Ask the Pelicans: Best way to ship a transmission?

[bryanthompson]

I bought a 944 transmission from one of the pelicans here and am looking for a good way to have it shipped to my house. I could get ahold of a larger vehicle if I need to pick it up, it would just make life a LOT easier if they could drop it off.

He said it weighs about 150 lbs, dimensions are 30" x 24" x 24".
edit: actual size ended up being 18x20x29.

- Who will deliver right to my house?
- Any idea on approx. cost from Cali to NE?

[AFJuvat]

Go Greyhound and leave the driving to them...

Greyhound will ship cargo - seller drops it off at the terminal on his end, you pick it up on your end.

You can also use a trucking company (like Roadway), but they are a little pricey. It was something like $270 to ship a 944 motor from Florida to New Mexico.

AFJ

[bryanthompson]

SC911SC: Do you remember which company they used?

[bryanthompson]

woof! $270 is about the cost of the transmission! The Greyhound website doesn't wnat to load, but once it does, I'll check that out. thanks AF

[bryanthompson]

Dang, Greyhound says the max weight they'll ship is 100 lbs

[RickM]

National Van Lines
Fedex Freight or Ground
forward air
Or common carrier and tell them it's a core unit......as per this thread: Shipping large / heavy items: Options

[widebody911]

Can you give me the 2 ZIP codes?

[bryanthompson]

Sacramento, 94203 to Lincoln, 68503.

So far, DHL looks like the winner at $80.70.

[widebody911]

Yeah, the quotes I found range from $204 to $313 for door-to-door. Terminal to terminal would be $90

[bryanthompson]

Terminal to term sounds like the way to go for sure, then. It only drops DHL by $2, but it might be more significant with the other shippers.

[RickM]

Originally posted by bryanthompson
Sacramento, 94203 to Lincoln, 68503.

So far, DHL looks like the winner at $80.70.

Fedex is $80.51

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Go Forward Air. I recently shipped a complete 3.2 on a palette from Boston to LA, total was $275.

[amity914]

I got a quote from FedEx for $45 to ship a 914 tranny once. It weighed like 80lbs, but they told me that they wouldn't ship it unless it was from business to business, that residential shipping was out of the question. I hate shipping trannys, won't do it again.

Hiedi

Originally posted by RickM
Fedex is $80.51

[red-beard]

Do not use UPS. Do not ship it in cardboard. Strap it to a pallet and take to Forward Air. You should be able to ship for under $100 including massive insurance. Do not forget the insurance. Insure it for replacement value (i.e include shipping costs).

[bryanthompson]

The nearest Forward Air place is 2 hours from his place, and 1 hour from mine.. I don't think he'd want to go all that way. The only options left are FedEx, DHL, and UPS.

Has anyone used DHL for something like this? I don't have any confidence in UPS, and I am a little unsure about FedEx...

[speeder]

Reviving this thread; Does DHL ship a ~600 lb. motor? I know that Forward Air does. (On a pallet of course).

[Evans, Marv]

Bryan:
I shipped my transmission from San Diego to Seattle (John Walker) via UPS. It was a pain in the butt, but doable. Your dimensions are correct. What I did was buy some 2x3s and three eights plywood (more or less three eights) and deck screws. I determined the measurements of the plywood sides and determined how they would be cut out of a 4x8 sheet, and Home Depot cut them our for me. It took time to put the box together with the 2x3 frame and deck screws. I used 2x3s to brace the transmission in the box (2x3s across the top & sides) and long bolts to fasten the front of the tranny to a 2x3. The whole thing ended up weighing about 140 pounds and cost $100 to send including insurance. UPS has a weight limit of 150 lb.