Freight companies?

[John Sincerbeaux]

Bought a Northfield 16" jointer.
I am getting quotes for shipping. I know there are a lot of guys here who have bought used equipment. Looking for recommendations. So far I have a quote from ABF.
Thanks

[Erik Loza]

Over the years, Minimax/SCM has used ABF, Watkins, Southeastern Freight Lines, Old Dominion, and probably others I am forgetting. These days, they use exclusively FedEx commercial. The reasoning for that, I was told, was that FedEx pays all damage claims within 30 days, which is a huge deal when (unfortunately) a fact of life is that entire machines sometimes show up, destroyed.

I can't give you any advice about who specifically to go with except to say that in my experience, the less way points or terminals your machine has to go through during its transit, the less chance there is of it getting damaged and also, you want as beefy a pallet or crate on the shipping end as possible and I would definitely pay for some type of insurance. You can have the most careful drivers in the business but a monkey on a forklift can still drop it or back into it, so you need to be protected.

Best of luck with it.

Erik

[Charles Taylor]

I have heard (okay, read) that Fastenal will ship store-to-store pretty economically. It's still up to the sender to crate the machine and drop it off at the originating store, and it's up to you to get it from your local store after it arrives.

[Paul Wunder]

Can't help with other freight companies but I recently had a very positive experience with ABF who delivered a SuperMax drum sander to my home in Connecticut. ABF called and offered me many delivery date options and all with a two hour window. They showed up on time

The driver was very pleasant and very helpful. It was a lift gate delivery and all the driver was required to do was to drop the machine on my driveway. I asked him to bring the machine around to the side of my home and deliver it across sloping grass into my walk out basement to the area where I have an overhead lift. I did tip him, but he cheerfully did it and he voluntariiy removed it from the pallet. I did explain that I had been recently ill. I almost forgot to mention that the machine's packaging was in perfect condition. A very pleasant experience. The shipper was Acme Tools

[Brian W Evans]

I recently received some commercial kitchen equipment delivered by A. Duie Pyle. The driver was very friendly and almost seemed disappointed that I didn't need him to do anything other than drop the stuff in my driveway. The truck (18-wheeler) was empty except for my equipment, so I'm sure it switched trucks at least once. Everything was in perfect condition, though.

[David T gray]

Over the years, Minimax/SCM has used ABF, Watkins, Southeastern Freight Lines, Old Dominion, and probably others I am forgetting. These days, they use exclusively FedEx commercial. The reasoning for that, I was told, was that FedEx pays all damage claims within 30 days, which is a huge deal when (unfortunately) a fact of life is that entire machines sometimes show up, destroyed.

I can't give you any advice about who specifically to go with except to say that in my experience, the less way points or terminals your machine has to go through during its transit, the less chance there is of it getting damaged and also, you want as beefy a pallet or crate on the shipping end as possible and I would definitely pay for some type of insurance. You can have the most careful drivers in the business but a monkey on a forklift can still drop it or back into it, so you need to be protected.

Best of luck with it.

Erik


that's good to hear minimax used Roadrunner Transport to ship when i bought from them and they are completely incompetent to the point if i ever bought from minimax again i would demand they use a different fright company. to sum it up 5 hours late after their 4 hour window they gave me guy didn't speak English lift gate was too small for the pallet to sit on, driver decided to get the table saw out of the truck teetering on the edge of the liftgate and he would hold it on the liftgate from the ground while i pressed the botton to lower the gate Lol ... pretty sure if the saw had had the concrete counterwight side out towards the street the saw would have ate the dirt as it crushed the fright driver ...

old domain and fedex are always fine.

[Alan Trout]

I was in the machine tool business many years ago. And as Erik say's machines show up completely destroyed. I agree that the less transfers the better. With that being said. In the last month I have shipped one machine and received two others. I shipped with Central and received with ABF. I found both companies to be exceptional. The pickup was for shipping was great with central. Driver was nice and very willing to be as helpful as possible. ABF was very good at communication on the delivery. However they wanted an 8 hour window. I did not go for that and they did give me a 4 hour window. A very strong pallet and good crate is a must. Be sure to secure the machine to the pallet.

Good Luck

Alan

[Bill Orbine]

As mentioned before... Fastenal can ship cheap. https://www.fastenal.com/en/22/third-party-logistics-(3pl)

However... Fastenal only ships from store location to store location. Seller has to drop off jointer at his most convenient Fastenal location. Fastenal ships. You have to arrange to pick up your jointer from your nearest Fastenal location. And you still need to pallet and crate the machine.

[Ben Rivel]

UPS Freight has been delivering my last couple large tools when I bought them from online resellers. Maybe give them a try.

[Mike Heidrick]

I use ABF, Old Dominion, and Estes. Latest was Estes on a class 60 shipment of a 1100lb 1236 metal CNC lathe. This was a second lathe after old dominion guys dropped the first one due to the seller shipping it upright on the stand. New one was crated and off the stand. Estes had a nice access point to pickup at the local terminal. Id know your class options and each coverage/risk to get the best rate.

[Erik Loza]

Really, no matter who the freight company is, it boils down to just the particular driver on that day or the particular local terminal. I realize this is probably not re-assuring to hear but my feeling on LTL freight was usually that you just have to protect yourself (insure it) and cross your fingers. Most of the time, it will be fine but there are no guarantees (other than written protections you pay for, in case something does happen). For example, I've had situations where one particular driver "refused" to deliver a machine on a liftgate on that particular day, despite the fact that I'd shipped a bizillion of that same machine to every other point in the US with a liftgate and never had an issue. Or, the carrier and region where I'd never had any incidents before but for whatever particular reason or cosmic alignment, the driver dumped that brand new 16" jointer/planer off the back of the truck that day. Point being, based on my professional experience, even the most highly regarded carrier can have issues and the most important thing you can do is put contingencies in place to financially protect yourself, just in case.

Erik

[Prashun Patel]

Where are you shipping from and to?

I would get recommendations from companies in your area. We've had horrible luck with Fed Ex Freight. In fact, if our customers want our product shipped to them by FEF, we make them take full responsibility from scheduling pick up to insuring, to following up with claims.

[Erik Loza]

..We've had horrible luck with Fed Ex Freight. In fact, if our customers want our product shipped to them by FEF, we make them take full responsibility from scheduling pick up to insuring, to following up with claims.

That's interesting, Prashun. SCM uses FedEx LTL and yeah, machines do show up smashed from time to time but by and large, I've good luck with them.

You know, a lot of it is actual cargo, itself. For example, I cannot remember the last time a bandsaw showed up, destroyed. Minor scuffs and beat-up crates but as far a machine that's a total loss, can't remember. However, the bandsaws are shipped lying down and are on pretty beefy pallets these days. Sliding panel saws, on the other hand...

I get (or used to, LOL) a spreadsheet at the end of every year, of the damaged merchandise in the SCM warehouse that could be sold at a discount and it always CNC machines, stroke sanders, and sliding panel saws. Long, thin crates = Recipe for damage.

Erik

[Jeff Ramsey]

I recently received some commercial kitchen equipment delivered by A. Duie Pyle. The driver was very friendly and almost seemed disappointed that I didn't need him to do anything other than drop the stuff in my driveway. The truck (18-wheeler) was empty except for my equipment, so I'm sure it switched trucks at least once. Everything was in perfect condition, though.

A. Duie Pyle also delivered my Felder FB510 and I have nothing but good things to saw about them (they've delivered to me before). The crate arrived without a scratch, and the lift-gate was the right size. The driver even helped me remove the crate to get the saw through my overhead doors on the side of my shop.

[Mike Cutler]

Acme tools shipped my air compressor via ABF. Driver was on time and helped me get the pallet into the garage.
ABF was a positive experience for me.

[John Sincerbeaux]

Thanks everyone for your responses.
I have been amazed at the wildly different quotes I have received from the many companies I have called. So far the best rate (by far) has been from Old Dominion. And the highest quote of nearly $6k was from UPS Freight.
I recently talked to a guy who bought a similar Northfield 16" jointer, shipped it, and when it arrived it had evidently fallen on its side and the main body casting was cracked as well as motor casing damage. That story combined with other mishap stories here have changed my mind on hiring out the job. I think four days out of my life will be worth it knowing I am the only one who will handle my new (used) jointer that I will have for the rest of my life.
My suburban, a Uhaul, heavy duty trailer, and I will make the Texas to Michigan to Texas trip.
The trailer rents for $35/day, gas is cheap, and I've never driven in that part of the country so hopefully it won't be too painful.
Again, thanks!

[Jeff Bartley]

Congrats on the new jointer John! When I moved mine I built a heavy pallet with big casters then bolted it to the pallet. The tables are removable but if you leave them in place put a strap around the entire machine (end to end) to prevent a table from sliding forward in the event of a quick stop.

And it wouldn't be a bad idea to get in touch with Jeff at Northfield, he can give you the machines history.

What year? And is it belt or direct drive?

[Neil Gaskin]

We have had OD and Fedex deliver equipment and items to us regularly. I've always been happy with OD. FedEx I'm not a fan of.