Shipping lifepo battery in the US

Has anyone ever tried to ship a lifepo battery within the US from one private party to another?
After talking to UPS and Fedex it seems you have to be a licensed haz-mat shipper to do this.
Or you must take it to a third party haz-mat shipper to ship which would cost even more than paying for the ground shipping alone.$$$
This is sounding like a PITA to send a LiFePo battery to another person!!

I know it is a fully regulated haz-mat shipment but putting the haz-mat stickers on the box doesn't cut it by it self.

Any one have advise or guidance on how to do this??

Airfreight is the problem and that's Fedex and UPS for the most part. I've used both ground and ships without an issue. USPS also doesn't like haz material.

tgalarneau said:

Airfreight is the problem and that's Fedex and UPS for the most part. I've used both ground and ships without an issue. USPS also doesn't like haz material.

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I checked ground shipping. From both. Same story.
how did you ship without issue? Are you a regular haz-may shipper? Or did you just get lucky?

I spent a career in shipping. Many corporations have simple generalized rules. It's easier to just say no to the little guy. You should contact a trucking company or freight forwarder in your area for a quote.

there are definitely regulations for ANY battery today, normally it is ground only.
Rules cover labeling, liability, allowable %SOC, etc. that normal people have trouble with.
yep, its a pain and pricey, how china can ship TO the USA for pennies, and shipping to china is a fortune is a mystery to me.

Yeah a commercial battery shipper is set and licensed to do this but someone selling private party is SOL unless you pay a forwarder or trucking Co ridicules shipping $$ to send one battery.
Or you could try to cheat but that would not end well.

A number of years ago there was a fire aboard a commercial airline caused by lithium ion batteries. After that International Air Transport Association (IATA) no longer allow any lithium batteries on passenger aircraft. As far as I know in the US for ground, rail or ocean only general haz-mat rules apply having to do with labels and distance separation of haz cargo's from other haz shipments.

So any carrier can ship it other than on passenger aircraft and it is up to them what premium to charge, if any. I live in Hawaii so have to deal with this all the time until the undersea railway is built.

China ships via vessels to the US and hands it over to a ground or air freight carrier to reach its destination. The cost is low because you can fit a lot of batteries in a 40' container so the shipping cost per unit is low. Most likely most of the cost is for after reaching the US port.

The flowchart on the last page of this UPS document seems to suggest that lithium metal battery packages with gross weight of <30kg can be shipped with a warning label and "does not need to be shipped as fully regulated Dangerous Goods."