Go Figger! (shipping topic)

[Boomyal]

My daughter and her new hubby just moved from Vancouver WA to Kutztown PA.

We figured that the best way to get their goods to them (all personal, no furniture) was to box and palletize them and send them via commercial freight carrier.

Prior to leaving, they packed up their goods in ten, strong, uniform boxes. These would easily all stack on one standard pallet to be banded and shrink wrapped.

Her new father-in-law is a comptroller for a business in Portland Oregon that ships product regularly and has pricing aggreements with a couple of carriers.

When all was weighed and ready to go, the freight companies wanted about $680.00 to ship this one neat pallet. Being as we had estimated about $400.00 this seemed rediculously high.

The FIL decided to check with UPS. You guessed it. UPS wants $440.00 to ship all ten individual 20x20x20 boxes. They will even carry them up the stairs when they arrive. The trucking companies would have just cut the boxes off the pallet and dumped them in the street.

 

[JRJ]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

Much better deal with UPS, especially delivering the stuff to the door. Bet you're glad the move is about complete

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

Pays to shop

 

[scipper77]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

A tangent but...

Last time I moved I was closing on both houses the same day so I couldn't have my stuff in my old house but at the same time I couldn't move it into the new house yet either.

I called one of those "Pods" places where you fill up a portable storage container and they could store it for you or deliver it anywhere. My goodness is that ever a pricey service!! I decided against it.

Next option that I considered was a little bit unconventional but really cheap. I nearly had a roll-off dumpster delivered to my house to fill with my stuff. Instead of taking it to the dump I'm sure they could have delivered it to the new house. I thought a roll-off might not exactly be sanitary and protecting my belongings (couch, mattresses, etc) from the inside of the thing was too much of a hassle.

In the end I rented the biggest U-haul I could find and filled it up with my stuff. The owner of my new house let me stack a bunch of boxes in the garage that wouldn't fit in the U-haul (ended up taking up nearly 1/2 the garage). I just parked the U-haul outside of the new house the night before closing so it was ready to go the next day.

 

[Whoopbass]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

I shipped a 50hp outboard through ForwardAir probably 2000 miles for about $150. They are a LTL trucking company. Check em out online.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

I shipped a 50hp outboard through ForwardAir probably 2000 miles for about $150.

I did the same thing with an Mercruiser 3.0L engine I sold on Ebay. Around $200-250 for a 2000 mile trip. And this was an ugly odd shaped pallet with "engine" poking out everywhere.

The one gotcha',,, I dropped it off at the terminal and the other guy unloaded it from the delivery truck with a front end loader. Having the pallet picked up or dropped onsite would have doubled or tripled the cost (from what I remember).

What was surprising, having it delivered out to his remote town cost very little. Having it unloaded from the truck to the ground (5') would have cost dearly...

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

Much better deal with UPS, especially delivering the stuff to the door. Bet you're glad the move is about complete

Yes and no! It'll be the first time that none of my chirdren wake up in their own beds this Christmas morning.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

I just parked the U-haul outside of the new house the night before closing so it was ready to go the next day.

Next time check Penske. They were less than half of what Uhaul would have charged for a 22 footer to drive across the country.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

My daughter and her new hubby just moved from Vancouver WA to Kutztown PA.

We figured that the best way to get their goods to them (all personal, no furniture) was to box and palletize them and send them via commercial freight carrier.

Prior to leaving, they packed up their goods in ten, strong, uniform boxes. These would easily all stack on one standard pallet to be banded and shrink wrapped.

Her new father-in-law is a comptroller for a business in Portland Oregon that ships product regularly and has pricing aggreements with a couple of carriers.

When all was weighed and ready to go, the freight companies wanted about $680.00 to ship this one neat pallet. Being as we had estimated about $400.00 this seemed rediculously high.

The FIL decided to check with UPS. You guessed it. UPS wants $440.00 to ship all ten individual 20x20x20 boxes. They will even carry them up the stairs when they arrive. The trucking companies would have just cut the boxes off the pallet and dumped them in the street.

Never trust anything coming from P-Town, unless it's coming UPS.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

Shipping is a bit of a problem, as Boomyal and I have learnt recently.

You have to be really careful to balance the service and reliability with cost.

That Fender guitar I got from Japan was US$120 door-to-door 5 working days, which I was happy with.

My 16yr old has it in his head to collect signature or limited edition Fender-Squire Guitars, and has bought 2 Squier Obey Graphic guitars (Collage - Strat and Tele - total US$560), and the US site has boned him US$335 shipping, and state up to 20 working days.
I am sure if they are price gouging him, or maybe US postal charges are greater than Japans.
I don't know.
He tried Japan for them but not available.
He wants the Squier Obey Propoganda and Dissent next, which once again will probably be the same i guess.
My advice is be cautious and balanced.
Cheers
Phillip

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

when it comes to service, just remember what your mother said. It's in the bottom of your post. Hard to trust anyone these days.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

when it comes to service, just remember what your mother said. It's in the bottom of your post. Hard to trust anyone these days.

Yes, so true, so true.

Cheers
Phillip

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

......I am sure if they are price gouging him, or maybe US postal charges are greater than Japans......

Recent experience show that there is something wrong with that shipping rate. US Postal Service is pretty reasonable (that must be why they lost 8 billion dollars last year)

Phillip, PM me with the package size and weight. I will check the postal rates to get it to you via USPS. Rumor has it that cross border shipping with either UPS or FedEx is expensive and cumbersome.

 

[Adjuster]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

I hear you can ship things very inexpensively by Greyhound bus. Problem is you have to take it to the bus station and pick it up at the destination bus station. But its supposed to be very affordable.

 

[bassman284]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

I retired in May after 23 years with an OEM automotive supplier of interior components. Almost all our shipments were truckload quantities using carriers like Schneider or Excel. We did a lot of ad hoc shipping using some UPS but mostly Fedex. We also received a lot of stuff in small shipments using both UPS and FedEx.

One thing that was consistent throughout was that the FedEx shipmments were generally pretty clean and in good shape while the UPS shipments tended to look like they had been dragged a hundred miles behind the truck. Filthy and beat up. Mosty the UPS shipments were usable but you wanted to handle the packages with rubber gloves.

Bottom line, if you're shipping UPS, package it well.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

I called one of those "Pods" places where you fill up a portable storage container and they could store it for you or deliver it anywhere. My goodness is that ever a pricey service!! I decided against it.

Wanna see why it's pricey? The pics below are the house for the owners of the PODS company. They had it built it Daytona Beach, on the beachside. These pics are from Google Earth, so they're a couple of years old. The house has been finished and is beautiful. Look at the size of the lot, especially compared to the lot(s) next door. There are 7 houses on the same size property!

Someone has to pay for all of this. Might as well be you.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Go Figger! (shipping topic)

I hear you can ship things very inexpensively by Greyhound bus. Problem is you have to take it to the bus station and pick it up at the destination bus station. But its supposed to be very affordable.

Hmmm! Forgot all about Greyhound. Wished I had remembered. I would have checked it out.