How to SHIP a drone?

[KiterTodd]

I have to ship my Mavic Pro. I have the original box that the drone and my FlyMore combo came in, with the original DJI battery warning stickers attached.

I believe I can ship it Ground.

Is there a preference between UPS, FedEx and USPS with regards to how much of hassle it is?
Is it sufficient to just note that there are batteries in the box (1 installed, 2 spares) or do you have to provide support documentation?

Thank you!

(I did a search for this prior to posting, nothing came up, although I'm sure I'm not the first to ask this)

 

[msinger]

My local FedEx store always asks a lot of questions when I ship drones with batteries. I usually have the battery specs ready to show on my phone just in case the employee of the day is very inquisitive. My local UPS store always takes the packages without asking any questions. Your mileage may vary.

 

[KiterTodd]

My local FedEx store always asks a lot of questions when I ship drones with batteries. I usually have the battery specs ready to show on my phone just in case the employee of the day is very inquisitive. My local UPS store always takes the packages without asking any questions. Your mileage may vary.

Thank you.

Do you leave the battery stickers on the boxes and note on a form that batteries are included? Or just answer “yes” when asked?

 

[msinger]

Do you leave the battery stickers on the boxes and note on a form that batteries are included? Or just answer “yes” when asked?

You should follow the instructions on the shipper's website. For example, here's how to ship them via FedEx:

Guide to Shipping Lithium Batteries

 

[KiterTodd]

You should follow the instructions on the shipper's website. For example, here's how to ship them via FedEx:

Guide to Shipping Lithium Batteries

Okay, thanks.
I did see the guidelines online, but it sounds like, in practice, they are not all as stringent. Which is what I was looking for... which shipper is less of a hassle.

For the only vote received (yours) it sounds like the UPS store. I'll start there.

 

[Tree_Top_Flyer]

You should leave the Lithium Ion Battery Stickers on the boxes.

Lithium Ion Batteries are considered a type of hazardous material and have been the cause of inflight fires on aircraft.

By leaving the Lithium Ion Battery Stickers on the box, the shipment won't be rerouted on an aircraft. It happens sometimes even if you didn't pay for shipment by air.

 

[neggy]

A Lithium Ion battery can NOT be shipped s cargo on a passenger plane

Every carrier I know will not take them as air cargo as the batteries do not like cold, and it can get cold in the cargo bay of any plane... When they get cold they will catch fire.

Get caught not disclosing that there are Lithium Ion batteries in a package, and it gets on plane, and something goes wrong or they are discovered, the Feds WILL prosecute and with a vengence

 

[KiterTodd]

A Lithium Ion battery can NOT be shipped s cargo on a passenger plane

Every carrier I know will not take them as air cargo as the batteries do not like cold, and it can get cold in the cargo bay of any plane... When they get cold they will catch fire.

Get caught not disclosing that there are Lithium Ion batteries in a package, and it gets on plane, and something goes wrong or they are discovered, the Feds WILL prosecute and with a vengence

Understood. I stated GROUND in my initial post.

I'm always surprised when I receive products with Li-Ion via air freight, but I suspect the manufacturers figure out the best way to navigate that and the shippers are open to it because it's a lot of business.