Just thought I would pass some information on about shipping stuff.

MTboatguy

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As a couple of guys know, I purchased a Porta Bote off the auction site yesterday, the only problem was, it is located in Southern, CA and I am in NW Montana, so the challenge was to figure out how to get it from him to me! So I start calling freight companies, railroads, airlines, etc. I even put it up on a bid to ship website. Total weight to ship, 166 pounds, 2 packages, one 4 foot by 4 foot by 7 inches 58 pounds, one 168 inches(14 ft) by 24 inches (2 ft) by 7 inches.

This is how things went(Not good)

Bid to ship site(uShip), I got one bid for $2638.95
LTL transport who is based in the town I bought the boat from $798.36
Redaway $398.25

So I am thinking I am going to have to drive down and pick it up, and it is a 1303 mile trip one way, so not going to be cost and time effective!

So my wife starts checking around the internet and finds a company called freightcenter.com she says what the heck and fills out the request for quote forms and submits, they came back with a terminal to terminal quote of $152.56 including taxes and other fees, it is a 4 day shipment and the kicker, it will be carried on a Redaway truck! who had already quoted us $398.25.

Now I have to drive to the terminal in Missoula which is about 125 miles one way and he has to drop off at the terminal which is about 25 miles one way for him, but talk about big difference is price and time to ship.

So, if in the future, you need to have items shipped via freight truck, I recommend checking them out, they have several and I mean several companies they have negotiated contracts with and actually lived up to the hype they have in their ad's. I was very pleased!

I could have got free shipping on the boat from Porta Bote, but would have had to pay $2899.00 to purchase from them and I found a brand new never in the water from this guy who received it as a gift for $700.00 and shipping of $152.00 so I am in it about $850 and a small amount for driving to Missoula.

I am thrilled and wanted to pass the information on about shipping large items via truck in case anyone else is looking for those types of service on large items you might purchase in the future.
 

64osby

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As shipping goes, that is a steal. Was the Admiral wearing a pirate suit? :D
 

Tim Frank

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If Redaway was D2D, at ~ $400-, I think you are comparing apples and oranges.
It is 250 miles and will take you at least 4 hours, round-trip, factor in gas and wear and tear, to save $250-..
 

MTboatguy

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If Redaway was D2D, at ~ $400-, I think you are comparing apples and oranges.
It is 250 miles and will take you at least 4 hours, round-trip, factor in gas and wear and tear, to save $250-..

Huh?

Tim We booked it and paid for it with a contract guarantee today, so I will not have to pay anymore than was quote on the 1300 mile ship..

I am in Kalispell, MT and the Boat is in Fontana, CA , there is no way I could drive 1300(2600 RT) miles for $250 bucks.. I am not talking D2D, we are talking T2T.
 
Last edited:

MTboatguy

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Huh?

Tim We booked it and paid for it with a contract guarantee today, so I will not have to pay anymore than was quote on the 1300 mile ship..

I am in Kalispell, MT and the Boat is in Fontana, CA , there is no way I could drive 1300(2600 RT) miles for $250 bucks.. I am not talking D2D, we are talking T2T.

I will add, the original quote from Redaway was a T2T quote also.
 

MTboatguy

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Be sure to let us know how it turns out!

Well so far so good, they issued the bills of lading this morning and were dead on with their price quotes, it will leave S. California on Wed and should arrive on Monday to their terminal here in Montana.
 

MTboatguy

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OK,

Now I have some more information, which I knew I was going to have to pass along, anytime you are dealing with a freight booking service, you WILL have to play a few games, I knew this on Friday when we contacted them.

We booked it this morning, for $152.19, gave them a credit card number and said ship it. Then they came back with oops we screwed up, there is a $25 fee for pick up at the terminal, ok, so we are now up to $177.19, then an hour later, another call telling us that based on the "New" Tariff fee's that went into effect on May 5th, Reddaway is charging a $270.00 over length fee. Take into account, this is still a terminal to terminal shipment, so I told them nope, not going to do it, I will drive to CA and pick it up myself.

Well he finally called back, and he knew I had the new tariff book right in front of me for the company, which stated anything over 15 feet had the over length fee, this is 14 feet, so he goes out an finds a UPS Freight rate of $234 DOOR TO DOOR. UPS does not charge a over length fee on their shipments. He was trying to collect the over length fee that does not go into effect until May 29th, it is not in effect right now, which I already knew, but the reason they play this game is if they can collect the fee, they get 75% of it as a bonus. I knew this going in as I have shipped many things around the world that needs to go freight truck.

I would still recommend freightcenter.com, as long as you know up front you are going to have to play the game with them, so now, I have basically a door to door shipment, for less than $90 over the original quote we were given, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than the seller driving 40 miles or 80 miles round trip and me driving 250 miles round tip. So if you are looking to ship large items, be aware, you will play a game with them for a few hours before you finally get the best price.

Download the traffic rate books for the companies they mention, that way you have the same codes, rates and numbers in front of you, that they do, so you can negotiate with them to get the best rate. UPS takes small loads on their trucks other than their own shipments so they can maximize profits on each truck dispatched around the country.
 

Harritwo

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I use Freight Center all time in my business, however the one major drawback I see with them is that as soon as i request a quote, i am inundated with emails and phone calls from them wishing to book it immediately. The good is that you can see quotes from many companies and days to get it to you.
 

MTboatguy

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I use Freight Center all time in my business, however the one major drawback I see with them is that as soon as i request a quote, i am inundated with emails and phone calls from them wishing to book it immediately. The good is that you can see quotes from many companies and days to get it to you.

Before today, they only called a couple of times and my wife only got one email.

I just wanted to make sure, when booking freight to know what to expect, cause they will try to play games with you and if you are not aware, it can become very irritating. If you are not aware what can happen, it will make you want to pull your hair out and bray like a donkey. Despite the run around, I am happy, got a very reasonable price and should have my new boat on Tuesday next week.
 

Tim Frank

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Huh?

Tim We booked it and paid for it with a contract guarantee today, so I will not have to pay anymore than was quote on the 1300 mile ship..

I am in Kalispell, MT and the Boat is in Fontana, CA , there is no way I could drive 1300(2600 RT) miles for $250 bucks.. I am not talking D2D, we are talking T2T.

The way I read your OP it seemed possible that Redaway was delivering D2D. That would mean you were driving the 250 miles to pick up the boat to save $250-.
That would not make sense to me....but I have a number of friends who would do exactly that. :)
 

MTboatguy

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Well everything worked out good, the boat got here last week on Monday, a day earlier than schedule, in good shape and no worse for wear, no extra charges. All in all pleased with how everything worked out.
 

Whoopbass

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I shipped a Porta Bote back in the day through ForwardAir. Can't remember what the charge was but I think it was around $130. Prices have went up since then. I did ship a 40hp outboard with them the other day and it cost $200 to ship it about 2000 miles. They are a terminal to terminal freight shipping company. Sounds like they are comparable with Freightcenter. They would not be beneficial to you since they do not have a terminal in Montana but they cover most of the U.S..
 

MTboatguy

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I am happy, they shipped 168 pounds via ground, door to door, had it here in 4 days and it cost $233 when it was all said and done. There are a lot of things we don't have in Montana!
 

GA_Boater

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I am happy, they shipped 168 pounds via ground, door to door, had it here in 4 days and it cost $233 when it was all said and done. There are a lot of things we don't have in Montana!

I could put up with some of the things you don't have - Like wall to wall people. :joyous:

Now we need some splash pics, MT.
 

MTboatguy

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I could put up with some of the things you don't have - Like wall to wall people. :joyous:

Now we need some splash pics, MT.

Well it has been sitting in the back of the truck opened up the last few days in rain and I just went out to turn it over and got "Splashed" will that work!?
 

GA_Boater

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Guess that will have to do for now. LOL

I see your ranks are matching again.
 

MTboatguy

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I am actually hoping to splash this weekend, I had to buy a new choke knob for my Suzuki engine I am going to use on it and that should be here Thursday or Friday, which means if all else is good, this weekend should be a good one to go. I have Jury duty for the next 2 weeks starting Monday, and then heading to Yellowstone for a week, that is if I don't have to go back to Washington in the interim for Dad.
 
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