[pct-l] Alcohol or Tobacco - cannot be shipped in resupply packages

[awitham at copyship.net (Andrew Witham)]

I can solve your conscience problem easily - you will have to buy your
alcohol as you go.  

There are significant restrictions on the shipping of alcohol (I assume you
are thinking of the beverage kind for consumption and won't be rubbing it on
sore feet!).  Basically, you must be a licensed as a commercial wine and
beer shipper AND have a contract with the carrier.  If you are not - you
cannot ship alcoholic beverages as gifts or for personal consumption.

Here are the UPS conditions;

"The only alcoholic beverages that UPS accepts for transportation are wine
and beer. Packages containing wine and beer are accepted for transportation
only from shippers who are licensed and authorized under applicable laws to
ship alcohol and only on a contractual basis. To receive service for
packages containing wine or beer, the shipper must sign a contract and agree
to the provisions set forth in the approved UPS agreement for the
transportation of wine or beer. All packages containing wine or beer must
have a UPS label requesting an adult signature upon delivery. It is the
responsibility of the shipper to ensure that a shipment tendered to UPS does
not violate any federal, state, provincial or local laws or regulations
applicable to the shipment. All shipments, including shipments containing
wine or beer, will be accepted for transportation only according to the
terms and conditions contained in the UPS Tariff."

Similar terms also apply to FedEx and DHL - the reason has nothing to do
with safety, it is that alcoholic beverages are a dutiable item and the
government doesn't want to miss out on it's cut.

Note that similar rules also apply to cigarettes and other tobacco products,
too.  You cannot ship these any more unless the recipient is a licensed
tobacco dealer.

Drew
CopyShip.Net

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of PCT Reader
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 10:18 AM
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] Alcohol

PCT -

I'm having a crisis of conscience : I want to use alcohol on the trail, I
want it to be easy to get with my resupply parcels, and I want not to have
to mail something that the post office says is illegal (even if it's safe).

UPS will mail alcohol, but I doubt that they'll deliver General Delivery to
a post office.

I'd rather not spend resupply days on HEET patrol : any thoughts on how this
is usually handled? I must be making this more complicated for myself than
it really has to be...

Thanks.

Yours,

Wil Van Cleve
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