Anybody know who is the cheapest carrier to ship longer rods such as a 7' rod in a pcv tube? My local UPS store is quoting me $40 or $36 if I take it to the UPS main depot which would cost me more than $4 in gas.
Several @#$%& stores quote much lower UPS prices for similar lenghts, do they get wholesale rates?
thx

I use US Postal Service for all of my rods up to 7-feet or so.

If you go to their website (www.usps.com) and calculate postage, it is very clear what constitutes a "Large Package" or a "very large package". A 7-foot rod usually costs me around 25 bucks to ship (give or take the costs of options like insurance and tracking)

For longer rods like 9-foot or 11-foot one-piece rods, DHL seems to have the least expensive rates but you have to have an account set up with them. My supplier has shipped me 11-foot blanks by DHL at a cost of $25.

I always find UPS to quote lower prices on their website than what they calculate at the shipping location. I can't figure it out but have learned to just accept it.

FEDX isn't bad. They're home delivery costs about $20 for less than 7'. They go by an overall dimension and the zip the package is going to. The cost to ship a tube 97" X 5" X 5" which is considered oversize is $32. Drop down the length by about a foot, width, and height by an inch and you're in the normal range. You can find this out on their website. You can register which doesn't cost you anything and never use their service. I'm sure UPS and DHL do the same. That would make it easy to compare costs by doing a little on line surfing.
Jeff Schwartz

I just loooked at a shipping tube, I received several 7' blanks in. It cost my supplier $16.85 from US Postal. I have shipped several and don't recall it being over $20. John Butterfield

Try looking for " drain pipe " It is a thinner pipe and will cut the cost of the shipping. Pack well around the rod Home depot caries them 4" ID

I am paying $11.50 at the Post Office to send those same size packs, UPS wants $28.00

I use USPS most of the time. They are cheaper and, for me, easier. You would think that by paying more, you would be gaurenteed less accidents and more on-time shipping. Not so. I've had just as many accidents with UPS as with USPS. Just get insurace and you'll be good either way.

Jim,
Try asking them for standard shipping. Sounds like they are charging you an overnight or two day charge. I always use UPS and for an overnight it is about 40 bucks. But for standard shipping (4 to 5 days) I've never paid more than about $15 using standard PVC.

They told me that the fact that I wanted to ship a 7' rod is what got me into oversize costs. For ex, a 6' rod was far less than the 7'.

I always use the US Post Office Priority Mail. Here at my local post office I know the postmaster well and here is the breakdowns on shipping. The total length AND diameter of a PVC tube must be under 84 inches to be undersized. Generally this means a 6'6" rod. They usually ship for about $15.00, if over the 84" designation, you get jumped up to the "balloon" charge which automatically puts you at a 15 pound minimum shipping charge. I'm in Ohio and the most cost for a rod over 7 foot is to CA and it costs about $30.00. My local USP shipping center wants about $50.00 for any rod I've taken there. Even for shipping in Ohio.

Clint

Oh yeah.
I forgot about the automatic $20 for a 7'. I hardly ever build anything longer than 6' so it didn't come to mind.

I just checked the tube I got 7' blanks in again and it is 90" long w/ 11" dia. It was shipped from MN to AL, Priority Mail for $16.85. Their shipping charge is $12 for blanks under 6' and $19 for 6' - 7 1/2'. ???? John Butterfield

I work for a company that is competition to all these companies listed above. We service the midwest. Namely, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, and parts of Illinois and Nebraska. I will not mention our name as I don't want to seem like I am advertising for my company.
Anyway, we do not charge any oversize charges on any package until the length + girth is over 130 inches. This means that up to 10 foot rods can be shipped for usually under 10 bucks. Our maximum length on packages is 10 feet, by the way.
The only drawback is that we only cover these few states. But if we are in your area, a lot of money can be saved. I can ship stuff to and from St. Croix cheaper than ever.

Usually they up charge around $15.00 for the "oversized" carton. (UPS) I'd go with the USPS.

Art

Hi Jim,

Try shipping it by UPS 3-Day, on blanks over 6 feet it costs about half as much or less then shipping them ground.

UPS charges you an oversize charge (30 lb. rate) for blanks over 6 feet, but when you send it 3-Day they calculate the dimensional weight.

Tom S. Brown
Pacific Bay International

One good thing about US postal service is you're less likely to have mail employees tamper with your rods because it is a federal offense for them to do so.....that's not the case at UPS and others. I've had a several problems with UPS.