[NHCOLL-L:116] re: insuring specimen shipments

[Robin Panza]

>
>From: James Cordeiro <cordeiro at amnh.org>
>
>You will find you can save your institution considerable funds on wasted
>insurance by simply sending packages registered mail.  There is no extra
>cost and packages can easily be tracked.  In addition, delivery times are
>faster because there are no delays in processing insured packages.  For
>the ultra-paranoid, send return receipt to guarantee knowledge of package
>receipt.

I beg to differ.  Registering a package slows its delivery considerably.  This
is because every person who handles the package must fill out a form stating
where and when s/he did so.  I would expect that this is true of almost any
form of package-tracing in the USPS.  

On the other hand, UPS has automatic tracking with those bar codes they put on
every package.  You can track it yourself on the web and it doesn't seem to
slow things down.  

Robin 

Robin K Panza				panzar at clpgh.org
Section of Birds, Carnegie MNH
Pittsburgh  PA  15213  USA



- My two cents....

Jay Cordeiro
American Museum of Natural History
Dept. of Invertebrates



On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Allison Anderson wrote:

> I'm wondering about other collections' policies regarding insuring shipments
> of specimens.  Here at TNHC we ship exclusively via Airborne Express; we use
> this company as opposed to FedEx, for example, only because the University
> has a contract with Airborne.  I have had no problems at all with lost or
> mis-delivered shipments.
> 
> It's preferable to hand-carry types, but sometimes shipping them is
> necessary (for example, returning items to overseas institutions).  Our
> policy is to insure all shipments, and types are insured for a higher value.
> The problem is, I have found that insured values are completely arbitrary
> from institution to institution--for example, a regular shipment may be
> insured for $0-$250, and types for $500-$700.  Why these figures?  Can you
> really stick a value on specimens?  It seems that there should be a better
> way of dealing with a lost type than handing over a check for $XXX.
> 
> I am convinced of the following: 1) couriers do not treat insured packages
> differently than non-insured ones; 2) insurance on packages is a big
> money-maker for courier companies; 3) insured packages can cause big
> headaches at Customs in any country because somebody may be charged import
> duty.
> 
> What do others think about this?
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> Allison Anderson
> Collection Manager, Texas Natural History Collection
> Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas
> PRC 176/10100 N. Burnet Rd.
> Austin, Texas 78758 USA
> aaa at mail.utexas.edu
> (512) 471-8845
> 
> 

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Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 09:53:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: James Cordeiro <cordeiro at amnh.org>
To: Allison Anderson <aaa at MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU>
CC: NHCOLL-L <NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu>
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:114] Re: insuring shipments of specimens?
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