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.

On 4/13/2019 9:09 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
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.

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 9:25:53 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 4/13/2019 9:09 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
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.

I don't have exact measurements yet, but it's your basic built in single
wide gas fireplace. 4'-ish?


It may be cheaper to fly out there, rent some tools and built on site.

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.

On 4/13/19 8:09 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
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.


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.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com

On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 06:09:20 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

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.

Go to https://www.uship.com/ and get a free estimate

DerbyDad03 writes:
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.


Pretty much any mailing or shipping business will be able to
arrange LTL shipping for oversize or heavy objects.

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 10:41:01 AM UTC-4, -MIKE- wrote:
On 4/13/19 8:09 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
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.


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.



Yeah, I forgot about Fastenal. I was going to use them once but whatever
situation was, it went away. Thanks for the reminder.

On 4/13/2019 8:09 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
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.


Visit son, build it there, problem solved. ;~)

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 11:49:21 AM UTC-4, swalker wrote:
On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 06:09:20 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

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.

Go to https://www.uship.com/ and get a free estimate

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 shipping details and I had to start over.

Oh snap! I already got a response. Less than 5 minutes! Hang on, let me
go read it. Am I suspicious? Sure am. Let me go see what it says...

"Good afternoon-

I see your dates are pretty far off, but are these items ready to go? Im 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 response. Items are not ready to ship. I don't have a budget because I've never done this before. What do you think would be a reasonable amount to pay for this type of shipment?"

Let's see what he says...

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 4:48:54 PM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 4/13/2019 8:09 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
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.


Visit son, build it there, problem solved. ;~)

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.

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 4:52:27 PM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 11:49:21 AM UTC-4, swalker wrote:
On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 06:09:20 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

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.

Go to https://www.uship.com/ and get a free estimate

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 shipping details and I had to start over..

Oh snap! I already got a response. Less than 5 minutes! Hang on, let me
go read it. Am I suspicious? Sure am. Let me go see what it says...

"Good afternoon-

I see your dates are pretty far off, but are these items ready to go? Im 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 response. Items are not ready to ship. I don't have a budget because I've never done this before. What do you think would be a reasonable amount to pay for this type of shipment?"

Let's see what he says...

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 theyre transporting, where theyre
going, etc. I wouldve quoted $150.

Keep in touch. If I run this route when youre ready, it would be my pleasure to help. Matt"

On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 06:09:20 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

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.

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.

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 5:27:58 PM UTC-4, swalker wrote:
On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 06:09:20 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

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.

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.

On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 14:51:43 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 5:27:58 PM UTC-4, swalker wrote:
On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 06:09:20 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

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.

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.

On 4/13/2019 5:05 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:


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 theyre transporting, where theyre
going, etc. I wouldve quoted $150.

Keep in touch. If I run this route when youre ready, it would be my pleasure to help. Matt"


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.

On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 10:47:13 PM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 4/13/2019 5:05 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:


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 theyre transporting, where theyre
going, etc. I wouldve quoted $150.

Keep in touch. If I run this route when youre ready, it would be my pleasure to help. Matt"


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.

I still find it kind of sketchy that this guy responded within 5 minutes and happens to be driving
the exact route *tonight*. Color me skeptical.