Baby chicks arrive dead as Maine farmers wonder why formerly reliable USPS shipments aren't working

[Wicked Blue]

Raw Story
August 19, 2020
By Sarah K. Burris

"The past several weeks have brought stories of seniors and veterans not getting their prescriptions because of the U.S. Postal Service’s slowdown by the Trump administration. Small businesses are now suffering as shipments are delayed and now farmers are facing problems.

The Portland Press Herald reported Wednesday that a Maine farmer went to the post office to pick up 800 baby chicks that he had ordered for his family farm, Pine Tree Poultry. They’ve been processing cage-free chicken meat for years, and for the first time, the baby chicks were all dead.

“We’ve never had a problem like this before,” said Pauline Henderson. This isn’t her first order, but it’s certainly the first to end like this. “Usually they arrive every three weeks like clockwork. And out of 100 birds, you may have one or two that die in shipping.”
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She isn’t the only one with the problem, either; any birds that went through the Postal Service’s processing center in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, died, impacting farms in Maine and New Hampshire."


https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/baby-chicks-arrive-as-maine-farmers-wonder-why-formerly-reliable-usps-shipments-arent-working/


Thank you, Susan Collins.

[malaise]

1. Get thee to the greatest page

Expose Susan Collins

[questionseverything]

11. it is like trump won't be happy until he has destroyed the entire food chain

I called my worthless congresscritter Rodney Davis office today...asked him what in the world he is thinking by destroying the post office and mail delivery...explained (on the answering machine) that people with businesses (people who actually work) rely on the post office to deliver mail in a timely manner...many legal documents that construction requires can't be "downloaded" or e-mailed, they have to be physical paper


I was so angry and that was before I knew they are murdering chicks

[malaise]

13. And not just the food chain

This monster went after Good Year today.

[hlthe2b]

2. This breaks my heart.

[SheltieLover]

5. Me too!

[cayugafalls]

3. I wonder if DeJoy shut down the live animal special handling procedures.

There used to be a special handling of live animals by the USPS in order to expedite the delivery of live chicks and other live animals.

Now there are reports of that system failing all over the US, this can't be just part of the dismantling of sorting machines or lack of overtime, it has to go deeper into removing the special handling of live animals.

DeJoy is now destroying businesses that have relied on this method for DECADES, to get stock.

I hope he burns in hell for his crimes against the USPS and our country.

[Wicked Blue]

4. I think the farmers should ship the dead chicks straight to DeJoy

C.O.D.

[cayugafalls]

6. That is a great idea, I think they should ship some to the House for Monday's hearing.

A few boxes of smelly poultry would be a nice piece of evidence.

[SheltieLover]

7. Good idea!

👍

[cayugafalls]

8. To be clear, hatcheries have been doing this for decades. They know their routes.

And only ship to customers that can get the live animals in time, <= 3 days. This has been worked out over decades of dealing with the USPS. There is a statute on this at the USPS that has been followed all this time. According to 526.33 below, the USPS will be responsible for the deaths of these chicks, if they can prove that they followed all the proper procedures. I can guarantee that they did follow the procedures as this has been going on for decades now.

526.3 Live, Day–Old Poultry
526.31 General
The following live, day–old animals are acceptable for mailing when properly packaged: chickens, ducks, emus, geese, guinea birds, partridges, pheasants (only during April through August), quail, and turkeys. All other types of live, day–old poultry are nonmailable. Day–old poultry vaccinated with Newcastle disease (live virus) also is nonmailable.

526.32 Mailability Requirements
The specific types of day-old poultry named in 526.31 are mailable subject to the following requirements:

Poultry that is not more than 24 hours old and is presented for mailing in the original, unopened hatchery box from the hatchery of origin.
The date and hour of hatching is noted on the box by a representative of the hatchery who has personal knowledge thereof. (For Collect on Delivery (COD) shipments made by a hatchery for the account of others, the name or initials and address of the hatchery or the Post Office box number and address of the hatchery must be prominently shown for this standard.)
Box is properly ventilated, of proper construction and strength to bear safe transport in the mail, and is not stacked more than 10 units high.
Day–old poultry is mailed early enough in the week to avoid receipt at the office of address (in case of missed connections) on a Sunday, a national holiday, or the afternoon before a Sunday or national holiday.
Day–old poultry can be delivered to the addressee within 72 hours of the time of hatching.
Day-old poultry sent via surface transportation, must include special handling service fees, in addition to regular postage.
Day-old poultry sent via air transportation must meet all provisions of the airlines. Delivery of the mailpiece is dependent on the availability of air carriers having available equipment to safely deliver the day–old poultry within the specified time limit.
Day–old poultry that is first shipped via a commercial air express or air cargo service and then presented for mailing to a final destination must be in good condition and properly packaged as specified in 526.32a-e.
Boxes of day–old poultry of about identical size, securely fastened together to prevent separation in transit, may be accepted for mailing as a single parcel, provided the total length and girth combined does not exceed Postal Service limits.
See Exhibit 526.33, Requirements for Mailing Live, Day–Old Poultry. See Chapter 7 regarding domestic mail shipments sent via air transportation.

526.33 Claims for Live, Day–Old Poultry
Indemnity claims (see DMM 609) for damage, partial loss, and loss of insured shipments of mailable, live, day–old poultry are accepted only in the following situations:

Death of the live, day–old poultry resulted from Postal Service handling after conditions for mailability were met and when there was strong likelihood that the shipment could have been safely transported.
Contents were lost because of damage to the container while in Postal Service custody.
The complete package was lost in the mail.
Special handling was purchased as required under 526.32f.

[soothsayer]

12. Bees, too

[malaise]

16. Do you think DeJoy has ever read that?

He's there to feather his nest

[cayugafalls]

18. I think DeJoy reads nothing but financial statements.

He is purely a businessman and not a service oriented person.

That is why he can't fathom what the USPS is and why it is so important to our country.

[Hoyt]

9. Seems simple to prove. Postmark compared to arrival. I doubt sorting

machines had anytime to do with it unless they are running baby chicks through flat mail machines.

[ck4829]

10. K&R

[MiniMe]

14. I ordered a prescription yesterday to be mailed to me

They told me it could be up to 12 days, but it showed up today. I figure I was lucky this time, not sure it would happen like that again.

[Hoyt]

19. Haven't been receiving stuff that fast, but no complaints.

[oasis]

15. GOP overplayed their hand on torpedoing our USPS. Bigtime. nt

[Blue Owl]

17. Susan Collins: Baby Chick Exterminator

n/t