I know this has been covered befoe but when I did a search I got mostly ads for free shipping on orders.

So I need to ship an 11' and 10' both one peice. From Cape cod to the Keys. Last time I did this ( several years ago) I bought a peice of PVC pipe. Bubble wrapped the rods and sealed the ends of the pipe. Was wondering what you guys do to number one protect the rods and two ways to keep shipping costs down.

I would strap the rod to a long dowel rod that is just a tad longer than the rod itself. This keeps the tip of the rod from ramming into the end of the tube if the parcel is shoved across a shipper's warehouse floor and makes a sudden stop. This action tends to break more rods in shipping that you'd think. Ever seen a rod broken an inch back from the tip after being removed from an otherwise undamaged tube? That sudden stop and inside shift of the rod is what causes that.

.................

Good point Tom.

I'm thinking of using closed cell foam on either end to take up any space and give a soft surface to absorb any impact. Poor man's Pelican case.

Actually a styrafoam pool noodle around the out side would work as well.

Keep the ideas coming

Your best bet is shipping via Ground, all our manufacturers ship either FedEx Ground or UPS Ground and I have yet to see a broken blank in 2-3 months. Also, whatever you decide to use as packaging, get some tape with "fragile" on it or write it all over the package. Also, I would suggest putting the rods in the package opposite of each other and make sure the tip of the shorter rod is protected by the butt of the longer rod.

As Wyatt suggested you can use both butts to help save the tip of the other rod , use rubber bands to hold together the 2 rods,
as well as the foam on/in the ends, an you can dump loose foam down the tube [ PEANUTS ] to stop the vibration in the tube good luck

William Sidney
AK

Over insure the packages. the only PVC I ever had break the United States Postal service had it sticking out of a basket on a forklift and drove through a doorway catching the end of the pipe on the door frame and snapped the PVC in half.
They said it was their fault. But since I didn't insure it, I was out the money.....................

Strong argument for multi-piece rods! No need to ship.

Great suggestions. I like the idea of staggering the rods

Will definitely get plenty of insurance your crazy not to.

Thanks guys

As Tom said a piece of dowel just a bit longer than the rods taped to the rods. I bring quite a few rods across the country and have never had any problems despite going through two sets of baggage handlers.

Ray Balmforth
Figtree
NSW
Australia

I do three things when I ship rods, two already mentioned above - prevent the tip from being speared into the inside end of the tube (don't cut the tube too close to save pennies on shipping weight) and I also spiral wrap the tube with the "fragile" tape.

Here's the third thing I do that hasn't been mentioned yet:
A major problem with damage at sorting facilities are round tubes traveling down automatic conveyor systems designed to transport flat-bottom boxes. The conveyors often make turns and elevation changes and long round PVC tubes roll around - a lot - and end up getting afoul in the machinery and destroyed. You can greatly improve the likelihood that your rod tube will successfully traverse a conveyor belt by removing it's capability to roll around. I use to look for refrigerator shipping cardboard to fold and make a triangular cardboard jacket the PVC would slide inside. Later I realized all I really needed to do was create a cardboard triangle or square on each end of the tube which saved on the extra shipping weight. The flat surfaces rest on the conveyor and prevent the tube from rolling around.

Of course, none of these precaution will overcome a shipper worker's stupidity.

This is a side note to the insurance end: Don't over insure a rod say for $600 when your customer paid $400 with the idea that you'll be able to recover some money to repair/rebuild if the shipper breaks it. The shipper will only pay the cost your customer actually paid you. I know of rodbuilders who plan to attempt to get around this by mailing the customer their "actual" receipt and then include a "different" shipping receipt, with a higher value than the actual cost, with the rod tube in the event of a claim. Keep in mind the shipper will most likely contact the buyer to confirm what they paid before paying out any insurance claim.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2015 08:44AM by John E Powell.

John E Powell Wrote:

>
> Here's the third thing I do that hasn't been
> mentioned yet:
> A major problem with damage at sorting facilities
> are round tubes traveling down automatic conveyor
> systems designed to transport flat-bottom boxes.
> The conveyors often make turns and elevation
> changes and long round pvc tubes roll around - a
> lot - and end up getting afoul in the machinery
> and destroyed. You can greatly improve the
> likelihood that your rod tube will successfully
> travers a conveyor belt by removing it's
> capability to roll around. I use to look for
> refrigerator shipping cardboard to fold and make a
> triangular cardboard jacket the PVC would slide
> inside. Later I realized all I really needed to do
> was create a cardboard triangle or square on each
> end of the tube which saved on the extra shipping
> weight. The flat surfaces rest on the conveyor and
> prevent the tube from rolling around.
>


John, I like the triangle carboard idea, never thought of that. If I use a larger size to lay the rods in, then get a slightly smaller size for the insde and face it the opposite way it will be protected but have a flat surface. Then just make some cushioned ends to protect the rod tips. This seems like the way to go. Then mumify it with fragile tape and red bows.

My other concern is shipping this time of year. The extra volume of items and the seasonal help that gets hire to suppliment the workforce. As someone mentioned ship them ground, the local UPS store suggested that as well.

Thanks again for all the ideas

Matt

With respect to the post about putting fragile on a shipment.

NEVER put FRAGILE on a shipment.

I have chatted with some folks who worked at various shippers. They claimed, that often - especially during a busy time - when they see a box marked fragile, they play games seeing how far they can throw the box.

Good luck

Be prepared for huge shipping charges on 11'0" rods/blanks
Herb

I believe that Herb is correct on the shipping charges for an 11' box.
I believe that Fed Ex ships up to 10 foot long boxes at a semi reasonable rate. Not sure about 11 foot boxes though.

Be safe

I had a large rod order to ship. I cast about for an appropriate cardboard box, where I could nicely ship them all in the same box.

After checking a bunch of suppliers, I found that U-Haul rental - had an excellent supply of cardboard boxes. In their selection, I found the perfect box for the shipment.

By the way, a box cutter is a shippers best friend. The main thing is adequate cardboard to make the box. It is easy to make a large box smaller with a straight edge and a box cutter and tape.

Be safe