[NTLK] Followup on international eMate shipment

[NewtonTalk]

> I think the problem may be that you are trying to MAIL the item as opposed
to SHIPPING the item.
> Sending corrosives (batteries fall under this description) may NOT be sent
through International
> Mail, ie, from the Bundepost to the US Postal Service or vice versa.
However, a shipping company
> like DHL, UPS, FedEx, etc. apparently CAN transport batteries via air.

If I understand http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c3_026.htm correctly,
this restriction applies to batteries that contain liquids. This document
explicitly states in section 348.22 (Mailable Corrosives)
that common household dry-cell batteries such as sizes AA, AAA, C, D, etc.
are generally not regulated as hazardous materials and are therefore
mailable. This is exactly what the eMate battery consists of: Four common
household dry-cell AA size batteries. There seems to be some special
regulation for Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries in sea transportation, but
this wouldn't apply in my case since I sent (or better tried to send) the
eMate by air mail. 

I am aware that shipping companies like DHL, UPS, FedEx etc. will transport
even devices containing Lithium-Ion batteries without any hassle. But at
least in Germany they charge so much for international shipping that hardly
anybody interested in Newton or eMate hardware would be willing to shell out
so much money.

Obviously, 850 passengers sitting in an all-economy class Airbus A380, each
equipped with at least one device containing a Li-Ion battery, is perfectly
safe. But four innocent standard AA size Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries in
the luggage compartment of the same A380 are so incredibly dangerous that
they cannot be tolerated? Hard to believe. Especially considering the fact
that I have been sending rebuilt batteries and devices containing rebuilt
batteries to the US since the year 2000, using land, sea and air
transportation. What a strange world.

Thanks

Frank

-- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de