NEED HELP: SHIPPING ADVICE

[Corals Anonymous]

Hey everyone, I just started shipping corals, so I’m in the process of fine tuning all the details when it comes to shipping.

Here’s the story...

It was my first time shipping to Arizona
Priority over-night of course.
I used a U-line insulated styrofoam box.
A heat pack, because I heard always use one because of the plane.
I had the torch hanging steady on a piece of styrofoam in a plastic jar.
When the torch got to the guys house, the water was cloudy, and the torch was in really bad shape.
Now, I’m guessing, it’s because it was 114 degrees in Arizona and I used a heat pack and cooked the torch.

Can you guys give me your gold standard approach of knowing when to use a cold pack, heat pack, or no pack at all? Any advice from experienced shippers and receivers on shipping methods with the highest survivability rate?

 

[r20crazy]

check the weather where u are shipping to prior to shipping... keep cold or heat pack from directly contacting coral container... you just want the foam container to stay cool or hot... watch for possible bad weather (storms/heatwaves/etc) , never ship friday-sunday for overnite.. dropoff LATEST TIME POSSIBLE FOR OVERNITE SHIPPING... aka... if you call your local dropoff and they say overnite pickup time is 6pm... dropoff at 530pm. Overnite pickup time is different for east and west coasts. You want least time in bag/box for highest survival rate. unless its snowing outside... usually want a cold pack... and u want the chemical reaction kind of cold/heat packs. not like frozen gel ice packs, they get to cold