I was just notified that a board I’ve been waiting on is ready and has been boxed to be shipped, the manufacturer was going to ship it to me via DHL. My question, is this the best carrier ie; quick, safe, cheap etc, or are there other methods that work better. Quick being a priority as I leave for Australia in just over a week and want to take the board. Board is in Santa Barbara/Ventura area and I’m on LBI, New Jersey but could take the drive to the airport to pick up if neccesary. Any suggestions?
Prayer might be useful, esp. if God doesn’t hear from you too often. My “success” rate re shipping stands at 66%, 4 of 6 have arrived undamaged and on time. I’ve been able to repair shipping damage on the 2 that the baggage buffoons/baboons played frisbee with.
When you fly to Australia, you should be going through LAX airport, maybe you can pick it up from the West Coast directly, rather than the board flying from west-east, and then you taking the board east-west one week later. I don’t know where the Santa Barbara/Ventura area is but it’s just an idea. Regards, Matt.
If you seriously need help, I live in LA. I can pick your board up and have it at the airport when you fly to Austraila, you’ll probably hvae to stop at LAX. Just let me know. I just had to deal with shipping boards from hawaii, and it is a pain. People should not have to deal with these high fees that these shippers charge and the bull that goes with it.
Quickest/cheapest way to ship a board is with Airborne Express. DHl is a bit more expensive on these things. Those are pretty much your only two routes, unless you have a real short board, then Fed Ex enters the picture. All 3 can run a good bit coast to coast tho. Amtrak will ship your board, but Im not sure if you would get it in time. It would only run ya around 30-40 bucks depending. You would also have to go pick your board up at your local Amtrak station. Your best bet is to have the guy with the board meet you at an airport in LA and route your flights accordingly before you get to Australia. Im sure that most flights would route in that area anyway(it being heavily populated), or that you could easily find one.
Just out of curiosity, why is a NJ surfer ordering a board from SoCal???
Thanks for the info guys and especially the offer from Bulahi is much appreciated, however my plane goes via San Fransisco not L.A., so to get off the flight, rent a car, drive x hours there and back, stay in a hotel for the night because of missing my connection and lose one day of my vacation sounds more expensive than shipping the board. In response to why would a NJ surfer get a board from So. Cal, well I shape my own boards and shape an ever increasing number per year for my clients, (did a sweet 9’6" triple stringer job yesterday) but every year or so I treat myself to a custom board from another shaper (last year it was Simon Anderson, this year Malcolm Campbell) because I believe you can learn a lot from riding other peoples shapes, especially if they are the acknowledged master of their particular design.
Makes sense to me. Well let’s hope your bonzer makes it there undinged! Happy travels!