Shipping a tonneau cover

[Kickstarts-suck]

Anyone ever done it before? Found one I want but I need it to be shipped to me.

How would I go about that?

Its fiberglass BTW.

[CJM]

UPS or FedEx, the seller would have to wrap it best they can with bubblewrap and shrink wrap tape stuff. maybe put some cardboard on the outside too.

That or make a woodbox it fits into.

[Kickstarts-suck]

Im thinking building a wood frame around it and bubble wrapping the hell out of it would be the best bet.

Thanks

[YFZ-FoFiddy-TC]

That would be your best bet. Just make sure it's nice and sturdy. It the frame breaks I'm sure the fiberglass will get cracked along the way.

[yellowzo3]

If you have to make a wooden crate for it, its going to be super heavy and you're going to pay big time to have it shipped. You'll probably have to pay big time anyway just because it's so huge.

To be honest I would look into just getting a new one unless you're getting a really really great deal on this one. The cost to ship it may outweigh the price of a new one.

Can you imagine walking into the UPS Store trying to fit the tonneau cover through the door :p

[Kickstarts-suck]

Originally posted by yellowzo3
If you have to make a wooden crate for it, its going to be super heavy and you're going to pay big time to have it shipped. You'll probably have to pay big time anyway just because it's so huge.

To be honest I would look into just getting a new one unless you're getting a really really great deal on this one. The cost to ship it may outweigh the price of a new one.

Can you imagine walking into the UPS Store trying to fit the tonneau cover through the door :p

Cant do a new one. New one $800.. Used one $400 shipped.

Paying $200 to ship it. :scary:

But ive been trying to find a fiberglass cover for about 6 months. Hard to find for my year truck..

Has to be a good way to ship them cause how else would they get send around the USA?

[yellowzo3]

Businesses have all sorts of accounts and stuff set up with UPS and FedEx so I'm sure they pay much less than the average joe when they ship items.

Companies probably ship them in a big carboard box with styrafoam all around the edges and pieces in the middle for support or something. Unfortunately packing material is stupid expensive if you have to go buy some at the store. Businesses save money buying in bulk.

This is just going to be one of those things that's insanely expensive to ship :p ...I think UPS automatically insures everything up to $100... If I were you I'd just look into seeing what the insurance cost would be on something like that since it is pretty huge and I doubt anyone at UPS will be handling it with great care.

My guess is it will be $200 for insurance. :ermm:

[sexysilverado45]

to be honest with you i work at ups loading packages at night just take it in and tell them you want to ship it as an irreg. just wrap it up real good with something and it shouldn't be more than 50 to 75 bucks.

[YFZ-FoFiddy-TC]

Originally posted by sexysilverado45
to be honest with you i work at ups loading packages at night just take it in and tell them you want to ship it as an irreg. just wrap it up real good with something and it shouldn't be more than 50 to 75 bucks.

Apparently you haven't worked at UPS long. You don't tell them you want it shipped as an irreg, irreg's are based on size or weight. A tonneau cover would be an irreg, but just wrapping it up isn't going to cut it. I've worked at UPS almost 3 years now and have seen to many things coming through that say "Fragile" and get tossed around like they're basketballs. If you're shipping something such as a fiberglass sheet, you're going to want it done right. If it was me, I would make a wood box with 4 2x4's around the edges and a 1/4" sheet of wood on both sides. If you don't want to do that, put the tonneau in a box with about an inch of styrofoam on every side.

Even if shipping in the wood container you should still put atleast a thin sheet of styrofoam on each side.

Edit- And it's going to cost more than $75.

[sexysilverado45]

well then you have some really f'd up supervisers if you guys throw stuff around like that. but do what ever you want it wont cost as much to ship unless its ungodly huge and heavy.

[YFZ-FoFiddy-TC]

It goes along with that saying, "What your parents don't know wont kill them.".

[yellowzo3]

I dont think its just YFZ's area that treats packages like that... Every time I read something about UPS someone mentions them having to rush through packages like theres no tomorrow... They also show on the news EVERY YEAR around Christmas time how badly packages are treated while being shipped at airports and things as well. Never have I ever thought that UPS or any other shipping company treats any package well. I think most people feel the same.

Basically it winds down to this:

The actual buyer and shipper are the only people that care AT ALL if the package gets there in one piece. Everybody in between doesn't know you, doesn't want to know you, and will never see that package again so it gets dropped, thrown, slammed around, stacked, and everything else imaginable.

So whenever you ship stuff you have to just take a little extra time and spend a few more dollars on the correct packing material to make sure the package makes the trip safely. This tonneau is no different. Tell the seller to pack it up nice! You're screwed if it breaks, especially if you dont shell out the extra dough to insure it for what its worth.

I think the crate idea is best. Sure, it will cost a little more but imo its needed for something like that. I'm surprised the seller even wants to go through all of that work to ship it :p

[CJM]

Lemme tell you a little story:

My dad once worked for a company where based on your sales you accrued points you could use to buy stuff.

So we wanted a new tv and ordered it, the UPS guy comes and opens his truck and asks my mom to come over. There was no more box, just styrofoam taped all over with packing tape.

Guy goes "I told my boss it was pointless but he said to try seeing if you wanted it" My mom of course told him no and we got another one that came in fine.

But imagine, this is a decent sized tv that came in a nice padded box. how on earth did it manage to arrive with what equated to nothing? Easy-THEY DONT CARE so long as it goes on to the next point.

I worked UPS for 3 months, we had to work like nuts to load packages and trust me despite them being marked fragile and handle with care they never were. Infact I think if you mark it like they they purposely beat the packages.

I shipped my cyl to Gt Thunder and put a layer of peanuts on the bottom, top and sides and wrapped the cyl in like 4 layers of bubble wrap and then double boxed it to make sure. Frig the cost, I dont want a hunk of junk coming back cause it was damaged shipping.

Wooden crate with styrofoam maybe is best bet.

[YFZ-FoFiddy-TC]

Sometimes there is a package that gets damaged because someone throughout the shipping process decided to thrash it, but 95% of the time it's due to poor packaging on the shippers part. I get boxes all the time that weigh 70+ lbs. with a thin strip of tape holding it shut..... Come on now? When a box like that breaks open I could care less because obviously it wasn't important enough to package properly. I usually end up rolling those out and dropping them off the 4 foot grating because I have to get it out of my way.

As far as I'm concerned that's the packager's fault, not mine.

[CJM]

Your right about poor packaging.

What I can say is the 2nd tv arrived and was packaged pretty well-same brand and all-so I doubt it was the shippers fault or the manufacturer.

[k4f5x0r]

I ordered my skimboard online from a reputable website(skimboards are pretty fragile depending on the make) and they wrapped it up great. Foam on the nose, tail, and all through out the rails(sides). And also taped it up, and wrapped it in a cardboard box that was thoroughly taped.

The box came to my house completely wrecked in any area that wasn't covered by tape. If the foam wasnt covering the board, im sure it would have came to me cracked and in pieces.

Short story, UPS workers should really show more care, but i understand that they have to move millions of boxes a year so its bound to happen.