Midway USA and Hazmat Drivers??

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ImjinScout85

ImjinScout85

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Hey all,

Just wondering if anybody else is having a problem with getting delivery of their hazmat orders. Back on the 26th of July I was able to grab a brick of SPP and a brick of LPP. After a couple of days I received my UPS tracking number and an expected delivery date of Friday the 30th. When I didn't get the package I checked the UPS number and it now says for an updated delivery date check back tomorrow. Well this is still going on and no end in sight. After a couple of calls direct to Midway they explain that UPS does not have enough trained drivers to handle Hazmat and are running about 2 weeks or more behind. They indicate that UPS has the package but has not scanned it in for delivery, never had this issue before. Has anyone else had a hazmat packaged delayed from Midway?
 
I received a brick of SPP from Midway. For awhile, UPS said "Hazmat Exception". Your stuff is coming, but it's hard to be patient.

When the "Hazmat" box arrived, the brick was physically against the bottom of the cardboard box, not surrounded by bubble wrap :eek:. The bubble-wrap overlay had expanded ~1.5x (I live at 5000') which turned the box into a 6-pointed sphere. Not sure that was worth the extra $30, but it was entertaining and I no longer have a SPP shortage.
 
Thanks guys, just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting the run around. Funny thing is prior to this order a few weeks before I bought some rifle primers and they were shipped without any issues,
 
It is my understanding that the average sized truck can only carry so much weight of HazMat material due to DOT regs. This from my UPS driver that was my designated daily pickup driver. They try to send out the stuff on the truck in order of receipt. Maybe they even have grades of driver amounts now.
 
Spare Parts said:
I received a brick of SPP from Midway. For awhile, UPS said "Hazmat Exception". Your stuff is coming, but it's hard to be patient.

When the "Hazmat" box arrived, the brick was physically against the bottom of the cardboard box, not surrounded by bubble wrap :eek:. The bubble-wrap overlay had expanded ~1.5x (I live at 5000') which turned the box into a 6-pointed sphere. Not sure that was worth the extra $30, but it was entertaining and I no longer have a SPP shortage.
Click to expand...
How primers are packaged nowadays, you could drop a brick of them off a building and none would likely go off. The box would probably have to catch on fire to cause a problem. The HAZMAT shipping is a money grab. You pay an extra $15-$20 for 'certified packer' to wrap it in bubble wrap. lol But, it is what it is... Price of the hobby nowadays.
 
I had the same issues with UPS. I had to wait almost two weeks after my card was charged before my package was scanned in by UPS. The Midway folks assured me that UPS had taken possession of the package and the issues were theirs. I made several calls and emails without success. Once UPS scanned the package in it moved within a few days and was delivered. It surely is a problem with the hazmat part of the package. I had non hazmat items delivered from Midway before and after this package and they were delivered within a few days. The problem is with UPS. My opinion.
 
FROGO207 said:
It is my understanding that the average sized truck can only carry so much weight of HazMat material due to DOT regs. This from my UPS driver that was my designated daily pickup driver. They try to send out the stuff on the truck in order of receipt. Maybe they even have grades of driver amounts now.
Click to expand...

There's no weight limit. There are certain things that can't be shipped together that are hazardous. Carriers like UPS, FedEx and others have to watch what's going on each trailer. Drivers have to have a special "hazmat" endorsement and there are special rules that need followed. Some trucking companies pay drivers more for having the endorsement .... UPS and FedEx don't.
Getting the endorsement is a real pain in the butt since it's issued my Homeland Insecurity now, with background checks and having to be fingerprinted.
 
Lo-Profile said:
There's no weight limit. There are certain things that can't be shipped together that are hazardous. Carriers like UPS, FedEx and others have to watch what's going on each trailer. Drivers have to have a special "hazmat" endorsement and there are special rules that need followed. Some trucking companies pay drivers more for having the endorsement .... UPS and FedEx don't.
Getting the endorsement is a real pain in the butt since it's issued my Homeland Insecurity now, with background checks and having to be fingerprinted.
Click to expand...
I was refering to the small brown trucks that deliver to each house. Thats what the long time driver told me circa 1990 that checked me for pickups every day when an expected HasMat package did not show up on 2 day delivery. Don't know what rules are for those trucks today though.
 
My company ships ~$6 mil per month with UPS and I’m having a lot of issues with them lately.

It’s not just a shortage of drivers, it’s across the board to include material handlers at their hubs. I’ve had delays in pick up, goods sent to the wrong locations (sometimes not even the right country) and product that just disappears and can’t be located.

I’ve never seen it this bad.

FedEx has been no better.
 
Nature Boy said:
FedEx has been no better.
Click to expand...

Around here, UPS is by far the best. The UPS drivers seem college educated, well spoken, nice, polite and very helpful. A lot of the FedEx guys look like they three teeth, came out of the holler somewhere, are driving a bunch of poorly organized rental trucks with no shelves and packages seemingly tossed in the back in a random manner. They are also very overloaded. I've spoken with many of them, and they are often on the road 12-14 hours a day, and are delivering up until 9pm or later at night... even on Saturdays and Sundays. The UPS guys also make a MUCH higher salary.

On the final delivery side, UPS has highly paid company drivers who are well vetted. FedEx contracts final delivery around here to the lowest bidder... so the guys dropping off packages are hired at the lowest possible salary and are working insane hours to get all of their deliveries out. Two completely different approaches.
 
ImjinScout85 said:
Hey all,

Just wondering if anybody else is having a problem with getting delivery of their hazmat orders. Back on the 26th of July I was able to grab a brick of SPP and a brick of LPP. After a couple of days I received my UPS tracking number and an expected delivery date of Friday the 30th. When I didn't get the package I checked the UPS number and it now says for an updated delivery date check back tomorrow. Well this is still going on and no end in sight. After a couple of calls direct to Midway they explain that UPS does not have enough trained drivers to handle Hazmat and are running about 2 weeks or more behind. They indicate that UPS has the package but has not scanned it in for delivery, never had this issue before. Has anyone else had a hazmat packaged delayed from Midway?
Click to expand...
 
Bottom Gun said:
UPS has been hiring new drivers here and making deliveries using rental trucks. My regular driver has been driving a Penske truck.
Click to expand...

That brings up another factor in all of this. After all the lockdowns ended the economy came roaring back. That created a surge in goods being shipped, which puts an additional strain on capacity, compounding the labor issues.

What a mess
 
My brother has been with FedEx for close to 30 years as a driver. He's currently driving 60+ hours a week, sometimes for weeks straight with no day off. He told me that what's going on is a combination of a massive spike in online orders, cost cutting, and understaffing. It's getting so bad that there is talk of walkouts amongst the drivers.

And, there's no end in sight.
 
Ordered primers Tuesday. so far I have an email from Midway that says they were shipped. And I have 4 emails from UPS, the last stating that delivery is Friday. We will see.
 
Not just Midway. The hazmat requirements are kind of stupid. The seller has to have a hazmat certified packager (who packages it the exact same way the package every other thing they sell, except for the special label). Then it has to be picked up by a hazmat certified driver from the shipping company....and every single friggin' transfer has to be to a hazmat certfified driver. Everywhere up and down the chain......there are labor shortages, and every where along the path a hazmat package may sit because of a lack of hazmat certified personnel. It'll get there eventually. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a case of primers sit at the local UPS for a week, because the regular, hazmat certified, local driver was on vacation, and his temp replacement wasn't hazmat certified. Just another sign of the sh!tshow times we live in. Everybody knows the entire hazmat program is a method of income generation by the government, and more defacto regulation to control the flow of free trade.
 
UPS Amazon contact should be running out soon. That should ease up some work load
 
ojibweindian said:
My brother has been with FedEx for close to 30 years as a driver. He's currently driving 60+ hours a week, sometimes for weeks straight with no day off...
Click to expand...

How is he able to reset his hours to comply with DOT regulations without any days off?

On another note: Yes the small parcel companies are currently slammed with business; bear in mind, MidwayUSA generates tracking numbers long before a parcel is presented for departure. It is interesting to me the bulk of delay blame here is placed on the shipping company as I suspect MidwayUSA order processing is just as overwhelmed.
 
Last edited:
ImjinScout85 said:
Hey all,

Just wondering if anybody else is having a problem with getting delivery of their hazmat orders. Back on the 26th of July I was able to grab a brick of SPP and a brick of LPP. After a couple of days I received my UPS tracking number and an expected delivery date of Friday the 30th. When I didn't get the package I checked the UPS number and it now says for an updated delivery date check back tomorrow. Well this is still going on and no end in sight. After a couple of calls direct to Midway they explain that UPS does not have enough trained drivers to handle Hazmat and are running about 2 weeks or more behind. They indicate that UPS has the package but has not scanned it in for delivery, never had this issue before. Has anyone else had a hazmat packaged delayed from Midway?
Click to expand...
FYI:
I ordered 4 Kimber 1911 magazines on 7/30 from Midway - to get the free shipping and replace some of my older mag's that aren't in usable condition - and Remington #1-1/2 SP primers on 8/2 when @Klaatu Barada Nikto posted to the forum they were in. The magazines hit my PO Box yesterday and the primers this morning. Just got the delivery confirmation about an hour ago.

Maybe it's regional?
 
Nature Boy said:
My company ships ~$6 mil per month with UPS and I’m having a lot of issues with them lately.

It’s not just a shortage of drivers, it’s across the board to include material handlers at their hubs. I’ve had delays in pick up, goods sent to the wrong locations (sometimes not even the right country) and product that just disappears and can’t be located.

I’ve never seen it this bad.

FedEx has been no better.
Click to expand...
New rounds of lockdowns are coming with COVID-19/Delta, too. That means transportation hubs, warehouses, truck stops, mandatory inspection facilities, manned weigh stations... will ALL be down and locked, unmanned, unoccupied, and abandoned. Whatever you think is bad now is about to get a whole lot worse unless the CDC is pulled back and the petite tyrants are put in their places.
 
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