cigarettes

worldwide

Well-Known Member
over9five posted "More lost volume!"

Since any volume lost would be residential deliveries and that some of those shipments were going to kids, isn't it a good thing that UPS is doing this? UPS has not stopped the delivery of cigarettes--they have stopped the delivery to unlicensed receivers. Deliveries to licensed receivers will still continue. Fedex and DHL have the same policies. The only other option is the USPS and they are under increasing pressure to fall in line with the industry. UPS is trying to do the right thinkg my keeping cigarettes away from kids and unlicensed receivers. I'm glad they are doing the right thing.
 

Ms Spoken

Well-Known Member
Well then how about all of the drugs (Pills) UPS has started handling. Most of my day I feel like a pharmacist on wheels. Most of the meds do not req a signature so how do I know that some child doesnt get their hands on them. Just a thought.
 

worldwide

Well-Known Member
"Most of the meds do not req a signature"

If they do not require a signature, then they are not controlled and are over the counter. If the company is sending controlled drugs without getting an adult signature, they are taking some big chances.

The issue with the cigarettes was also more than just kids getting cigarettes. It was also about lost tax revenue from the states.

UPS has not stopped the delivery of cigarettes--they have stopped the delivery to unlicensed receivers. Deliveries to licensed receivers will still continue.
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
I have seen an increase in the number of signature required "wine club" deliverys, I am mainly a residential driver in a high income area. I don't get that many tobacco deliveries, but I have always had a lot of drug deliveries.
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
"that some of those shipments were going to kids, isn't it a good thing that UPS is doing this? "

Yeppers, that pesky 12 year old used their own credit card to make the purchase. Aint it wonderful how the kids these days can get a credit card and use it to order mail order cigarettes?

Give me a break. When is lost volume a good thing for UPS? And that they are going to kids....how the hell do they pay for them when they are ordered? They dont go to kids, they go to parents. Adults that legally can buy them and use them.

This is the real reason...."States lose more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue from Internet tobacco sales," Ya wanna play footsie with state governments and get that big tax break when you want to expand? Then you bend over and do things like this.

d
 
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ok2bclever

I Re Member
well, the fact that they are primarily getting their cigs this way to scam the legal taxes they are supposed to be paying that isn't exactly true.

and saying kids don't get them this way or that they can get them otherways so to hell with any moral or ethical considerations and full profits ahead is pretty typical of corporate America.

so it sounds ironic that UPS has pulled the plug and you danny say they shouldn't have.

you a smoker by any chance? :p
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
No I am not a smoker.

But to try and blame UPS for underage smoking is BS. IT was simply a business decision that was made after weighing all the pros and cons.

As for whether we deliver them or not, what a person orders and I deliver is none of my Dang business. My business is not to be the moral thermometer, but to deliver to our customer what the customer legally ordered. Period.

So unless a law is broken......

d
 

susiedriver

Well-Known Member
dboy said:
No I am not a smoker.

But to try and blame UPS for underage smoking is BS. IT was simply a business decision that was made after weighing all the pros and cons.

As for whether we deliver them or not, what a person orders and I deliver is none of my Dang business. My business is not to be the moral thermometer, but to deliver to our customer what the customer legally ordered. Period.

So unless a law is broken......

d
I believe it was a legal decision, based on tax laws regarding tobacco, so yes, a law was broken, or a liability existed. It is illegal in most states to buy tobacco out of state in order to circumvent state taxes.

PS--Lost volume is a good thing when there is a liability for delivering the item in question. You've heard of the word 'tariff' before, haven't you?
 

worldwide

Well-Known Member
"My business is not to be the moral thermometer, but to deliver to our customer what the customer legally ordered. So unless a law is broken......"

Well, yes, laws were being broken....Glad you agree it was the right thing for UPS to do.

There is a difference between doing what is right and doing the right thing...
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
Susie

THat was the point of my first post. ITs not that UPS is giving under age kids smokes. IT sounds good for a 30 second blurb on the 11oclock news but it is not the reason.

Anytime you have the authority to tax, and someone comes along and tries to circumvent the process (in this case sales of cigarettes by the indian nations tax free), you will raise the hackles of those in "charge". Especially when you see all the tax money from cigarettes going to "health care for smokers".

UPS as a business when it expands looks for the best sites in the country. Some of the issues are a willing work force, interstate network, and tax breaks for investments in a comunity. Now when negotiating with officials that have been pissed off that you have been aiding the indians in screwing the state out of billions of dollars of cash, how do you think the conversation will go.

Also it is interesting how the delivery companies are being targeted as the bad guys for doing something illegal. Would it not be the indian nations that are doing the illegal act by selling cigarettes tax free. WE are just the carriers for a legal product that was paid for in a legal manor. It is the shipper that is breaking the law, not the shipping companies.

So why not shut the shipper down? OR is that a hot potato that they dont even want to touch.

I can see the headlines now. goverment shuts down business that provides sole support for thousands of poor indians. 2600 Cherokee indians sign up for welfare as goverment shuts down only plant in town. All the employees now have no insurance, income and will have thousands of children starving within two days. And it would go on and on. And the politicians that led the charge to recoup taxes, think they would ever be re-elected?

NAh it is cleaner to focus on twisting the arm of UPS and others via the system to do what they want. Shut down the distribution system and you no longer have the problem. And I can get re-elected because I increased revenues for the state, brought in major businesses that pay well, and the indian nation still signs up for welfare and food stamps becuase of a slump in sales. I guess people are quitting smoking?

d
 

ok2bclever

I Re Member
so UPS is the victim here?

Nothing against people who have an addiction to spending money to light fire to plants and stick them in their mouths as everyone needs a hobby, but I do have a problem with an industry that goes out of it's way to PR such crap to kids and I am happy UPS has decided to no longer be a party to this.

UPS made a business decision and uses positive PR about it, no mystery or deep thoughts needed here.
 
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