My son wants me to build him a fireplace mantle. The two-pillar, top-shelf style. Basically, three long 3-sided boxes which he would assembly and trim out.
The thing is, he lives 2500 miles from me, so I'm going to have to ship it. Other than getting quotes from the standard shippers (UPS, FedEx, etc.) I'm look for other ideas.
I look to the collective wisdom of this group for creative options.
How long is the longest piece? You can crate it and ship by truck. It would be handled by forklift and may have stuff loaded on top of it.
It may be cheaper to fly out there, rent some tools and built on site.
I don't have exact measurements yet, but it's your basic built in single wide gas fireplace. 4'-ish?
Actually, he has the tools, just not the time or expertise, which means it'll take him more time to build it than he has.
In my case, I've already got things planned for vacations and can't add this trip to them.
I think building it in three sections that can be assembled on site is a good idea.
I think Greyhound still does shipping. Also, Fastenal does shipping store to store.
Go to
Pretty much any mailing or shipping business will be able to arrange LTL shipping for oversize or heavy objects.
Yeah, I forgot about Fastenal. I was going to use them once but whatever situation was, it went away. Thanks for the reminder.
Visit son, build it there, problem solved. ;~)
I just did. It was a bit of a pain.
After I enter the (made up) details it wanted me to register. After I registered, it cleared all of my shipp "Good afternoon- I see your dates are pretty far off, but are these items ready to go? I? ??m 3 hours away, and starting this exact route tonight. What have you considered for a budget for this shipment?"
Really? He just happens to be driving from western NY to Las Vegas *tonight
*? And he's willing to grab my stuff on the way by? I guess it's possible.Anyway, my response was:
"Thanks for the resp
I would love to, but timing won't allow for that. I will be seeing him next month, but it will be in Reno where his brother lives, not Las Vegas, where he lives. My Reno son's GF is graduating with her PhD next month, so the whole family(s) are going to Reno for the week. Should be quite a party!
After that SWMBO and I are heading to CA to see her family and then to Oregon for some just-us time. A mantle build in Las Vegas is out of the question for this year.
?m 3 hours away, and starting this exact route tonight. What have y ou considered for a budget for this shipment?"
get because I've never done this before. What do you think would be a reaso nable amount to pay for this type of shipment?"
OK, just got a response. For context, I requested a quote for 3 boxes,
1' x 1' x 4', each weighing 20 lbs, non-palleted, non-stackable (i.e. can't support the weight of other boxes)"It will depend on the shipper, what else they?re transporting, whe re they?re going, etc. I would?ve quoted $150. Keep in touch. If I run this route when you?re ready, it would be m y pleasure to help. Matt"
When you get ready you can post it on uship.com and let haulers bid on it.
When I saw the show Shipping Wars I thought it was make-believe till I met a guy who hauls loads he gets on the web site. He lives near me, is retired and is not afiliated with the show. Picks up a couple of grand a month. The day I talked to him he had made $400 for taking a package 320 miles. By picking his hauls he averages at least $.65/mile.
I looked today on the site for postings close to home and there were all kinds of items looking for haulers, including cars, travel trailers a couple of cats and a puppy and a 14" utility trailer that needed to be hauled to Santa Fe, NM.
Did you see my other responses to you? I already followed your suggestion and got a response within 5 minutes.
Soimehow missed them. Sorry.
Size wise they would make good top freight. That is much cheaper than I'd have guessed. If you palletized and went regular truck I bet it would be closer to $400.
be my pleasure to help. Matt"
I still find it kind of sketchy that this guy responded within 5 minutes an d happens to be driving the exact route *tonight*. Color me skeptical.
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