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SLOW build shipping costs?

cjensen

Well Known Member
i'm sure this has been hashed through before, but i am expecting my wings at the end of the month, and was wondering what some of you are seeing for shipping costs these days.

i am in illinois, so some similar distance comparisons would be great!
 
Shipping

Chad,

I paid about $350.00 to a shipping (freight) dock/terminal in Fort Worth, TX. They say this saved me about $90-$120 since delivery to a residential address is much higher.

Ship the wings to your office address and you'll save a bunch! That is, if you have a way to get them back home. I hauled mine from the freight company to my storage location in the back of a Chevy pickup. I didn't have to go far, but I will say that I had to get very creative with straps! The long box which contains the spar is VERY long. It stuck out the back of the truck about 6-7'. If I had to do it again, I would borrow someone's 18' flatbed, or rent one for an hour or so.

I would bet your costs are similar?
 
Chad,
I had both the wings and fuselage slow build kits shipped to northern Louisiana for about $250 each. I think I got a pretty good deal.

I had Van's ship them via CSX/Conway and charge the shipping to the company I work for. Our purchasing guy says we get really good rates with CSX. And yes, I did pay the company back.
 
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n468ac said:
i would guess around $2.00 per mile.

:eek: $2.00 a mile!! holy crap! that'd be like $3,000!! :eek: straight line distance from UAO to me is 1504 nautical! did you mean .20 cents a mile?? :)
 
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My wings SB wings to Iowa in Sept cost about $360. I had them delivered to a busines address as it was $50 cheaper.
 
cjensen said:
:eek: $2.00 a mile!! holy crap! that'd be like $3,000!! :eek: straight line distance from UAO to me is 1504 nautical! did you mean .20 cents a mile?? :)


That would be direct full truck load rate (should have dropped that in) ... i don't know what LTL rates would run. Just trying to let everyone know that fuel is still high ... trucks are in short supply, and delivery to home adds to the cost.
 
finishing kit to IL shipping costs

I paid about $450 last summer to sw burbs of Chicago. To my driveway on ABF truck. This was for the finishing kit which was a 300lb crate. I priced other companies and was quoted over a thousand dollars. Vans evidently has a volume contract with ABF which resulted in my receiving a large discount.
 
Fuselage Kit to Upstate NY

Had my 6A fuselage kit delivered by ABF to a bussiness address near Albany in Upstate NY in October for about $800.00. My finishing kit was delivered last Friday but for some reason came prepaid. I'm sure that was a mistake on sombody's part. My wing kit was delivered in August of 04 for $650.00 but that was before the fuel surcharges. Unless you specified a particular shipper I bet your shipment will be somewhere around 5 to 6 hundred. ABF treated my crates like gold but that was probably because of the large $$$ signs Van's paints on the sides of the boxes.
Good Luck on your project.
Tom
 
ABF (not a mark on the boxes)

I live in Southern Indiana and my wings were about 230.00 picked up at ABF dock. The fuselage came on Nov.05 and cost 215.00 picked up at ABF dock. I looked it up in my checkbook. So being in Illinois should be about the same.
Squeak
Jasper,IN
 
thanks for all the replies so far...sounds like there is a pretty large varience in prices. wonder if that has to do with living in more major-type metro areas or not. the idea of having it delivered to work (the airport) might work favorably for me since i'm sure we have rates for receiving engines and other heavy airframe stuff through several trucking companies. i'll have to check on that.

squeak, your post makes me feel better!! i have a dodge dakota that would probably work ok to load 'em up.

when van's calls to say it's ready, they ask for a preferred shipper?
 
Pickups...

Chad,
I don't know if you were referring to me or Squeak, as far as hauling in your pickup. However, since I made a reference to using my truck, I am thinking it was me?

The spar box is really L-O-N-G. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't trust my spur of the moment methods. I have a tool box which greatly helped the process. The spar box fit up under the toolbox which kept the long, over-hanging end from tilting downward. Without the toolbox method (and tons of straps) there would have been no way to do it. The 'ass-end' of the spar box is simply too heavy, versus the short amount of it which is in the bed and resting on the tailgate. I other words, the amount of the spar box which hung beyond the end of my tailgate (tailgate was down) was longer than the portion of the box which layed flat in the bed.

Rent a trailer! Don't use my advice! I rolled the dice, used tons of straps, drove 30mph, and only had a few miles from the freight company to my shop.
 
i thought of that after i posted that. i was talking to squeak in the first sentence, then referring to your post in the second. anyway...i saw a pic today of a guy who picked his up in the back of his ford ranger. he used the slider window to put the box through all the way to his rearview mirror, and it still hung over the tailgate by about five feet. looked like it would work, but i don't know if i trust myself to do that. i'll probably just pay the extra bucks and have it delivered to my door. they do it for a living, i'd just be doing it to save a few bucks. probably not worth the risk of a six mile, fifteen minute drive from the airport to my house.
 
Try to find someone in the neighborhood who has a headache rack on their truck. Then offer them a six pack to go down with you to pick it up. I've hauled a 20 foot long, 200 lb. steel pipe on mine no problem.
 
Chad,

Mine was $193 via FedEx freight to my door in Northern CA. I don't know if FedEx is a viable option for you, but you can call Van's to discuss it. The nice thing about FedEx was that they will call a day in advance to tell give you a time window and you can tell them they need to send a truck with a lift gate. The driver had both boxes unloaded and in my garage in a matter of minutes with no equipment for me to rent or friends to bribe.

Good luck,
 
RV7Factory said:
Chad,

Mine was $193 via FedEx freight to my door in Northern CA. I don't know if FedEx is a viable option for you, but you can call Van's to discuss it. The nice thing about FedEx was that they will call a day in advance to tell give you a time window and you can tell them they need to send a truck with a lift gate. The driver had both boxes unloaded and in my garage in a matter of minutes with no equipment for me to rent or friends to bribe.

Good luck,

Ditto. After seeing the spar box, and moving it around in my garage a couple of times, no way would I drive that sucker home in the back of my pickup. The Fedex Ground guy showed up, dropped off the two boxes (spar and skins), and it was a done deal. Very easy, and well worth it IMHO.
 
If I didn't have access to a trailer or method to haul it I would have them deliver it to the door. $50 is pretty cheap insurance in my book. It is about 15 feet long and I had a friend who has a nice trailer and hauled it out for me. For what it is worth I live in the middle of no where but close to I-80.
 
did you guys know how much the shipping was gonna be before it arrived, or was this a big suprise when the truck arrived and the driver says "get your checkbook for me"?

i know i'm being anal about this, but it's just me...i have to know these things before hand if possible.
 
cjensen said:
did you guys know how much the shipping was gonna be before it arrived, or was this a big suprise when the truck arrived and the driver says "get your checkbook for me"?
Does it matter? Sometimes ignorance is bliss. ;)

Seriously, IIRC, FedEx told me what the total was when they called to schedule delivery.
 
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RV7Factory said:
Does it matter? Sometimes ignorance is bliss. ;)

yeah, maybe...but when i tell my wife that the shipping cost was twice as much as i thought it would be, she may not like that too much. maybe i just don't tell her, huh?

no, really it's more for me. i just don't want to be expecting a $250 shipping bill, and find out when it gets here that it's $500. :eek:
 
Hey Chad this string on shipping has been very interesting. If you remember would you please let me know or leave a post telling how much your shipping was. I'm starting to feel like I was really screwed by ABF.
 
Van's told me before it was shipped I believe. Also the truck company called and told me when it was to be delivered and how much it would be. Mine was shipped ABF aslo.
 
perfect! i plan to use abf at this point. they deliver to this area regularly, and i'll probably have them bring it to the airport. my next door neighbor has a van with a rack on top that'll hold over 1000 lbs, and he said he'd help me get it home. thanks baja traveler for that suggestion!

i will be happy to share the shipping cost with you all. i'll let ya know what they tell me, and what it actually was.
 
Fuselage shipping cost to Detroit area

Another data point. I picked up my RV7A slow build fuselage today :D It was shipped ABF to Pontiac Michigan (North of Detroit) and I paid 229.74.

Dennis Glaeser
Inventory almost done! Wish it were warmer :cool:
 
Update

i got the call from ABF this morning after receiving a notice in the mail from vans yesterday. ABF told me the shipment would be in over the weekend and that could deliver it monday afternoon. total shipping cost to my driveway is $291. there was no difference in price to have it delivered to the airport.

i did not get a call from vans to tell me they had hit my card or that they had shipped (no biggie), just the notice via US mail.

monday, i'm back at it!!! :cool:
 
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van's to savannah

fuselage boxes arrived. saved about $60 by picking them up from the terminal. . .about 5 miles from home. total was just under $250. cheep. thank you to joe pelton, ATP/co-worker/heavy lifter for helping out on short notice.
 
Just for a recent data point, my SB RV-7A tipup + steps fuselage kit arrived today via Fedex Freight for $243 (to my house in metro Denver).
 
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Shipping Costs

When I was at Van's doing the tour, they told me that the shipping costs varried greatly depending on whether or not the shipper I used picked up regularly in Oregon and delivered regularly in South Carolina. I have spoke to other RVer's on the web and the $300/$350 cost for shipping for fuse and wings (SB) was average to the East Coast but that was before gas prices shot up.

My tail kit is going to be shipped to Griffin G.A. in October. Van's estimated the shipping cost to be around $90 to $105. That is based on what they've had to pay in the past to ship tails to G.A.. Gas being what it is - I'd say the $105 is conservative.
 
My son & I own a print shop. Almost everything that is shipped has a "Fuel Surcharge" tacked on (Even UPS).

Derrell
RV7A
Finish
 
I was never given a choice for which freight company they used (not that it really matters).. do they normally ask who you want to use or do they just go with whoever is cheaper if you don't specify?
 
123.87 SB Wings using my employers ABF account #. (57.2% discount). I'm not bragging....really :D
 
SB Wings to my house in Minneapolis area for $285 via ABF. Gas prices don't seem to be having a major impact compared to some of the posts earlier in the year.

Mike Behnke
-9A Wings Arrived Today!!!
Andover, MN
 
MTBehnke said:
SB Wings to my house in Minneapolis area for $285 via ABF. Gas prices don't seem to be having a major impact compared to some of the posts earlier in the year.

Mike Behnke
-9A Wings Arrived Today!!!
Andover, MN


Did you get both crates? ABF lost my Spar Crate.

I'll be using a different carrier for the Fuse, Finish and motor.
 
FYI Just got my slow build wing kit for my -7. Fed ex charged me 230 delivered at my home in los angeles. No damage, and the guy helped me move the boxes into the garage.
 
Use the internet for info

I have had parts shipped both FedEx and ABF. They both had internet tracking systems that showed the fees and location of the crate also. ABF, though, showed my crate still miles away when the local terminal called to tell me it was in town actually. It was only 45 bucks more to deliver to my house so factor that in. Ask to make sure.
 
Slow Build Shipping costs to DFW

.........................I know that its probably been posted before but , I can't find it.

DFW builders: Anyone remember the approx shipping cost for your slow build wings, fuse and finish kit to the metroplex? All three are being shipped together next week.
 
Slow Build Fuselage Kit Shipping Cost

Chad,

My SB fuselage kit shipped to Minneapolis area via ABF on Dec 1st at a cost of $178.45. ABF told me it would cost about $80 more to ship directly to my house (about 25 miles from their terminal) so I picked it up at their local terminal. The box is 8 ft 1 inch in length so it fit in my 4' x 8' trailer but I had to leave the back gate off and strap it down. Also, with a weight of about 325 lbs I was able to unload it from the trailer to the garage floor with just a little help from my wife.

From the responses of others it appears I got a good deal.

From viewing your website it appears we are at about the same point in the build process -- or at least we will be by the time you get your fuse.
 
SB wings shipping costs

Here is the quote I got from ABF for HOME delivery in up state South Carolina - $353.14 unless the packages are re-weighed. :confused:

If I pick up the crates at their dock in Belmont NC - $68.00 less.

I'm having them deliver to the door - I'm lazy.

:D :D Suppose arrive Thursday 3/15/07 :D :D
 
Freight Cost

Data Point: Yesterday, March 9, I received a call from ABF in St. Louis, Mo. informing that my long awaited Fuselage Kit will be delivered late next week. The freight charge is $292.34 which includes delivery to my home. I think this is reasonable considering fuel and other costs from Oregon and not having to use my pickup truck to retrieve the crates from the ABF freight depot, 37 miles from my home.
 
Partain transportation delivered our 7 at a good savings. their on the homepage here at VAF. You might try them.
 
Data Point: FedEx Delivered my tail kit last September for about $100. and in November, Roadway delivered my SB Wing Kit to where I work for $265.90. I did not request Roadway, but I will request them next time. They did a great job and not a mark on either crate.

Bill Settle
Winston-Salem, NC
RV-8 Wings
 
Another data point:

ABF to the Baltimore Terminal, local pickup for a RV-7 Slow build fuse: $245.06.
I decided to go to the terminal to pick it up so I didn't have to take any time off of work (and to save $$$). The local ABF terminal is open until midnight for pickup.
 
I received my SB wings last friday in SW FL (Naples). $366.14 to a business address by ABF. Distance wise, I'm about as far as it get but price is also variable on how close they're able to get it by train.
 
Fuel Surcharges

Pardon my ignorance on this one but this was my first time dealing with a freight carrier for shipping my wings. Is it common or customary in dealing with freight carriers that after you get a quote from them that fuel surcharges are not included as part of the quote? Or should they have at least mentioned that there would be a possible fuel surcharge to be determined at the time of delivery?

I would have expected the quote to include the fuel surcharges. But when they were delivered, the final bill included a fuel surcharge above the quoted shipping cost that was not mentioned in the quote.
 
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