms, antique firearms, and replica firearms, all as defined by the United States Gun Control Act of 1968, as well as muzzleloaders and black powder firearms (collectively “firearms”). Shipments containing firearms must be sent with the Adult Signature Required Delivery Signature Option. FedEx Ground will not accept for transport handguns, assembled or disassembled.

FedEx Ground will transport small-arms ammunition when packed and labeled in compliance with local, state and federal law, and the Hazardous Materials section of this Service Guide. Ammunition is an explosive and must be shipped separately as hazardous materials. You agree not to ship loaded firearms or firearms with ammunition in the same package.

These regulations are set forth by The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Because the shipper did not adhere to the above terms and conditions for this shipment, the claim remains denied.

Thank you.
FedEx Ground Legal Department | FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. | fedex.com
Please DO NOT respond to this message. This email was sent from an unattended mailbox.
 
So their reply is literally another non answer. Sucks you have to deal with this, what would another shipping option be (ive never shipped afirearm)
 
Scarey said:
So their reply is literally another non answer. Sucks you have to deal with this, what would another shipping option be (ive never shipped afirearm)
Click to expand...

As much as I hate to say it, USPS or UPS. Make sure it's insured and you've read all the fine print.
 
Fed Ex Lax has always hired the worse people. Stopped using them years ago.
A few weeks ago, I was told by my UPS office that I had to be registered with them to ship firearms when I attempted to ship a long gun with them. So, I sent it via USPS. Lucky it was an SKS, so it wasn't very long of a package. USPS just increased rates for any package over 30 inches gets a $15 surcharge.
I did register my UPS account as a firearm shipper, I have an FFL, but have not tried to ship since then.
Life just gets easier every damn day.
 
I almost always use USPS Priority or Priority Express or Registered if requested by the buyer . I will always use USPS Registered Mail and I Insure it for the sale price when I ship a Sniper Rifle . Sending Registered your item is under lock & key the whole way and only one person has the key for the Registered Items and the item has to be signed for going in and coming out of the Registered Mail Bin at each location .
 
I used USPS exclusively for over a decade and never had an issue until the wheels came off during Covid. I then switched to ups who did ok, of course now they are the enemy of gun owners. USPS seems to have improved a bit again. Fedex is conspicuously absent…. I will bicycle a parcel to a buyer before I use those clowns.
 
In 2014 I shipped two very rare rifles for a gentleman who purchased them at auction to his FFL for transfer. They were not exceedingly valuable, but VERY rare. I think the purchase price was ~$2800. I've forgotten most of the details by now, but I remember packing both rifles, double boxed, with a pine board for extra support.

When they arrived at the FFL the box was practically broken in half, stocks and board broken. When going back and forth with FedEx they stated first that the rifles were not packaged to their standards. After I explained how they were packaged, they asked that the package and contents be surrendered to them for examination. I asked how would the firearms be handled in terms of logging them out to them or would the person picking up the firearms complete a 4473? They said neither, the fedex driver would simply pick them up. I told them that would be fine but I needed documentation stating that this was approved by the ATF and a receipt documenting that they were taking the firearms.

While waiting for a response I contacted both the customer and the ATF. The customer stated that he would not surrender the firearms, and while the broken stocks were lamentable, the firearms themselves were still too valuable and he would replace the stocks. My conversation with the IOI was, well, short. What Fed Ex wanted to do was in no way condoned by the ATF and I politely recommended that they might want to contact FedEx.

While waiting for a response from FedEx I received a letter from FedEx stating that they had denied my claim because I had refused to surrender the package and contents. I called the person that was my "case manager" and asked how it was possible I had refused when in point of fact I was glad to turn them over, only asking that they needed to provide documentation. She stated that they would provide no such documentation and by asking for it had refused to surrender the contents. When I again explained to her that by turning the firearms over to them I would be exposing myself to legal prosecution by the ATF for violating federal law. She stated that "that is your problem".

So it has been 8 years that FedEx has not received my business, and whenever possible I do not allow anyone shipping guns into me, or parts, to use FedEx.

UPS is just as, if not more, incompetent, and the stories would take even longer because the shite show they call a "hub" is close by in my town and I have had to visit it many times.

Sadly, since 2010, the United States Postal Service has had the most consistent service of the three. The least damaged, lost, or late packages. Even through Covid.

And don't let people bemoan the fact that the USPS is federally subsidized, so are both UPS and FedEx to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
 
I’ll add some clarification to the new UPS firearm rules.

As an 01 FFL, I prefer to ship long guns via UPS. Handguns go via USPS.

If any of you guys hold an 03 FFL you can ship via UPS:

“UPS accepts packages containing Firearm Products for shipment only as a contractual service and only from Shippers who are licensed importers, licensed manufacturers, licensed dealers, or licensed collectors (as defined in Title 18, Chapter 44 of the United States Code) to authorized recipients, as outlined in the approved UPS agreement for the transportation of Firearm Products.”

How To Ship Firearms | UPS - United States

Information from UPS about how to ship firearms, which are considered a special-care shipment and require some extra steps before packing them up and shipping.
www.ups.com

You need to get an approved account to ship firearms. If you already have a UPS account, you will need a new one to just ship firearms. You will also need a new UPS account number to ship just firearm parts.

Aka: you need two new accounts to ship just firearms, and just parts. Which is two, new, separate account numbers.

UPS will require a copy of your FFL to be emailed to them. Then you will need to sign their “firearms agreement”. Once those two documents are submitted, they will generate new account numbers. You then will be approved for new shipping accounts, for firearms and or parts.

I handled all this with my UPS rep. Originally, when I reached out to him. He wasn’t familiar with the new policy. He did follow up with me, after figuring out the new policy himself. It was pretty easy.

He takes care of New Enlgand. If anyone wants to ship a firearm via UPS, that holds an FFL. I can provide his email. He should be able to take care of it for you.

-D
 

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I’ve had best luck of the 3 with USPS. ups was double the cost of usps for me to ship a barrelled action to Vaughn99 to have turrets mounted. (this was just before the usps price increase) I didn’t price fedex express (separate entity from fedex ground) because of no local drop-off, & I’d never consider for a minute fedex ground, who has been the worst offender in my own experience. However ALL the carriers rig the system in their own favor when it comes to claims, either the packaging was insufficient or the shipper didn’t follow some obscure rule. Generally, when fedex ground or other carrier damages your package, the vendor replaces the goods, & no claim is filed with the carrier. The seller eats the expense to keep a customer happy & the carrier gets off scott free. I worked for 35 years as a purchasing agent in metal products manufacturing, and trucking companies were one of my ‘commodities’. In the usual case, the damaged item isn’t a unique collectible, & customarily the seller replaces the damaged item while their claim winds its way through the carriers claims avoidance ‘system’. Like insurance companies, carriers have staffs of lawyers whose job is to save the carriers money. In all cases the carriers pay any claim to the shipper, not the consignee, so if the shipper doesn’t want to share that with the customer, they don’t have to, legally.

In our endeavor, where every item is unique & largely irreplaceable, the gods are not with us. It’s really incumbent upon each of us to “bulletproof” our shipments to each other. Assume that your package will be dropped, thrown and stepped upon. I learned all this the hard way, buying & shipping vintage motorcycle parts. For shipping gearboxes by ups, I built a wooden box with handles, until someone got a splinter in his finger, it worked well. Now I drive to the guy who rebuilds them, 3, 6 hours or overnight if necessary. Other items, lighter & easier to protect, I still ship, but my packaging design & execution is generally over the top & too time consuming to be profitable in business.
 
FedEx was once a leader in the shipping business. Now it is dying by degree by it's own design. I think both FedEx & UPS use some subcontract carriers to haul their merch and all are desperate to find more drivers. This has led to just about anyone with a truck finding work if they want it...thieves, criminals, etc. This may be where some of the trouble is coming from as there is inadequate vetting of those they hire. The rest is coming from their arrogant attitudes. Anyone whom uses either should read the "fine print" in their disclosures and policies. I recall FedEx would insure up to $5K. However, if you are shipping anything considered a collectible/antique, the max they will cover is $1K, because it is not a "readily replaceable" item. As for FedEx's "shipping standards", I recall some years back shipping a Dillon reloader setup. I packaged the thing "for destruction", in that the box I had was so well packed, padded and taped I could drop it from four feet to the deck with no damage. This is what the USPS calls for. When I arrived at the FedEx counter they demanded to open the box for inspection for adequate packing. Telling them I had worked in a bulk USPS mail hub and been a letter carrier for a few years held no sway. So, they cut all the filament tape, opened the lid, and saw my preparation was more than adequate. I then watched the clerk close the flaps and run a single strip of two inch tape along the seam and start to move the box. Needless to say, I stopped her right then and there...demanding they provide me adequate tape to restore the preparations I had made and so I did. Dillon arrived AOK despite their efforts to the contrary...
 
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Working in Air shipped Mail I can say all three have varying levels of problems. It starts with USPS outsourcing movement to UPS, Fed Ex, even airlines.

To cheapen the cost, UPS then outsources the loading and unloading of containers of mail to a 3rd party company.

Even the USPS drivers are outsourced to companies such as 10roads.

Everyone shoves the shite to the next company on down the line. The humongous increase in ordering online has caused these companies to higher some POS workers. Hell, now a days most workers anywhere are sub-par.
 
All carriers have taken a hit in terms of the quality of their service. I bought an 1898 Krag Jorgensen last year and it was shipped via UPS. It arrives at the door and lo and behold, the stock had broken in 2 in the bubble wrap. Good luck trying to replace a 120 year old stock! Thankfully, I was able to return it to the seller and get a full refund. Lesson is if the packing isn't bomb proof and drop safe, the item will be destroyed in transit.
 
I can say that I have never once had an issue of any sort when shipping USPS Registered . As for USPS Priority had a couple issues but these were always rectified . I like Registered best of all because its extremely safe less expensive than Priority or Priority Express the only drawback with Registered is its a bit slower .
 
I've used USPS with tracking and insurance on all my Rifles being sent across country.
I also package them impossibly tight with bubble wrap. I've had no issues as of yet.

If something is of particular value, buy a cheap plano hardgun case and also package it well.
 
I'm glad I'm on the midwest-east coast...Ohio River valley more specific, and not having too much go through California's FedEx hubs. So much gets stolen through Bloomington, CA and Victorville, CA hubs when it comes to firearms let alone bad mishandling of packages.
 
My rifle was just shipped with FedEx. Hopefully nothing will happen, as it's only in their possession for 3 days (Wisconsin to Ohio). I wish they would have asked or just gone with usps.
 
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