Shipping furniture to clients


JohnnyNoName

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I am curious about this as well. I have had some inquires from other states but none of them got past a ball park bid. There is a TV show called "Shipping Wars" and a website called " U-Ship" is where these independent shippers find clients. Haven't checked it out yet.

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Funny you should ask, Jonathan. I am in the middle of a claim against a trucking company that ruined a hickory dining room table I shipped to a client. They put a fork through the sides of the crate. They have offered to pay my client one third of the table cost to settle. They got an attorney immediately. Trying to make your crates "child proof" would be easier than making them gorilla proof. Believe me, they will put it through the Samsonite test. If I ship another table, I will insure it for three times the cost and charge a thousand dollars for crating. What happened with this shipment, and I could see the evidence in pictures of the damage, was they piled a bunch of other freight on top of my crate and then lifted the pile. Instead of lining the forks up with the built in supports that I made for that, they put the forks on the plywood sides. The excess weight forced the forks right through the plywood, foam boad, and bracing, and into the table top. The stress poped all the hardware off, including the slides, and ruined the top. I'm considering telling my next interstate customer that they will either have to pick it up themselves or pay me to take it to them.

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Funny you should ask, Jonathan. I am in the middle of a claim against a trucking company that ruined a hickory dining room table I shipped to a client. They put a fork through the sides of the crate. They have offered to pay my client one third of the table cost to settle. They got an attorney immediately. Trying to make your crates "child proof" would be easier than making them gorilla proof. Believe me, they will put it through the Samsonite test. If I ship another table, I will insure it for three times the cost and charge a thousand dollars for crating. What happened with this shipment, and I could see the evidence in pictures of the damage, was they piled a bunch of other freight on top of my crate and then lifted the pile. Instead of lining the forks up with the built in supports that I made for that, they put the forks on the plywood sides. The excess weight forced the forks right through the plywood, foam boad, and bracing, and into the table top. The stress poped all the hardware off, including the slides, and ruined the top. I'm considering telling my next interstate customer that they will either have to pick it up themselves or pay me to take it to them.

That sounds like a nightmare! I guess that's why I am asking, to find a trustworthy company. How much did you originally pay the moving company?

Jonathan

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. I'm considering telling my next interstate customer that they will either have to pick it up themselves or pay me to take it to them.

I would do the same do the same if in that same predicament . Shipping doesn't sound like its worth the possible aggravation when you factor in the shippers and loaders .

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Jonathan, I might also add that I used to work for General Elevator in Orlando, FL. and we shipped elevators all over the country. It didn't seem to matter who we used for our shipments, they all destroyed stuff on a regular basis. The ones we continued to use were the ones that accepted responsibility when they damaged our goods and made it right.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Jonathan,

I've used uship.com for equipment with great success. most of these guys are small owner/operators with one or two trucks who depend on the clients reviews for continued business. I've had two retired gentlemen and another younger fellow who were great to deal with, prompt and curtious and kept me informed with phone calls as to the status. I would be much more comfortable with someone like them than a large national company where countless individuals might come in contact with the piece, they pick it up and deliver it and in most cases it never leaves the truck until it reaches its destination once loaded.

Hope this helps,

Jim

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I have an update. I spoke with my client about a week ago and the insurance company said that because they signed for the shipment, they were in effect saying they received it in good condition. They offered them $900.00, take it or leave it and their attorney said take it. I told her that if they bring it to me, I will fix it for $900.00. I will probably lose my butt on that deal but I can't see them having to eat the whole loss. Pray that all goes smoothly.

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A few years ago, I applied for a position at UPS. I learned a bit on the tour, but never got a second interview. (Don't really like third shift, either...)

Both major carriers have the same policy: anything over 70 pounds, and it goes freight. Could be their freight, could be third party. Doesn't matter. Size sometimes comes up, too. If you can find a smaller shipper, or maybe someone local willing to drive for a while, you might be better off using that service. USPS has something similar, but I haven't used their freight service.

I have used a couple of common carriers. Which is why I recommend the local guys. I still have not had a good experience using a common carrier. One lost the entire delivery, but somehow provided proof of signatures.

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  • 5 months later...

I worked for a company once that briefly got into "freight salvage".  Basically, they would go in and bid on damaged freight from a trucking line that shipped by the pallet.  High bid won the pallet and most of it was subsequently resold or scrapped.  The thing that freaked me out about it was that the auctions were held weekly -- in a warehouse that was over 100,000 square feet in size.  That is around the size of 2 football fields.  It was generally packed.

 

As much as I hate to say it, make sure you insure for a value that will be worth the time/hassle if you have a complete loss.  It also wouldn't hurt to have pictures of the item(s) and packing just in case.  

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Funny you should ask, Jonathan. I am in the middle of a claim against a trucking company that ruined a hickory dining room table I shipped to a client. They put a fork through the sides of the crate. They have offered to pay my client one third of the table cost to settle. They got an attorney immediately. Trying to make your crates "child proof" would be easier than making them gorilla proof. Believe me, they will put it through the Samsonite test. If I ship another table, I will insure it for three times the cost and charge a thousand dollars for crating. What happened with this shipment, and I could see the evidence in pictures of the damage, was they piled a bunch of other freight on top of my crate and then lifted the pile. Instead of lining the forks up with the built in supports that I made for that, they put the forks on the plywood sides. The excess weight forced the forks right through the plywood, foam boad, and bracing, and into the table top. The stress poped all the hardware off, including the slides, and ruined the top. I'm considering telling my next interstate customer that they will either have to pick it up themselves or pay me to take it to them.

 

Do you have a picture of your crate before it left your shop?

 

All,

 

If you receive a SawStop, on the outside of the box is a notice saying that when you sign for it, make a note that there may be internal damage.

 

I remember reading that Sam Maloof always shipped by air because there is less risk for danger and the extra costs were worth it, over the increased risk of shipping it by ground methods.

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  • 7 months later...

The company I work for does a lot of long distance shipping and it's amazing how things can get destroyed in transit.  The guys loading and unloading the trucks, as well as those doing the driving don't know what is in the package and really don't care.  To them it's money - they get paid to move it and they get paid the same no matter the resulting condition.

 

I've got pictures of cartons of paper where the load obviously tipped in the truck and the cartons burst.  It was pushed back into position on the pallet and wrapped with stretch wrap.  "Maybe they won't notice."

 

I have less and less faith in FedEx Freight, especially if it has to travel some distance.

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I would shoot Doucette and Wolfe an email asking about the shipping company they use. On their website, they describe the company as " a blanket wrapped, white glove shipping company." And they are delivering furniture that Doucette and Wolfe hand crafted, so you know they are works of art, and theyre not going to let just anybody mishandle their work. 

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I work in a receiving department at a warehouse, and I see about 15-20 different trailers every single day. You would be surprised how terrible some of these shipments are. UPS, FedEx, JB Hunt, and the list goes on. The worst trailers by far, loading wise, are the UPS and FedEx ones. The pallets they use are usually falling apart by the time I get them, and the product falls through the broken slats and gets speared by my forklift a lot. A lot of product is pre damaged by those who move the freight around and reload in the FedEx or UPS trailers.

 

On the side of drivers, I don't know what this one driver did to cause such a mess in a detergent trailer. He must have hit the brakes HARD, or went down a 60 degree incline, with respect to the horizontal. It was that bad. In the nose of the trailer were pallets of dryer sheets. Not much weight to them, but then the rest of the trailer was 30-40 pallets of detergent. 50 boxes per pallet, and each box weighs about 30 pounds. Each and every detergent pallet shifted half a pallet forward. That is A LOT of weight moving.

 

Basically, the moral of the story here, it is a combination of loaders, unloaders, and drivers that can cause havoc. Be prepared.

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In most cases, I won't take a job that I can't personally deliver to.  It isn't just the shipping (which is at best a gamble) but you also have the purchaser moving, and assembling some parts.  I made the mistake of shipping a table once, and it will never happen again.  First, the freight will cost you more than the raw materials in most cases.  And if you have a claim, you will be unlikely to get a fair compensation.  

 

 

Keep in mind what you insure something for, does not mean that is what you get paid for, it is the max you will get paid.  They can claim "salvageable" or "partial damage" and pay a %.  Or they can come at you from a fair market value standpoint.  FMV is not what your customer paid, it's what an independent appraiser decides is an average of similar items.  (Guess who the "independent" appraiser's top customers are?  Hint...not you!)  Different carriers have different policies, but it seems to all add up to, don't ship freight sized items.  

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what i do, is charge my clients for a local delivery fee that's about half of what anyone else would charge because i'm still going to make money on the delivery. i can also guarantee that the item will get there in perfect condition...  I have never had a client who wanted me to ship a piece but they have wanted me to go to their place and build them things. if someone does want a collection of pieces then i will charge them the same price as any white glove shipper and have a nice road trip & make it worth my while. any client would prefer an artist delivery anyway.... there is nothing better than taking a picture of your piece in their home. 

 

I've gotten quotes from U ship for machinery but never pulled the trigger. 

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