OT: trucking question for MASON: well, shipping.... if you have the time

#1

Hey Mason. Long time no talk. Good to see you are still knitting on the road and in bars! Wondering if you might have any recommendation… well, this is maybe boring but I’m trying so hard to get one or two of my mother’s things, an armoire, maybe also her couch, shipped to me. She passed away a few years ago and my dad has hung onto the furniture and kept it in good shape (and its beautiful)… and now he has to move coz he’s 86. Both my husband and I are out of jobs, his company closed in Sept, so I’m looking like crazy for the cheapest way to ship the two pieces or just one maybe, from Phoenix AZ to New York, upstate.

Are there carriers that are cheaper than others? Is there any way to get a discount! ha, I’m sure there’s not, just thought I’d throw it out anyhow. I"m going through this website, uship.com right now where they bid. Got some bids for like $750, etc, then finally one for $425. I was hoping to spend $300 but I guess I’m dreaming.

Ok, I don’t want to bother you much, just in case you have any tips I’d greatly appreciate it. also, understand if you don’t have time… cheers, Vic OOPS I FORGOT TO PUT OT OFF TOPIC!

#2

If I can put in a couple words here… Mason just drives the truck, rates are set by his company. You will just have to do the comparisons yourself.

#3

For comparison purposes, I asked for estimates on having a professional moving company move just my big furniture (couch, bookcases, bed, dresser, washer, dryer) locally, and the lowest cost was $500. $425 for moving some big pieces across the country sounds like a steal to me.

#4

Thanks… I know Mason just drives the truck but being in the business, sometimes people have some better knowledge than those of us who aren’t. Esp about which companies are good and those that aren’t. I’ve been working on this all week and making comparisons. phew. It’s just one piece also. An armoire. okey doke.

#5

$425 for that distance is a bargain.

I’ve been in the business for many years both as a company driver and owner, so I am quite familiar with rates for LTL (less than truckload) freight. That’s a pretty cheap rate there.

If you have someone to load the pieces onto the truck, Wilson has a “you load we drive” service that may be worth checking out. I’m not sure of their current rates, but do know that the depressed economy has freight rates in general pretty low at the moment (which explains why my income is so low at the moment-I work for percentage).

#6

Mason, thank so much for taking the time. I can’t believe it, I missed the guy with the great quote of $425, he left the area. Wow. Didn’t know you got to jump on things so quick in the LTL world. Live and learn. Thanks for the tip about the other load yourself place, I’ll check it out right now. Really appreciate it Mason. cheers, Vic

#7

You’re welcome.

Yes, if someone is bidding on a load they are usually looking to pick something up and get rolling. Can’t make any money sitting around.

#8

hey Victoise,
I recently had a dining room set shipped to me and used uship. My first bid was quite cheap but expired quickly and then I kept getting much more expensive bids and I was kicking myself for not jumping on the first bid faster. But eventually I got a few more bids, all very close to the first bid, so it all worked out in the end. I guess I’m just letting you know you should be patient when looking at uship. It helps to be open-ended about when you need to receive your items. If someone else is also shipping across that distance, your items might be added to their truck and you might get a good deal :slight_smile:

Hope it works out for you…

#9

ABF is known to be cheaper than others. It is how my 300 lb embroidery machine came to me with tailgate delivery (You want tailgate delivery, otherwise they just pull up and you are expected to get it off the truck yourself…)

But they don’t honor their estimates of delivery time very well. It might take them days to pick up, and when it gets to the terminal on the other end, they’ll make sure they don’t make any extra trips to you, they’ll stall until they have it in line with other deliveries. I had to threated to call the company I bought from (who deals with them all the time) in order to get them to bring it on out to me.

Donna

#10

Yarncharmer! Thanks for posting that! That is exactly what I’m going through … the bids are much higher. I’m still hoping one will come in that I can afford before next Wed. Glad you posted this, it helps!

fluffy! funny name… I’ll check them out. I don’t care if it takes months to arrive, I just really want my mum’s armoire (and god my dad and my husband are not helping at all, they think I’m nuts)
Boy oh boy. Wish I could go get the thing myself. Thanks!

#11

When my Mother died I had a few pieces of furniture shipped from SC to NY. The cheapest way I found was to contact a a moving company and tell them I had a partial load, and was in no hurry for delivery. It took about 4 months but eventually they had a load coming my direction that wasn’t full and I was able to have my items included.

Rates differ from one carrier to the next and you have no guarantee of how long it will take. But it worked for me.

#12

That is the nature of LTL freight, you’re trading fast delivery for lower rate.

#13

Thanks GinnyG! I’m looking around for that now that you suggested it but it’s not easy to find a moving company that does that.
Geez. This is a lot harder than I expected. I finally got a nice new quote at $478 from uship but they’re not sure if they can pick up next week. It’s a maybe Friday or Sat. Crikey.

#14

Well, as the others said, you either get cheap rates or fast service - take your pick… :wink: