I have shipped almost every part in these old truck. Long ago I stopped offering shipping quotes just because at times I'd have 4-5, or more, people interested in the part and it took way too much time to find shipping costs to different parts of the country. When I list something I list the weight, dimensions and my zip code and leave it up to the potentail buyer to figure out a shipping method and cost. Also in the past when I did give a shipping price I was accused of gouging, if I leave it up to the buyer they can see what the actual cost of shipping is. They find a shipper, fill out the paperwork on line and email a copy of the paperwork to ship the part.

In the past when I shipped larger items, items larger than accepted by UPS or FedEx I had buyer use either Fastenal's Blue Lane Freight (as long as the buyer was in my half of the country) or Uship. Never had a problem using either. Recently I sold another large item, same deal, had the buyer arrange shipping. This time the guy used commercial, or industrial version of Uship. What a pain. He picked Roadrunner Transportation, they do LTL (less than load) shipping between businesses. They are not considerate of single shipper, the run on their own schedule which works out for full time businesses with shipping departments that can ship and receive anytime during business hours. The problem I ran into is they gave an ETA to pick up the part, 1:20 pm on a certain day. 1:20 pm came and went. At 2:30 I called to find out when their truck was coming, I told them I had been waiting over an hour past they ETA. They told me the ETA was now 4:45 pm. Great I have other things I had to do but waited for them to come. 6:00pm and still no truck. This morning I called at 11:00am today and was told anytime between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. I told them that was no good, I had an appointment at 11:30 am. Put me on hold for five minutes and came back and told me they were going to pick up after 2:00 pm some time. My appointment lasted a little longer than expected and got home around 2:45 pm. Saw I had a phone mail box message at 2:29, check it and it as a very rude, snotty driver. I tried to call him back but his mailbox was full. Called the company and was told they come by tonight before 5:00 pm, it is now 5:25 pm, no truck.

The reason I'm posting this is to give you guys a heads up. If shipping something big try to find a smaller shipper that really cares about how they treat their customers, the big guys don't seem to give a damn. Like i said, I had good luck with Fastenal and Uship. I've used Uship commercial division for my business to ship industrial equipment and what they call their "Uship Marketplace" when shipping automotive items. Most LTL like Roadrunner won't deal with anyone who doesn't have either a loading dock or a forklift. Not many people have either.

 

Rojak handles shipping. He might be able to help you next time. I know in the past I have had nothing but problems with smaller shipments. I sometimes use a friend's business that has a fork lift and shipping department. That helps. When I have them ship to me, they are supposed to call first, but if I am home I hear them in my driveway, no call. When they do give me morning or afternoon, they are never when they are supposed to be there and I waste a whole day waiting for them. Very frustrating.

 

I finally got rid of the pallet, finally. After two days of screwing around Roadrunner sent a guy with a straight truck. I talked to the guy for a few minutes and it turned out Roadrunner contacts this guy, an idependant contractor, to pick up what looks like small shipments, he had other one pallet items in his truck. What a hassle. I don't feel it was all the trucking firm's fault, part of it lays with the buyer of the parts. I talked to the buyer Monday and I asked if he has a business. He said he's retired but ran his own business buying and selling cars so I don't know if he had any experience shipping freight. I have shipped and received a fair amount of industrial freight using national trucking firms and never had a proble do it. I just think Roadrunner doesn't deal with small shipments from small home bussiness without a dedicated full time shipping department. The buyer didn't seem to have any experience shipping freight and I didn't take into consideration that the buyer didn't know.

If I have to ship something I would go again with either Fastenal or go through Uship but make sure I use the more approprate side of the site for the item I am shipping. I shipped a couple of industrial items and was amazed on easy it was. Answered a few questions and chose a national trucking company and all the paperwork was done. If I had to ship larger truck parts I'd probably us Uship marketplace side of the site.

 

I have had to deal with large pallets of parts for my business. It was such a hassle that I would just get items sent to my local electrical supply house. Otherwise I wasted time by having to stay home and wait. I don't think I have ever gotten a delivery on the scheduled time. Even when I paid extra for overnite of parts I needed for emergency repairs. I did find that one of my neighbors had the fedex truckers personal number. I was able to chase the driver down and get a part I needed for an emergency repair. I found him nearby around 2pm. I had paid a lot extra to guarantee next morning delivery.

 

I was getting cabs loaded with parts shipped from California to Akron Ohio to Fastenal here in Akron. Akron has one of the largest shipping receiving hubs in the country. Only thing was when it arrived I had to pick up between 9 and noon next day. I never was late to pickup my shipment. I did this for years. It was an amazing gig. My guy would pallet the cab and load the cab and haul it to his Fastenal