For any one of us that make and ship rods this is a scary story. A very good friend of mine that I built a lot of fishing rods for moved from Virginia to New Mexico. He has some others that he wants me to modify for him. He put 6 rods in a 4 in PVC pipe that was 97 inches long and headed to the Fedex store. The pkg weighed in at 8 pounds and he insured it for $1000. They told him that from Albuquerque NM to Maryland was going to cost him $335 to ship to me. He was told that new pricing went into effect on Jan 1 and anything over 6ft would be charged a $187.00 oversize fee !!!

So he went to UPS and asked them the price without insurance and was quoted $225 . If this is what we are looking forward to it will kill any business that required shipping. And what about the vendors shipping to us?

He asked them what about if I use my account and send him a shipping label. he was told that I could be back charged up to $200.

Now, I for one don't like using the USPS as they have broken so many of my shipments both coming and going. He was told that if he could get the tube under 95 inches it would run $50 plus insurance

Not having gone to the FEDEX store myself as of yet I'll see if I get the same story.

Has anyone else had this experience?

Tom

Think multipiece or telescopic or shorty one pieces..

Tom,

I think that Fed Ex and UPS, and the post office have had this policy for quite a while.

96 inches is 8 feet, not 6 feet.

As long as you have 96 - inches long you are fine with shipping. Typically under $50.

It is the 96+ shipments, i.e. 8 ' 1" and you hit the surcharge.

A while back a fellow wanted a 1-piece 10 foot rod. He was willing to pay the difference. I think that the shipping was about $250 for a $20 piece of rod.

But he was happy with the product.

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p.s.

I signed on to my Fed Ex shipping account and took a potential rod package - starting at 6 feet. The shipping was $41. I increased the length to 96 inches and the shipping was $41. I went to 97 inches and the shipping was $238.

So, this is the same thing that it has been for some time.

p.p.s.

I suggest that you cut the length of the package to 96 inches and see what your shipping cost will be. I suspect that it will be fine.
Now, if you are shipping a rod that has a finished length of 96 inches. you can ship it in a 96 inch tube. Put a piece of thin cardboard over each end of the tube and put several layers of Filament tape over the ends, and you finished length will be close enough to 8 feet that you will not get hit with the up charge.

I also called fed ex and spoke to support and they indicated that they did not have any significant rate change for 2021.
However, you do have to realize that Fex EX and UPS are primary carriers for the Covid-19 Vaccine. The shipments for the Covid-19 virus, will bump every other piece of shipping that they put on their planes. So, although the rates may be the same - if you happen to get involved with a Covid Vaccine shipment, your shipment will be left at the station, until the Covid Vaccine shipment has completed its journey.

Take care

Best wishes.

I use USPS all the time without any problems. Keep the length under 8' and you should be good.
Norm

Nothing new, it's the reason for all the 7 ft 10 and 11 in. blanks out there now.

Well I was pretty well freaked out when I heard that price. ON my part I have built very few rods in the 7'10 class' and they were picked up so I never realized that cost. Again I was going on what my customer told me and he was told due to covid shipments there were new Tiers for over length.

He went home and cut the tube to 94 inches and shipped via the post office and was charged $50

Roger as always I appreciate your effort in checking this on your account I will keep this info in mind when both shipping and receiving.

ps. A while back Roger I asked a friend of mine in Iowa who is new to rod building to see if you could help him out on some ice rods. Not only did you give him the right info but sent him something to further his craft. Needless to say he as ecstatic . I couldn't think of anyone better suited to offer advice on this than you. Thank you for being so helpful

Norm.....I might give USPS another try if I feel the shipping carton is strong enough to withstand their handling . I got a rod shipped by USPS a few years ago from Git Bit in a pvc pipe that when it got here it looked like a hocky stick. I bought the mailman and refused the shipment.