In reading some of the recent posts about new
shipping woes, some of the new developments
in equipment-shlepping bear discussion:
Many of you remember how both FedEx Express
and UPS separately destroyed two of my amplifiers
last year, and the resultant tales of woe regarding the
Claims process.
Since then, I've had to ship other equipment, but this
time with different carriers and different preparation,
which then proved successful.
Firstly, ordinary handling (e.g., UPS/FedEx Exp/ USPS)
is completely disregarded. This leaves the trucking
industry, with its LTL (Less-Than-Full-Load) freight
handling abilities.
Secondly, the equipment is crated with 3/4" plywood,
seams glued and wood-screwed, with 1" X 3"
firring strips on all edges, they themselves glued
and wood-screwed. On the bottom of the crates are
4" x 4" beams with a minimum of 24" space between
inner surfaces. This way a 24" pallet jack can accommodate
their movement. The crates are lined with two different
types of resilient material, and the equipment is wrapped
in two layers of sheet plastic inside the resilient cradle.
On the average, a crate minus the gear weighs in just
under 100 pounds, but with a five to ten thousand dollar
amplifier what's the big deal?
I ship under Freight Class 100, (Label: "Mechanism")
and tell the carriers it's okay to stack on top.
The 3/4" reinforced crate will probably have
cardboard boxes on it, and it will probably rate its own pallet.
Cross country is two days, and my latest shipment is
235 pounds, 14 cubic feet and costs $172.00. This is
with FedEx Freight. Similar shipments have gone with
Yellow Freight and Overnight Express Freight, all
without any damage.
There's a business called Craters and Freighters for those
of you who do not have woodshop capabilities. They can
build and pad a crate for any size of equipment.
It's clear that UPS/FedEx Exp/USPS cannot or will not
cater to the requirements of people needing to ship
delicate apparatus. The competition is by Motor
Freight companies. As long as the items are packed
in a manner suitable to their environment they succeed
in quality and timeliness where others clearly drop
the ball.
Respectfully,
Hal Mandel
W4HBM
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