UPS driver's advice on shipping firearms

[docnyt]

My tapatalk search didn't produce a similar thread so hopefully this is not a repost. If it is, mods feel free to delete.

Found this article on a UPS driver's suggestions when shipping firearms from Western Shooting Journal. Some of it is common sense and some I had not thought of.

http://westernshootingjournal.com/editors-blog/a-ups-drivers-suggestions-for-shipping-firearms/

As a gun owner and an 11-year UPS driver, I get a lot of questions from people regarding the safest way to ship and insure firearms through UPS. Theft of firearms and other items by UPS employees...

 

[Ryanxia]

Interesting..

The TLDR version: pack handguns in oversized boxes to avoid thieves swiping the package at UPS, put a barcode label on all six sides of your box, and according to him it is law that an 'adult signature required' sticker be on package which is highly noticeable, but they make more discreet ones.

 

[Ranger Roberts]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it!

 

[hedrok]

Thank you for some great info. Really helpful.
The "prevention" is a whole bunch easier than "the cure."

 

[22-rimfire]

That was an interesting article. Of course the size of the package affects the shipping cost. But on high value items, it is small in comparison to the parcel value.

 

[yzguy87]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[rav373]

did u guys catch the visual presentation of this?
think someone had mentioned that they had put their gun in an amway box or some other company that u would not suspect anything of importance in the package.

 

[Gato Montés]

Great! Now if I could only get the goon who works the counter at the local UPS hub to understand this we'd be all set!





still mad

 

[Beentown]

Thanks for the article.

On a side note I was surprised when shipping ammo. I stopped by a UPS store and they said they are not allowed to ship ammo. You have to go to a hub. Well, I went to FedEx right down the street.

 

[rav373]

oh hey, looks like they added another article on theft proofing your gun package. it talks about if the ups guy says that he delivered it & someone signed for it.
real owner of the package says, they never received it. what to do.
UPS firearms shipping part 2

 

[gym]

I am Leary about shipping guns at all any more. There are too many hands they go through, and easily misplaced. It appears that a lot of gun related stuff is going missing on route to dealers and private sales. I don't send stuff through the mail unless I absolutely have to.
I have actually sold guns, "inexpensive" guns, like LC9's and Shields, rather than send them back for months of waiting and hoping you get your gun back and get the problem corrected, of it goes back for another 2 month trip.
To me it's just not worth doing, unless it's a gun that is really close to your heart, or over a thousand bucks. I prefer to lose a hundred dollars, and chalk it up to a mistake. I won't sell an unsafe gun of a broken gun, but if it just doesn't shoot right, or the trigger is bad or it stovepipes occasionally, I will make the buyer aware of it and take the loss.
I had a shield like that recently, that occasionally dropped the mag on the extended mag only. I could not replicate it on cue, it sometimes fired a whole box without doing it, and other times did it every other mag. I just decided that this was unacceptable, and sold it, after telling the guy my problem, he claimed to be able to fix it himself, so off it went.
Life is too short without worrying about such things, by the time I figure the cost of packing and shipping the gun, and the inconvenience of waiting until it "may" get fixed, it's not even financially wise to send it back. Now if it was a 1911 that I loved, that would be a different story, insure it and prey.
I also won't buy a gun I can't see first, unless it's taking the word of a guy who is as anal as I am. People consider rusty chipped guns in 95% excellent condition, maybe they are that unobservant of perhaps they are "full of beans", but I need to see it, and hold it first. That's just the way I am, Some folks don't even see imperfections, that's; why their cars and cloths look the what they do, it carries over to everything.
I don't want a rusty pitted gun, that I paid good money for, so I just avoid doing such purchases.

 

[WardenWolf]

Someone at UPS deliberately damaged my shotgun's Poly-Choke 2. Mine's the version with the vented rib. It was repeatedly slammed end-on on a hard corner such that it actually dented all three sections of the rib. It's the type of damage that is absolutely impossible to do by accident. It would have to be rotated and slammed again in order to get all three angles.

They also damaged my Mosin's stock. My other firearms were shipped in soft padded cases inside the boxes they were in. They came through fine, though they damaged one of the zippers on one of my cases.

 

[GBExpat]

Thanks for sharing the Links, docnyt & rav373!

People consider rusty chipped guns in 95% excellent condition

Such people are liars, plain and simple, not "unobservant" or with lower expectational standards ... liars.

That said ...

I will buy without actually handling the firearm. What I will not do is accept percentiles and/or descriptive summary terms like "Excellent".

For example(s) I want to know if the bore is mirror-bright or bright & frosted or dark & corroded, etc ... not "excellent" or "looks good" or "excellent with some cosmoline in the grooves" or "excellent but just needs a good cleaning".

What I require is clear, well-lit/-focused digiphotos and a detailed description of the piece with emphasis on those areas/aspects not clearly shown in the digiphotos. I also ask questions of the Seller. If I receive any evasive or non-response responses I move along.

 

[BSA1]

The article by "UPS Driver" sounds like it was written by a P.R. person rather than a actual driver.

1st the "driver" states that "It’s unfortunate that a few of the 16 million pieces a day that we ship are in danger of being stolen." If that is the case why does UPS charge extremely high shipping fee for firearms? The reality is UPS has decided it is easier to overcharge the customer and require overnight delivery than to track down and fire dishonest employees.

2nd the driver fails to mention that the shipper should never list the business name on the shipping label. I use the business owner (or name on the FFL). If I recall correctly Smith and Wesson had me list the addressee as SWREP on a gun I sent back last year.

3rd I double box everything. With handguns this is easy. Pack gun well in small box then pack the small box in a larger box with lots of packing material around it. For long guns I have even made custom packing box from cardboard. I like to use styrofoam for packing material as it can handle a lot of damage.

4th I'm not to sure about the "over-labeling" idea. This to me seems to be an alert the contents are valuable. What is to keep the thief from simply putting the package inside another box and slapping a new shipping label on it?

I have too many years in loss-prevention to underestimate how easy it is too steal from a company, especially in the case of UPS that has made the decision that a certain amount of losses due to theft is more acceptable than tracking down the dishonest employees.

 

[herkyguy]

not UPS, but the one package the USPS lost of mine was a slide for an XDm. just saying.....

 

[docnyt]

BSA1, you do raise excellent points. I cannot verify whether the original author of the article is truly a UPS driver as claimed. It looks like it was submitted by a contributor. There is no contact information given by the author although I did try before posting this thread.

Using a person's name instead of the FFL business name, especially if there are any firearm related words is good practice. This was actually advised by SIG Sauer when I sent a couple of 220s for service.

Now if a UPS employee is truly dead set on stealing a package, besides the measures in place employed by UPS, there is not a whole lot the sender can do. As the saying goes, if there's a will, there's a way. Putting a small box in a larger box to steal requires some forethought and available boxes (which I'm sure they don't lack), but hopefully this is something easier to catch on surveillance video compared to simply pocketing a small box. I wonder if this is the reason UPS delivery guys wear shorts instead of long pants.

Anyway, I'm glad some found the ideas useful. Loss prevention is not a perfect science. If it is, there would be no reason for its existence.

 

[rhinoh]

I just shipped via Fedex a brand new S&W 629 .44mag back to S&W yesterday. I dropped it off at the Fedex hub here, wasn't about to just hand it to a driver and not get a written receipt.
S&W instructions said I MUST inform the person accepting the package that it is a firearm...when I mentioned to the lady I was supposed to inform her what was in the box, she said she already knew!
Kind of wonder about that, maybe she recognized the address or

 

[Tom K]

UPS and FedEx mandate overnight shipping for handguns to ensure a higher level of tracking, and mitigate loss due to theft. Seems to me that since it's primarily their employees that are doing the stealing, that an honorable company would provide the higher level of service at standard cost. Instead, they (the companies) steal from us the customers a bit at a time by charging extra for what should be provided in the first place.

 

[NormB]

Thanks for the article.

On a side note I was surprised when shipping ammo. I stopped by a UPS store and they said they are not allowed to ship ammo. You have to go to a hub. Well, I went to FedEx right down the street.

I have a FEDEX account. I spoke with the local FEDEX office and he told me he could take ORM-D small arms ammunition packages at his counter. I shipped some ammo last week and on the online shipping program when I identified the package as containing "ORM-D" I was REQUIRED to schedule a pickup. I called FEDEX and was told the online program was right, the local counter guy was wrong.

No, I didn't go into the online FEDEX rules and regulations. But I don't think it cost me more than a couple bucks for pickup (the bill isn't broken down that way), probably no more than the gas and time it would take me to drive down to the FEDEX office myself.

YMMV.

 

[dogtown tom]

Good grief.
From reading some of these posts, one would get the idea that employee theft of firearms is rife within UPS/FedEx/USPS...........and that is utter nonsense. As is the postulation that UPS requires Next Day because they can't stop employee theft......a thief isn't deterred because a box is shipped Next Day vs one shipped Ground, and may actually realize the Next Day box is more valuable.

Ask any UPS employee about the security around their facilities.....they don't just walk out with boxes in their hands, even small ones.

While the "advice" given by the "UPS driver" isn't bad, it certainly isn't completely accurate and in a couple of places he's terribly misinformed (re: the adult signature being required by law, it IS NOT)

At any one time there are THOUSANDS of firearms being shipped through UPS every day. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess what is inside a 4ft tall box addressed to Bob's Tactical Weaponry.

Packages that "go missing" are almost always the fault of the shipper who didn't get the address right. Not to mention the Einsteins who ship a gun with a giant REMINGTON emblazoned on the side of the box......thats not just stupid, but real stupid. (and happens nearly every week)

Oh.......and drivers who leave guns sitting on the dealers doorstep? Odds are high that the sender failed to ship with insurance or signature on delivery......meaning the driver didn't screw up, the sender did.

 

[BSA1]

Most new hire employees are not dishonest and want to do a good job. After they are hired they learn from fellow co-workers how the job is really done and how to get away with stealing from the company.

What UPS management has done has decided it is too expensive and time consuming to try to change this culture.

True story. I was expecting a firearm once. After the UPS truck went by my house without stopping I checked the tracking number which showed it had been delivered!!! I immediately called UPS and complained. Few hours later I had my package. The drivers excuse was he delivered it to the wrong address. Bull! I live in the country. He intended to steal it but got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

 

[7.62 Solution]

Reading these posts and the linked article reminded me of when I needed to ship an almost brand new rifle back to the manufacturer for some warranty work. I sent it FedEx signature required and all went fine. As timing would have it we where on vacation the week the rifle was returned. On the drive home I was wondering when I would see my firearm again and to my shock I saw the box leaned against the garage door. (I had no idea it had been sent back).

All turned out ok but I cringe when I wonder ho many days it sat out there.

 

[steelerdude99]

UPS and FedEx mandate overnight shipping for handguns to ensure a higher level of tracking, and mitigate loss due to theft. Seems to me that since it's primarily their employees that are doing the stealing, that an honorable company would provide the higher level of service at standard cost. Instead, they (the companies) steal from us the customers a bit at a time by charging extra for what should be provided in the first place.

Tom K,
That is my take on it too… If the shipper be it UPS, FedEx or USPS has a package handler security problem, they need to take the problem more seriously. That bogus label trick seems innovative, but I doubt a thief working at a shipper company can last forever without getting caught.

chuck

 

[gym]

Yes that's quite common, they left a Springfield xd outside my gate, "which was open" to the courtyard of my house in Broward. Anyone could have picked it up, Same with a $600.radar detector I had from passport several yrs. ago, and the best was a computer monitor that I insured, and they argued back and forth for 4 months until they finally paid the correct price. I had a top brand, and they wanted to reimburse me for the price of the cheapest one made. I would assume they would try that with guns although it was insured for the price "I" paid for it, not "what they thought it was worth, I never "got" that part.

 

[rhinoh]

Fedex apparently does NOT mandate overnight shipping of firearms.
The box I sent yesterday to S&W on their dime was 2 day.