Ian
Large carrier companies are
superheroes. The vast and intricate geographical maps they have to be
versed with, maintain fulfilment services, tie up with local postal
service providers, maintain a robust website for millions of
customers and businesses to track their packages, and as if all that
wasn’t enough, they are also somewhere along the line expected to
know what’s in the box.
Curiosity killed the cat, yes. But here
it is a whole other point. Here, the carrier companies are impromptu
asked to find out the contents of a package.
Last year, FedEx was indicted for
transporting shipment that contained drugs not allowed to be sold
without a permit. People made light of the incident by remarking that
the DEA was quite literally blaming the messenger.
Apparently, DEA, FDA, and members of
Congress and their staff had repeatedly informed FedEx of illegal
internet pharmacies that used legitimate carrier companies like FedEx
and UPS to distribute controlled substances and prescription drugs,
which were in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and
Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
Patrick Fitzgerarld, Senior Vice
President of Marketing and Communication in FedEx said, “We have
repeatedly requested that the government provide us a list of online
pharmacies engaging in illegal activity. Whenever DEA provides us a
list of pharmacies engaging in illegal activity, we will turn off
shipping for those companies immediately. So far the government has
declined to provide such a list.“
Further, FedEx vented out that it was a
transportation company and not some law enforcement agency.
Drugs might be one reason that is
making major mainstream carriers anxious of who they are dealing
with. Another concern being – the care and preparations necessary to
make sure that extremely sensitive instruments and perishables are
intact and not affected during transit.
One customer was heart-broken to find
her art photo strongly stuffed into her small mailbox. The box did
have instructions like ‘Do Not Bend’, but the delivery person seemed
to have ignored it.
The customer knew that the shipper
wasn’t to be blamed. It was the delivery department. And as we
understand, the delivery team will be able to do nothing in the
absence of an insurance for the shipment (usually undertaken by the
shipper/e-commerce retailer).
It is almost impractical for carrier
companies to x-ray packages on a regular basis. They are specialists
in delivering. Not in assessing the genre of goods they are allowed
to transport, unless it is easy to take a verdict on products like
guns or hardcore drugs – that can be easily identified and
reported.
That said, it doesn’t exactly bail the
carrier companies from doing their routine random checks to know
what’s in the box, because after all it is a prerequisite that is
asked of them. As Sharon L. McCarthy, defence attorney at Kostelanetz
& Fink, LLP, says, “A shipping company must cover all its
bases, especially after it’s been notified by the government of
potential illicit activities. In the current environment, where lots
of corporations and institutions are being criminally charged. It’s
important to respond and to be transparent.”
Image:Internet
