Murray McMurray Hatchery works hard everyday to assure the safe arrival of your birds. The postal system is fluid, it is always changing, flights are canceled or rescheduled, truck routes change, and weather is always a factor. One of the processes we use to insure on time delivery is the Post Office Delivery Confirmation System. Each box of chicks we send out has a Delivery Confirmation Barcode. As the boxes are given to you the postal employee scans the box as delivered. We can then download these scans and produce a report that highlights areas where late deliveries are occurring. These reports are forwarded to the post office routers so that routes can be constantly improved.
After your birds are shipped, the Delivery Confirmation Number is sent to you by email or can be found by logging into your account at www.mcmurrayhatchery.com. This is not a “tracking number”; the delivery confirmation system was set up to only record when a package is delivered. Limited information is available at the USPS website www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm. Your postmaster may be able to retrieve additional information.
Recently, I was invited to give my testimony to the US Postal Regulatory Commission concerning the Post Office request to drop Saturday delivery. I was a little surprised they wanted to hear from us, as we are so small compared to large catalog companies. Most of the Commissioners were in Washington back in 2001 when we were successful in passing legislation to require airlines to carry our birds. They all remember the number of letters that were sent by you, the small flock owners all across the U.S. They were impressed how passionate you are about your birds and retaining the right to ship birds through the mail. I know this is why I was invited to testify. Thank you for you help back then and now.
I attended the Chicago meeting on June 21st, 2010. The commission’s responsibility is to seek out comments from postal customers and the public regarding this change in service. They will use this information to make a recommendation to the US Congress. If you would like to read my statement, you can download a PDF copy, click here.
Murray McMurray Hatchery will continue to work with the post office to see that your birds arrive safely.
Your Friends at Murray McMurray Hatchery.
Having worked for the post office delivering rural mail, I can tell you it is FAR better for the birds if you go to the post offfice yourselves and pick them up. You can call ahead or if you are lucky enough the post office will know you and call you. The babies can sit in their boxes for 3-4 hours before the mail carrier even starts his/ her route, and the route itself can be 4-5 hours with temperature extremes and bumps…stressful for the carrier, too, worrying about your babies!
I love it whenever I go to the post office to pick up baby birds from you. All the people working there are always so curious about where I got them, and I think I probably convince a new person to take up poultry-raising each time. The sound of the peeping coming from the box makes everyone in the place smile, even if the lines are long!
I have never lost a single bird or even received a stressed one this way. Thank you for encouraging your customers to be part of the solution!
I wanted to give a positive testimony for the post office. My chicks were scheduled to arrive on Monday, July 12. Imagine my surprise when I got a call at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night indicating my chicks had arrived at the main post office. Although they could forward them on to my post office and they would arrive as scheduled, I could also drive to the main post office which is 1/2 hour away and pick up my chicks on Saturday night! Since it has been a heatwave here in Michigan – I didn’t want to delay and jumped in my truck to pick up the chicks immediately.
The post office could have been more pleasant – commented that you must be having a sale as they had eleven customers they called about chicks coming in that night.
I ordered 56 chicks and everyone was just perfect! Now a week later – I haven’t lost one!
Thank you again to the post office!
Monica Karr