subject: Are There Items Which Couriers Are Not Allowed To Transport? [print this page] Some people assume that any courier can simply pack up and carry anything, and proceed to ship it anywhere in the country, but the legalities of the shipping and courier industry is actually slightly more complicated than that. There are entire categories of goods which can only be shipped by courier companies that have the right kinds of permits, equipment, and certifications in order to do so. If you're ever unsure about whether or not a courier company can carry something that you are considering shipping, the easiest thing to do is to contact whichever of the PA courier services you are utilizing and ask them directly whether they can transport the goods in question.
The first thing that needs to be said is that if something is illegal to possess, it is also illegal to transport, and you should never try to ship anything illegal with a courier company, as they will find out and you will be charged. There are other things though which can also be very sticky when it comes to trying to ship them with a courier company. A good example is any kind of biological or medical material. Most of this type of material is classified as hazardous, and as such needs to be handled only by people with certain training and transported in specific containers and vehicles to prevent contamination.
Toxic, explosive, or dangerous goods like chemicals also require very specific transportation units and permits in order to transport them. There are certainly companies that can do this, but this is a specialized subset of the transportation industry, and not necessarily something that any old courier company is going to be equipped to do for you.
Finally, courier companies cannot transport items which are covered by certain laws unless they have the required paperwork in order to transport those goods. A good example of this is pharmaceutical products, as well as tobacco and alcohol products, all of which require special documentation in order to ship them. This is even more complicated when you begin discussing shipping over any kinds of international borders, as there are a number of trade agreements and taxes which must be addressed before anything can be taken by a courier over a border, something that often gets overlooked by inexperienced shippers when they're shipping to Canada or Mexico due to their proximity to so many states and the amount of everyday business that takes place across the borders.
