The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Shipping large parts

I hope this doesn't get moved to the hauling forum.

When shipping fenders or doors via Greyhound, what do they require for prepping the parts? Are the parts shipped naked, bubble wrapped, crated, etc?

Thanks,

Robert

Robert,

I think it depends a little on the shipping agent at your terminal. I have received large items with just tags on them; however, the shipping agent at my local terminal in Albany, NY was not very flexible and never clear or correct on estimated costs.

Go over and talk to the shipping agent. Cardboard covering or shipping paper covering might be all you'll need.

I have never shipped anything larger than tires at FedEx but they were very accommodating and had better prices than Greyhound.

Tim

I've sent the above & a hood & seat. My station agent wants clean items & all sharp edges & corners protected. Thats to prevent damage to rider's luggage. Thats all! I like to leave it as open as possible so's the driver & agent can figure the best places to pick it up from. As stated above, he's the boss & the one you gotta please. Mine measures & weighs it & I get an exact price. Multiple items to the same place get a discount. To me its the only safe way to ship sheet metal parts. Never had a complaint from a buyer about how it arrived. Always two men to handle it & nothing gets put on top of it. And they dont have a truckload to hurry up with.
Doug

Boxes from Bicycle shops are great for shipping doors....and your correct on the agents. The one here in spartanburg doesn't seem to ever want to ship anything. I usually use FedX and have no problems.

My agent here, doesn't particularly like boxes. Says they take up too much room. He likes large stuff, just wrapped in plastic, or bubble wrap. Sometimes if the item is clean, no wrapping at all. He's a retired Greyhound driver.

Isn't it funny that different circumstances create different outcomes in similar situations. Tim says FedEx is cheaper for him than Greyhound. I shipped a large package via the bus for 1/4 the price quoted by FedEx.

Greyhound is very reasonable. Their concern is that it is wrapped with cardboard or bubble wrap to keep dirt or grease of of passengers luggage. Greyhound is usually safer because they have no heavy items or forklifts. Agents sometimes don't like large packages, but a call to Greyhound customer service usually fixes it. The Greyhound station here is a convenience store who is a competitor of ours and they get real (censored) at times, but I have been in business 45 years and have developed pretty thick skin.

Tiny, I think my Greyhound shipping agent/mgr does not like to ship things. He also never calls when something arrives, and he forgets to come back to the phone when checking to see if something has arrived. No, his depot is not busy; and, his job is only handling shipped items. Almost everyone else has had good experiences with Greyhound. That's why I said to check them out.

However, when shipping four separately wrapped tires, the cost of Greyhound was about 50% more than FedEx. In this shipment, I had taken the clean tires to Greyhound; asked how to cover/package then; and, received a shipping quote. When I arrived later that day with the wrapped tires, the price had doubled.

FedEx is about 3 miles away, so I figured I had nothing to loose checking them out. They are a busier operation but the agent assisted me in labeling/wrapping the tires.

By the way, FedEx prices drop considerably if you are shipping to a business address (no need for them to have to return, if no one is home to receive a shipment).

True about all the above. As stated earlier Greyhound would not ship my doors.....but SOME do. Most packages I have received from UPS, or at least 3 out of 5 are damaged. I have to file claim after claim. With Fed X I have received ONE damaged package in two years...AND they are most economical at least for me. If you ship to a business they are cheaper because they are probably going by there anyway and as mentioned they don't have to go/come back. ALSO if you set up an account with them it will also save you a couple dollars on the shipping...AND as mentioned, they are real customer friendly as well as being close to me which saves on GAS.
Shipping to Canada I was appalled at Greyhound who does NOT ship accross the border and also UPS was ridiculous. Fed X on the other hand make it easy as pie and half the cost!

EDIT: I meant to add that it all seems to be location, location location....as well as some of the personel.

[quote=tclederman]Tiny, I think my Greyhound shipping agent/mgr does not like to ship things. He also never calls when something arrives, and he forgets to come back to the phone when checking to see if something has arrived. No, his depot is not busy; and, his job is only handling shipped items. Almost everyone else has had good experiences with Greyhound. That's why I said to check them out.

I think we all miss Trailways. Competition works every time!

I had a pair of seats for a panel shipped from SW Texas to Raleigh NC vis DHL in one large package for about $56! Great communication with their agents there and here. That included going out in the country about 30 miles to pick them up and delivering them to my door. The trip took 4 days. Another time, I shipped a 3 speed tranny to central NY via bus. I had to make 3 trips to the bus station before they would accept it for shipping and the shipping took 4 days from Raleigh. It cost about $100. Weight was about the same for both packages, but the seats were much bigger. Go figure.
The owner of a salvage yard who ships a lot of stuff tipped me to DHL.

I've had good experiences with DHL, too.

Anyone who has an account with https://www.freightquote.com/Public/Home/FQ/Home.aspx can get a good discount with DHL. I use Freightquote all the time for LTL. However on large bulky things such as fenders, I still bet my best rates with Greyhound

I recently shipped two 1937 Chevrolet truck front fenders to Nevada from Texas and used a small independent trucking company. The results were great. The buyer was very happy! I wouldn't overlook the smaller independent shipping companies.
Joe

I shipped a car trunk lid to Virginia a while back ant about 1/2 the price of fedex or ups. Wrapped in cardboard got there in one piece with no dents.
Brad

I just shipped a pair of hi back bucket seats to a guy I sold 'em to via DHL ground and they were there very quickly... he said DHL were the cheapest he could find in this area and even beat Greyhound...

~Trev