Hazmat Delays from UPS

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akinswi

New member
Contacted Midway USA, apparently there is 3 to 4 week delay on hazmat items, aka powders and primers.

They advised they were looking into, advised its ok i already know it was more than likely due to shortage of drivers that can transport hazmat items.

Cant be too careful transporting those primers and powders . (Eyes Rolling)

Found out too today that independent truck drivers are not allowed to operate in California. What shock there. How does that state even operate is beyond me
 
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olduser

New member
Thank you for checking with Midway and letting us know what the situation is. I was about to call them too.
 
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44 AMP

Staff
One of the problems we have is that there are a LOT of things on the Hazardous Material list that aren't all that hazardous.

Nitric acid? sure. Chlorine gas? you bet!

A stable flammable solid (smokeless powder)?? one wonders why...
Primers are actually explosives, but modern gunpowder (smokeless NOT Black Powder) is a class C (fire hazard) the same as PAPER....

If ignited, both will burn quite fast and easily, other risks are pretty low.

I used to work Hazmat and chemical management and the rules are what the rules are, though some of them make less sense than others.
 
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markr6754

New member
I don't know whether my case is at all related, but I had a case of 5K Rem 7 1/2 coming via FedEx. They didn't deliver to my home...made me come in to their distribution warehouse to pick them up myself. I suppose that's alright, but as I paid delivery insurance I think they should have delivered them. I'm almost certain that pickup insurance would have been cheaper.
 
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jag2

New member
I've had two orders of primers recently get "lost" for about a week then they finally show up. From Houston to Dallas should be about two days max.
 
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Shane Tuttle

Staff
What's really a catch in my craw is primers packaged from manufacturers has to be transported under HazMat. Primed brass? OH...well, then you can ship it regular. I'm not talking about ammo...just primed brass!

I haven't bought primed brass in a while, so I don't know if that's still the case. But it's just getting ridiculous.
 
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akinswi

New member
Shane Tuttle said:
What's really a catch in my craw is primers packaged from manufacturers has to be transported under HazMat. Primed brass? OH...well, then you can ship it regular. I'm not talking about ammo...just primed brass!

I haven't bought primed brass in a while, so I don't know if that's still the case. But it's just getting ridiculous.
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Couldn’t agree more, I used to buy primed hulls from Ballistic Products cheap and no hazmat. Never Bought primed brass tho
 
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Unclenick

Staff
The primed cases keep enough space between primers that one going off accidentally won't likely set one another off, as can happen in a primer tube, or tray, or even in commercial primer packaging on occasion (somewhere we have a post of a carton of 1000 Winchester primers with a big part of it blown apart by the concatenated exploding of a bunch of them).
 
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44 AMP

Staff
Lower perceived risk, lower package and shipping requirements.

Makes sense most of the time, sometimes, you just go hmmm?? :rolleyes:

Blanks are prohibited from shipment on aircraft. Live ammo is not, though there is a quantity limit.
(as of the last time I saw the CFR regs, about a decade ago...might be different today)

What irritates me is the Hazmat CHARGE. The packaging, placarding, separation and other requirements were in place by Fed law for a long time, before some bright shipping company bean counter realized that they could charge extra to the customer for what the law required them to do anyway.
(and, get away with it....)
:mad:
 
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dwhite

New member
It all comes down to money and profit.

Doesn't really cost UPS, FedEx more to deliver supposed hazardous items. It does though add to their bottom line. More things they can get on the list, the better, for them.
 
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Unclenick

Staff
Another way to look at the primers is that a box of 1000 primed cases has a lot more volume than a box of 1000 primers, so the concentration of explosive is lower. That means that even if they did somehow go off all at once, the result would be less destructive because the gas is more spread out. I can see the issue with blanks. They use a super-fast powder that doesn't simply fizzle or pop a case like smokeless does. It could serve as a concentrated explosive.
 
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seanc

New member
I ordered a few pounds of CFE 223 from Powder Valley late last Tuesday (6/7/22) and had it delivered to me in coastal central Florida Saturday afternoon (6/11/22).

When did these delays start?
 
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ballardw

New member
UPS : The name is synonymous with "inconsistent" in my book.
I had a period where I had several packages that arrived with in a couple of weeks of each that were shipped by UPS.

One caused UPS to send a notice of "attempted delivery but address not found". Even though two other packages were delivered before and after that attempt with no problems.

None of these were big, heavy or restricted in any way: books and game parts. So why they could find my house on Monday but not Friday???

I would suspect all sorts of "local" issues and not actually UPS wide when delays occur.

Don't get me started on DHS.
 
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akinswi

New member
apparently im getting my primers delivered tomorrow so lady with midway was conservative with her 3 week reply. Which makes sense I do the same thing with my customers and shipping lead times
 
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FITASC

New member
I don't know whether my case is at all related, but I had a case of 5K Rem 7 1/2 coming via FedEx. They didn't deliver to my home...made me come in to their distribution warehouse to pick them up myself. I suppose that's alright, but as I paid delivery insurance I think they should have delivered them. I'm almost certain that pickup insurance would have been cheaper.
Click to expand...

And UPS dropped my powder off at my door with no signature (required); I saw the guy and asked him if I need to sign and he said nope, I put it in.

As to this:
Found out too today that independent truck drivers are not allowed to operate in California. What shock there. How does that state even operate is beyond me
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Not quite true; who can't operate, especially at the docks, are folks driving older trucks with non-certified clean engines.
 
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reynolds357

New member
FITASC said:
And UPS dropped my powder off at my door with no signature (required); I saw the guy and asked him if I need to sign and he said nope, I put it in.

As to this:

Not quite true; who can't operate, especially at the docks, are folks driving older trucks with non-certified clean engines.
Click to expand...
Most truckers don't want to operate in California. Too much aggravation. I don't even try to send freight into California.
 
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