Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Someone in a previous post mentioned temps of minus 50 degrees when in an aircraft. Having been a pilot and having flown in the Navy (In Iceland), I didn't remember temps getting that low, even in the dead of winter. Still, I was curious about my shipping courier, FedEx. I sent them a request and here is there reply:

Temperature
Temperatures on board FedEx aircraft vary depending on the type of plane, the location of the cargo compartment with respect to the fuselage and package placement within the compartment. Length of flight and cruising altitude also affect temperature. (All temperatures below are listed in Fahrenheit.)

Note that depending on the location, weather and time of day, packages may be exposed to greater temperature extremes on the ground than in flight. Be sure to provide insulation for temperature-sensitive shipments. Please go to the FedEx Web site to download information on packaging perishables (see pages 7 and 8 in particular):

These temps are actually warmer than I expected.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

That is some seriously important and useful info (and reassuring...I always assumed the cargo areas were subjected to lower temps as well). I'm printing out a copy as we speak. Good stuff man! Thanks!

That is some good infor - my neighbor works Fedex so I asked him a while ago what the temps were and was told 50-80 so I guess he was a little off give or take 10 degrees.

Now if we can only find someone from Delta to see what their cargo hold temps are.

Thanks for the info Jay!
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Tosha

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that are a bit slow in responding to questions. I would imagine they would be similar. I normally don't ship through them though because the nearest Delta air cargo is about an hour from me. And if you are late, your package sits in an area that is not temp maintained.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

i suspect delta would be similar, if they use similar plans to fedex. this information is very useful, cargo holds are kept at better temp ranges than i expected. though i wonder if the temps are considering plans just flying within the US or into colder areas such as northern Canada.
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PHLdyPayne

>>i suspect delta would be similar, if they use similar plans to fedex. this information is very useful, cargo holds are kept at better temp ranges than i expected. though i wonder if the temps are considering plans just flying within the US or into colder areas such as northern Canada.
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That's a good question. I'm not sure what the temps are flying in that area. I know we used to fly from Iceland, to Greenland and to the states. It never got terribly cold. I would imagine it would be similar.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

n/p

.

That is good to know if you use Fed Ex. I'm not sure wich airlines it is here but some no longer heat their cargo holds. Yours are based on maintained temps so they are regulating them I would think that an unheated cargo hold would get pretty darn cold.
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons
ballpythonworld.com

Someone in a previous post mentioned temps of minus 50 degrees when in an aircraft.

I'm not saying that either side of this argument is wrong or right. I found the discussion interesting, but I don't have an opinion on the basic question. However, I understood the guy's point differently than you did, and I'd like to point out that difference.

My understanding of the guy's post was that the temperature outside an aircraft is -50 degrees regardless of the time of year. His conclusion from this fact (assuming that it's really a fact) is that time of year doesn't influence the temperature that a package sees except when the package is being moved between the plane and the terminal. A package is not going to spend hours being exposed to low temperatures on a flight just because someone is shipping in the winter. Once the plane is in the air, the cargo hold temperature will be the same regardless of season because the air temperature at 30,000 feet doesn't change appreciably with the seasons. The only extra danger from winter temperatures is that the package will be left outside or in a poorly heated building. The damaging cold is only an issue when the package is on the ground, and he is more afraid of too much heat during this stage of shipping than he is of too much cold. If I understood him correctly, he believes that he can easily insulate and warm the package enough to withstand exposure while the package is transported to and from the plane.

Again, I've never shipped a snake. I don't even like putting my snakes in the car to take to the vet. I'm too claustrophobic to fly anymore, and the thought of trusting my pet to an airplane gives me the heebie geebies. If I had to ship, I'd try very hard to ship during the fall or spring. If I were buying a very expensive snake, I'd have myself tranquilized so that I could fly to wherever the snake was, and then I'd rent a car to drive my snake home.

I realize that the rest of you don't have this luxury, and I don't presume to know the right answer to these issues.

Thanks,

Bill

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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

>>I'm not saying that either side of this argument is wrong or right. I found the discussion interesting, but I don't have an opinion on the basic question. However, I understood the guy's point differently than you did, and I'd like to point out that difference.

I'm not arguing with him. I merely hold the belief that shipping is not as easy as some would like you to think - as evidenced by this thread.

>>
>>My understanding of the guy's post was that the temperature outside an aircraft is -50 degrees regardless of the time of year. His conclusion from this fact (assuming that it's really a fact) is that time of year doesn't influence the temperature that

Most commercial airlines fly at about 35K feet, which would equate to about -40. Splitting hairs, sure. I'm not sure what cargo planes fly. Also, not all cargo planes fly the same altitudes. Smaller cargo planes may never see 15K on some flights. How is this important? I'll get to that later.

>> a package sees except when the package is being moved between the plane and the terminal. A package is not going to spend hours being exposed to low temperatures on a flight just because someone is shipping in the winter. Once the plane is in the air, the cargo hold temperature will be the same regardless of season because the air temperature at 30,000 feet doesn't change appreciably with the seasons. The only extra danger from winter temperatures is that the package will be left outside or in a poorly heated building. The damaging cold is only an issue when the package is on the ground, and he is more afraid of too much heat during this stage of shipping than he is of too much cold. If I understood him correctly, he believes that he can easily insulate and warm the package enough to withstand exposure while the package is transported to and from the plane.

I did not get that impression. But I'm not sure I follow you here. If the temps are -50 degrees in the cargo hold, and that's what you are planning for so you heat your box accordingly, then the transport to the plane or sitting on the tarmac is not likely to be colder than this. For planes flying at lower altitudes, the temps increase (get warmer) considerably.

What I believe he was getting at is that you can create a mini-environment within the box that is not affected by outside temperatures.

>>I realize that the rest of you don't have this luxury, and I don't presume to know the right answer to these issues.
>>

I don't have all the answers either, but I do have experience shipping and have had since 1986. Does this make me an expert? Hardly. My point is, shipping is not as cut and dried as some would like you to believe. You have to do your research and formulate a plan. You may even need to perform some tests. But again, research, research, research.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Good info, thanks for looking into that for us.