Cold Weather Trading / Winter Shipping Thread

Even in nice weather, I only ship out on Monday or Tuesday. I am just not comfortable with the possibility of the beer sitting in a warehouse or on a truck in a lot until Monday. Bitter cold and snow only makes the potential for damage worse.

 

So I live in Chicago and am looking to do a few trades but am worried about the deliveries getting frozen. I live in a greystone and was planning on having UPS leave the delivery in our vestibule. Any thoughts?

 

I'm in Northeast Pa and I've got a couple of trades on hold right now due to the cold weather. I didn't want to risk it especially when they are higher end brews. Although mine would only be left on the outside porch, I was also worried about packages possibly sitting overnight on trucks and such but not sure exactly how that works. Whatever you decide best of luck...would hate to hear about a beer tragedy!

 

I'm in MN and having a similar issue - one of my trade partners is waiting until warmer weather with a beer that will age just fine during that time, but I've got someone sending me some pliny and we're trying to time it so it arrives on a day my wife has off from work. Maybe you can have someone keep an eye out for you or have it delivered to a friends place?

 

Ship FedEx and choose hold at FedEx location option. There is no extra charge for this service. Cannot have freezing weather get in the way of beer drinking enjoyment.

 

My situation was that my fed-ex location is a 'fedex shipping center' inside an Office Max - they wouldn't hold my package for me.

 

I have been handed a box of beer from the Fed Ex driver that had frozen bottles in it, so even if the person is going to be home, or the beer is just going to sit on their porch for an hour, I would highly, highly recommend holding off shipping until the high temps in the Midwest get above freezing again.

My wife works in the medical field and her company ships medical supplies including some liquids. UPS and Fedex both issued freeze warnings for liquids this week, even for business-to-business shipments.

Not worth risking. Next week should be better.

 

The shipper can choose another FedEx location near you, not just the closest. In NYC, you cannot throw a rock in any direction without hitting another FedEx shipment center. Not sure it applies in Minnesota. Wonder how much colder you are than us. Today warmed up to melt a lttle snow (40). Tomorrow 20 and 10 at night. Anyway, hope this helps.

 

It looks like it should be warming up by the end of next week, which would be about the time it should get there.. I will keep an eye on the weather and make sure not to send in extreme cold

 

It would help if I were in a more urban area :/ thanks for the advice but I think the nearest fedex to me is about an hour drive. Maybe that's not so bad for Pliny And no, we just entered another Hellish cold snap. I got a reading of -18 on my drive to work this morning, and that's before wind-chill

 

You continue to be the man.

 

Curious on thoughts when you have a trade setup and are ready to ship but the weather doesn't look good at the recipients location. You mention it and they still want you to send out the box. Who's responsible at that point if the beers freeze or something happens to the box? What if you don't mention it and just ship the box and something happens?

This hasn't happened to me but with the cold weather this year I'm sure it has happened.

 

https://www.google.com/#q=10+day+forecast+boston

I'm shipping 2 boxes via FedEx - 1 to Arizona and 1 to Florida...given this forecast, do you think it's ok to send them today/tomorrow or should I wait it out???

 

I would wait until Monday. I have 2 boxes going out but I am waiting for this to pass. It's not worth the worry of something happening if they sit over the weekend. Just let who you're trading with know, I'm sure they will understand.

 

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/2014/02/bright_and_beautiful_today_win.html

looking at this article written today you are probably right. Looks like we're getting more snow tomorrow :/

 

If you mention you want to wait and they say ship it anyway, I don't get how it can be your fault. It's pretty commonly known that beers can leak/break from freezing.

If there is no discussion about weather I guess it's up for debate. Personally, if I knew the box coming to me was going to be shipped in a cold front that I would ask to hold off on shipping. I feel it's my responsibility to make sure my beers will get here safely. Just my .02

 

You should always have a discussion with your trading partner as soon as one of you is concerned about the cold weather impacting the shipment. Whoever makes the call to ship despite of the potential risks, that person is responsible.

 

Ultimately, it's the shipper's responsibility to get the box to the other trader intact.

If I had a trader say "Hey, it's -15, so what, I need that box!" I'd seriously reconsider the trade, because if someone is that dumb, to want to send liquid through the organ grinder, what else might they do?

I can see how it might be a gray area, but it seems better to just keep it simple. It should be the shipper's responsibility until it lands intact on my doorstep.

 

I’m assuming I’m the other end of this trade? If so, no worries, I figured you asked previously just in case something froze or broke due to the cold along the way. Thanks for checking first instead of assuming; this time of year it’s tough to gauge when to ship since the weather and temperature changes so frequently. I knew that I’d be assuming responsibility if you left it up to me, but that’s fine.

 

Never send boxes that might sit in sub-freezing temps in the winter. Always ship on a Monday unless you know - know - it's going to be sitting someplace safe & warm on Saturday/Sunday.