Re: Hazmat rant...
Unknown:
Just a guess... but UPS, Fedex, etc. are in the profit business... And to make a profit, they also have to price competitively, not simply charge more.
I'd bet that the hazmat fee comes from requirements for interstate shipping; using over-the-road trucking; paperwork for 'explosives'; having to mark trucks that carry primers; special forms on the BoL and that have to follow the shipment; and myriad other regulations that the shipper has to comply with. There may not be 'charged' tax per-se, but the regulations would require the shipper to do so much onorous extra work and paperwork and tracking that the fee was necessary to send those types of packages at a profit.
If one wanted to hit shooters in the pocketbook and continue the Chinese Water Torture of regulation and cost-increase aimed at eroding use and enjoyment of firearms... those regulations would be designed to add to the cost and hassle of anything that goes boom.
Best case for the regulators, if what I am describing is their goal, is to ultimately make things SO difficult for the shippers that they just say 'primers aren't worth the hassle.' "Powder isn't worth the hassle." "Ammo isn't worth the hassle." "Shipping firearms to stores or legal buyers isn't..." You get the idea.
Left up to themselves, maybe a fee could be assessed by a private entity like UPS or Fedex. But more likely as soon as they did that, they would find themselves price-uncompetitive vs. a shipper who said "no fee" and got all the business.
IMHO... There is no greedy company here. And if my guesses are correct, we should all be thanking UPS for not dropping shipments of weapons, primers, powder, etc.
Of course, I may be all wrong here..
Cheers,
Sirhr