Posted by Rick on November 19, 2001 at 09:44:01:
In Reply to: UPS Shipping/Insurance Follow-up posted by Erik on November 18, 2001 at 16:09:38:
Erik:
I once attended a shipping seminar at work and the guideline we were given is that it should be able to withstand the forces of being thrown something like 40 feet. Luckily we sell literature so a decently packaged book can withstand that easily. The UPS truck driver that serves us backs up to the dock and throws everything out of the truck into a big pile (usually 50-60 boxes a day), has the dock worker sign, then drives off. The dock workers joke about it, they've said something to UPS but he still does it that way so I guess it's standard operating principle.
The corporate portion of Mailboxes Etc is partially owned by UPS (the local stores are franchised) so using them might give you a little more leverage if you had a claim.
My Mirafone was shipped in a plastic bag then foamed into the box. My Weril was tightly wrapped in six inches of bubble wrap then floated in peanuts. The biggest thing is to make sure it doesn't move around in the box.
On a side note, I worked with our transportation folks here when selling my last horn and they recommended using the sprayed in foam in an oversized box, then wrap the box to a pallet and ship the whole thing via LTL freight carrier. They said the LTL carriers are easier to deal with on claims.
Good luck!
Rick