Shipping a boat? Any suggestions?

[BBogey]

Hello,

I have a friend in Washington State who is trying to buy a used bass boat in Alabama. He's wanting to get it shipped up here without breaking the bank OR his new to him boat!

USHIP isn't proving to be real great at this time, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you!

 

[UncleWillie]

How big is the budget? ???
Shipping a used boat 2500 miles is not going to be cheap.
Consider what it would cost for him to drive for 3 days to get there and 4 days to get back.
Add up the food, fuel, and lodging for 7 nights, and you are at $1000 easily, add another $1000 for the shippers profit, and anything even near $2000 is cheap.
Unless the Bass Boat is in prime condition and considered a steal at $25,000 or more, the shipping going to be an unacceptable additional expense.
If he is looking at a $10,000 used Boat. Upgrading to a $12,000 Local Boat would be money better spent.

Of course if he can talk the family into driving to Florida for a 2 week vacation, and just happen to pick up the boat in Alabama on the way back... The shipping becomes the extra cost of the fuel when towing.

 

[keith2k455]

I don't know how you'd get it done for less than like $1000. It's 2200 miles, at 10 mi/gal , $3.50/gal that's 700 in gas alone. Throw a nights stay and two days of meals in it adds up quickly.

 

[ondarvr]

I live in Washington and picked up a boat in Orlando, checked around and it was $3,000 to have it shipped. I flew there and looked at it because I wasn't going to buy it sight unseen, then rented a truck and towed it back to Seattle. The truck was $750 + gas, it was a box van so I slept in the back a couple nights.

 

[BBogey]

I talked to my buddy about "us" driving back, split the driving and head straight back. Spend one night there and drive straight back again. Time is a bit of an issue and of course we're not as young as we used to be...:embarassed: Right now, he's not finding any rates for under $3,000. I drove from Washington State to Arkansas for my first duck boat, but my wife and I made a "trip" out of it, he doesn't have that much time.

Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[smokeonthewater]

I find it hard to believe that there isn't a decent deal on a bass boat a LOT closer than that.. I'd suggest shopping much closer to home.

 

[crazy charlie]

If you have ever watched the cable program "Shipping Wars" you will want to stay away from shippers bidding on the job.You can easily wind up with someone that has never shipped a boat before.

 

[Maclin]

Add in extra time and cost attributed to potential trailering problems like tire and bearing/hub failures and he may stop sleeping at nights...