A Safe Way to Mail Parts

[CarlG]

Finger pointing has become a national sport

[Willie Krash]

I collect antiques and prefer USPS. They are very quick and the least amount of time in transit the better. They also tend to be cheaper. If I need Model A parts as I'm on the west coast USPS is three days, the others 4-5 days.
UPS is brutal. I have never personally shipped anything that was damaged. Packing is everything.
On a side note the Snap-on man gets packages at my shop (on UPS) and as they are heavy a few do not fare well, like forklifts punching thru the box.

[figment]

I buy shipping boxes fron Uline. The ones that I use are rated so a 150 lb person can stand on it. The cost isn't to bad but for someone that does a lot of shipping of small items they work very good. The cost seems to run 27 cents to 45 cents per box in quanties of 100. I ship small items such as watches and small Model A parts. You can get free boxes at the post office but they are not as sturdy. I also use the free flat rate boxes from the post office. I have found that the UPS stores are much higher priced than the regular UPS shipping centers.

[Hster]

I like to use sonotubes I will cut to length and use scrap plywood for the ends or fold the ends over and use fiberglass packing tape. Use foam or spray foam for packing, and if the package is heavy or awkward I will use fiberglass tape to make a handle.

[dean from bozeman]

For those of you who use foam, how do you know how much to use?

Seems that I have had window sides bow when using it, obviously too much of it. The double hung window then didn't slide well.

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Originally Posted by dean from bozeman

For those of you who use foam, how do you know how much to use?

Seems that I have had window sides bow when using it, obviously too much of it. The double hung window then didn't slide well.

Trial and error I guess. My spray can of foam says how much to expect for expansion, and spraying it on wadded up newspaper does very well.

I once tried to spray it into plastic bags, but that doesn't work at all because the foam doesn't expand or dry.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by dean from bozeman

For those of you who use foam, how do you know how much to use?

Seems that I have had window sides bow when using it, obviously too much of it. The double hung window then didn't slide well.

Hey Dean,
Good question.
I looked into this situation and found that spray foam can be had in at least THREE different grades (expansion rates), which helps in preventing damage such as you describe. Always...read the directions tho

[5window]

We've all had things damaged in shipping-usually packed by the inexperienced. When you consider the millions upon millions of packages shipped in our country,especially this time of year, damaged package numbers might be startling-but still a quite small percentage of the total. I don't think in reality that one shipper is better than another-you might have just had better luck with one-so far.

But two years and 47 posts later-why hasn't Tom divulged what kind of dog biscuit box he used in post #1 to ensure safe travels?

[Cool Hand Lurker]

If you are in a small town like I am, the package can go through 5 or 6 transfer points so it gets handled a lot and can be dropped at loading and unloading up to 12 times during the trip. It doesn't matter how careful USPS, UPS, or FedEx tries to be, it will get dropped.
Heavy items need special packing. On these, crumpled up newspaper is worthless because on every drop the heavy item will compress it much more than you can when you pack the box. Pretty soon it is slamming the ends of the box and they don't last very long. Heavy stuff has to be double boxed.
For stuff I send to Iraq or Afganistan I use real peanuts packed in small sandwich bags so it won't shift around. It really supports the load and the guys can eat the packing!

[Synchro909]

The only safe way to mail parts is NOT USPS if you want them to arrive. I'm still waiting for a parcel posted o 16th Dec last year. It spent 41 days in the LA sorting facitliy and still hasn't reached Australia. Terrible!

[johnbuckley]

From US to UK I usually get parts from Snyders and always use Fedex. Fantastic service from both- ordered parts 7.30pm Monday ( 1.30pm Snyders time) delivered to a remote farmhouse here in UK by 11.30 am Friday ( 06.30am Snyders time). Sometimes can't get a parcel froml from London that quick!!!

[harleytoprock]

A few months back my UPS driver handed me a package. The box was torn open with nothing inside. I said to the driver "there's nothing in the box!". He gave me a blank stare for a few moments and then said call the shipper. Why even attempt to deliver an empty torn open box? Go figure! It was so stupid, I thought it was actually funny. Luckly it was nothing precious.

[portside]

One of the best packing materials for heavy items is carpet pad . If you know a carpet installer you can get the unused pieces for most likely free?

[al's28/33]

I've found that cutting up cardboard and filling the entire inside of the box around the generator prevents it from shifting. Keeps it secure and provides a nice buffer when the box IS dropped!!

[RonC]

I have great luck with UPS. FedEx not so good.

[montanafordman]

As a pilot I always heard this phrase being knocked around about UPS vs. FedEx:

UPS is a freight company trying to run an airline and FedEx is an airline trying to run a freight company.

[dumb person]

The real reason the post office is dying. Nothing reaches it's destination. And i have posted things to the USA only to find they don't get there. No idea why the post office exists anymore if the horror stories in this thread are anything to go by.

[Bill Underwood]

I just had a cabriolet body shipped fedex from Idaho
The landau irons were already plated so I asked them to mail them to me.
The 500# body via FedEx arrived Wednesday (shipped Tuesday a week ago)
The tube with landau irons shipped same time via uspo says still in Denver!
Been in Denver since 2/19 locals don't have a clue.
FedEx is the better of the three. For sure.

[denis4x4]

Quite frankly, the USPS vs UPS vs FedEx has more to do with geographical location than the individual companies. When the USPS closed the Durango sorting operation, everything now goes through Albuquerque and priority mail isn't a priority! However, we have excellent FedEx and UPS service. Trying to ship or receive any bulk freight (or a car) is a real chore as we are hundreds of miles from major east-west or north-south routes. If I send a letter from Durango to Pagosa Springs 60 miles away, it goes to Albuquerque, then to Denver and back to Pagosa.