Does anyone have a account with a carrier who is best for shipping within the USA, business account etc??
any info would be great.
I’d like to know too. Just shiped a board San Diego to Sonoma Ca. by Pilot freight $190. The guy was not happy. I ate the boxing cost. I am not stoked. Probably will not ship boards anymore too much trouble.
Amtrak is good if you have a terminal close to you and where you are shipping it to. $70 coast to coast.
delta cargo is awesome. it gets there the same day that you drop it off! getting an account is a real pain in the arse though. funny that delta charges $200 per board for passeger luggage but for that amount you can ship 2 boxes full of boards on the same flight if it is ‘cargo’! ha! also funny that it cost more to send two boards up the coast than for a whole box going to Japan…nothing makes sense with the airlines…
i have shipped fedex and ups freight too - not too bad but usually more expensive.
the best is to throw it in the pickup and drive it wherever it needs to go and make a surf trip out of it! or pass it on to a buddy headed that way - have seen a few posts on swaylocks making that happen…
Find some big appliance boxes and cut them/tape them/glue them to make a telescoping 2-piece box. Line the inside top, bottom, sides and ends with some DOW insulation foam panels from Home Depot.
Get an account with Fed-Ex. They aren't too bad if you have an account and are not shipping a longboard. Longboards are a real pain in the ass to ship. Best to find a shop that is experienced with shipping those. Pay them to piggy back with one of their shipments. The recipient might have to drive a ways to pick it up at the receiving shop but it'll save some serious dough.
Otherwise, with a longboard prepare to deal with freight companies.
Overseas? Forget about it. Post 9/11 has that fucked up real good.
“Longboards are a real pain in the ass to ship”
That was my problem. It was 8’6" box. I guess a lot of places will not ship boards anymore due to bogus repair damage claims. Do not blame em if thats the case. I have seen guys trying to say a ding was a $200 repair.
I can fly to South America out of TJ and a board cost about $75.
I have an independent freight agent, Dolly Mancerella, she works some good carriers, but freight isn’t cheap anymore, I shipped to Cleanlines in Seaside, Oregon yesterday, today to Kaion in Hawaii by ocean freight
619-818-5660
At Jim’s suggestion, I’ve shipped through Dolly before. As Jim says, freight’s not cheap anymore, but her rates were waaaayyyy better than other quotes.
Is it possible/practical for the average joe (no business) to ship boards beforehand through Delta Cargo for regular surf travel. I always like to travel with a longboard as part of my quiver and it is getting very expensive to check them in as luggage. I read somewhere that the competitors on the Big Wave World Tour use Delta Cargo to ship their 10’ guns before a contest.
Hello Mr Phillips, I hope that you enjoy shaping that off the menu 7’ mini gun, Andrew told me you don’t get many orders for those type of boards.
: )
Hi Guys-
We pack and ship boards all the time for some of the big guys (Hurley, Quik, etc…) and individuals on a daily basis. We have some great rates for both packing and shipping. The packing prices depend on whether the board(s) have glassons or removeable fins and how many boards per shipment. We have a number of shipping companies we ship with and find the best one that suits your shipment based on dims of the box and zipcode it’s being shipped to. It’s up to you if you want us to pack your board(s) or you’re welcome to pack yourself. We’ve been packing and shipping for over fifteen years so we like to think we know what we are doing.
This is just one of many services we provide to the surf industry. Give us a call or email with any questions.
Good luck whatever route you go as shipping surfboards/blanks is a pain in the @$$ no matter how you slice it!
Hope this helps- Brad
As of late I’ve used Delta Cargo and FedEx,…Delta Cargo by far the best rate I’ve encountered ,…from Hono to Calif and Hono to eastcoast and back.
I had to use FedEx from San Deigo to eastcoast because of time constraints on my end—twice the amount of Delta Cargo.
Delta Cargo, have managed to not destroy the box/boards in transit-----but FedEX picks up and delivers door to door—same with UPS which I’ve used but–wayyyyyy too expensive.
Spread Aloha, Randy