careless UPS ???

[jimmyg4life]

I'm bummin' bid on ping 36v 20ah and now the UPS traking system says "A HAZARDOUS MATERIAL IRREGULARITY HAS OCCURRED WITH THE SHIPMENT. UPS WILL CONTACT THE SHIPPER WITH FURTHER INFORMATION. / UPS WILL CONTACT THE SENDER WITH DETAILS"
Makes it sound like they droped them or something

 

[swbluto]

Hmmmm... That seems too ambiguous. Is the "irregularity" a customs irregularity? A "Oh my garsh, it's smoking!" irregularity after they dropped it? A "We might have damaged the product" irregularity?

Provide more details when you can.

 

[Johnbear]

Did you try to call them? I am curious what they have to say as well! UPS and TNT are the worst in my book for international shipping. EMS is ok.

 

[jimmyg4life]

Just got off phone with UPS and they said they don't ship batteries??? They said I could call the UPS hazmat # and that the shipper/ping has been notified. How has everyone gotten their batteries from ping so far?? She said he has a contract with UPS so I would imagine that is how

 

[marvingalaxy]

This is bad news. Some idiot is working at UPS and can't figure out that they do indeed ship batteries all the time. They ship laptops, cameras (news-style cameras and their lights have huge batteries), uninterruptible power supplies, and the list goes on. I hope this is an isolated new employee panicking and they don't cancel Ping's contract when they learn he is shipping huge packages of concentrated evil.

I am planning to order a battery from ping in the next few weeks. Please keep us updated.

 

[dogman dan]

When I got mine, Ping was using USPS so he may have to go back to that. Some idiot doesn't know the diff between a lithium and a wet cell lead. Hopefully the batt won't go all the way back to china.

 

[swbluto]

Just got off phone with UPS and they said they don't ship batteries??? They said I could call the UPS hazmat # and that the shipper/ping has been notified. How has everyone gotten their batteries from ping so far?? She said he has a contract with UPS so I would imagine that is how

I'd call them ASAP and request their manager and fully explain the situation. Hopefully a clueless employee's mistake won't delay things/increase costs(time wise and financially wise).

 

[jimmyg4life]

Well the UPS web site has some rule changes for Oct. 1st so I don't understand why they do not drive them to my house??? This is still Sept I am not sure what to do?? Ups gave me two options 1.) Drive to Louisville and pick them up @ 1,000mi round trip (don't think so) or 2.)they will destroy them :| Ping said if I have them destroyed and he gets confirmation of that he will ship another pack but I am concerned the same thing may happen.

 

[wasp]

Well the UPS web site has some rule changes for Oct. 1st so I don't understand why they do not drive them to my house??? This is still Sept I am not sure what to do?? Ups gave me two options 1.) Drive to Louisville and pick them up @ 1,000mi round trip (don't think so) or 2.)they will destroy them :| Ping said if I have them destroyed and he gets confirmation of that he will ship another pack but I am concerned the same thing may happen.

i would fire off a notice letting them know they are trying to use rules that are not in effect untill october
breach of contract..ect
really you have nothing to lose if it gets destroyed(ya right one of there employee's is pulling a fast one
and instead of being destroyed will be pocketed) ping will replace
also why can't another courier pick it up?
jmo

 

[Ypedal]

When you ship and declare the package properly, it gets thru customs just fine, but if you bend the truth a bit and it gets checked by someone who knows what they are looking at it gets flagged..

I got my PSI cells thru UPS from Taiwan, fully declared and i paid the price too when it showed up ( customs and brokerage totaled 323 $ !! on top of the 175 $ shipping fee !!)

Anyone on this forum local to the batteries ? :wink:

 

[jimmyg4life]

After the brokerage of 323 ypedal talked about I threw in the towel and ping gave my account a full refund,this really sucks as you can imagine I was dreaming of these bad ass batts and now I am screwed. Guess I'll have to stick to SLA's How does lifebatt get theirs shipped by UPS?? And are they to be effected come Oct 1st?

 

[swbluto]

A change in contract for October yet you're liable for something as of September? Package is threatened to be destroyed if you don't pick it up?

This isn't making sense. Is this some surreal UPS office?

Personally, I'd have another courier pick it up. If you have family/friends close to the area, send a signed affidavit and have them pick it up and ship it to you for the last leg of the journey if UPS is really being this ridiculous.

 

[RLT]

I wish I had something useful to add to this thread, but lacking that, all I can say is: " Geeze, that sucks."

I've imported over 450 raw LiIons, and LiFes, (and a few LiPos here and there) form China in about six different shipments, the three biggest shipments were via UPS with no hassles at all, and amazing speed.

Glad I got my batch of Headways already, Or I'd be pulling my hair out about now.

 

[RLT]

I just went to the UPS site. There is a link right on the main page that goes to the new Lithium battery rules:

Lithium Battery Regulation Change
Service Update

Effective October 1, 2008, medium lithium batteries become fully regulated for air shipment in the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Hazardous Materials Regulations. Lithium batteries are considered a hazardous material because they can overheat and ignite in certain conditions and, once ignited, can be especially difficult to extinguish.

The new regulation will require packages containing medium lithium batteries, and offered for air transport, to be properly packaged, marked, and labeled as Hazardous Materials and accompanied by shipping papers. Otherwise, the shipment may be delayed, or significant U.S. DOT fines could apply. U.S. DOT has the ability to issue fines and penalties as high as $50,000 per violation for non-compliance.

Common examples of medium lithium batteries include:

* Power supplies for high-intensity, long-life portable lighting, such as diving lamps
* Some extended-life batteries for laptops
* Larger batteries for high-level video cameras (used by film and news crews)
* Long-life communications power supplies


These changes apply to shipments of loose medium lithium batteries as well as medium batteries contained inside of equipment, or packed with equipment.

Beginning October 1, 2008:

* Air shipments of medium lithium batteries must display the "Cargo Aircraft Only" label if the package exceeds 5 kg (11 pounds). UPS accepts hazardous materials only from shippers with a contract or agreement for such service.

* Ground shipments of medium lithium batteries must be marked as follows:

o "LITHIUM BATTERIES - FORBIDDEN FOR TRANSPORT ABOARD AIRCRAFT AND VESSEL."

o Text size for the above marking depends on the size of the package:
+ Gross weight of 30 kg (66 LB) or less - letters at least 6 mm (0.25 inch) high
+ Gross weight over 30 kg (66 LB) - letters at least 12 mm (0.5 inch) high

o If there are more than 12 batteries in a package, DOT requires an additional damage warning both on the package and in an accompanying document that would be affixed to the package in a resealable envelope. The DOT-required warning and document both advise handlers that the package contains lithium batteries and that certain safety measures are required if it is damaged.


For full information about these changes, shippers should review the applicable U.S. DOT Final Rule. Shippers may also contact the U.S. DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's Hazmat Info-Line at 1-800-467-4922.
View Packaging Guidelines for Batteries

Well, this does indeed suck.

Someone needs to educate these people about LiFe.
Them banning LiCos and maybe even 'old school' LiPos, might be sort of reasonable; but once again bureaucrats with no real understanding of sciience or engineering have over-reacted because of a few rare and minor problems.

 

[marvingalaxy]

The whole planet is going to switch to LiFePO4 packs in the next few years and we will have this stupid legislation for eternity. At least there are some provisions as it states "Air shipments of medium lithium batteries must display the "Cargo Aircraft Only" label if the package exceeds 5 kg (11 pounds). UPS accepts hazardous materials only from shippers with a contract or agreement for such service." I can understand that they don't want big batteries randomly loaded on passenger aircraft.

Presumably, Ping can contact UPS to get the appropriate service and maybe even get them to realize that his batteries are not the ones in question so they can follow the rules without worrying about damaging their aircraft.

 

[Lessss]

Ah thank you secret hand of big oil. This is just another nail big oil is trying to drive into the coffin of electric vehicles. They own the patents to large scale NiMH and won't let anyone manufacture them, and now they are using their lobby money to get "plausible" legislation to cut off easy air access to Lithium.

It is getting very close to the time for ordinary people to go visit washington en mass with not nice intent and wearing tshirts for bared arms.
What I'm going to do on Monday is call up every shipping company I can find and ask them if they ship laptops, digital cameras, electric bikes etc.. and when they yes(on some items) I'll tell them they are't allowed to anymore... see new legislation. I suggest everyone else do the same.