How's the shipping process work from Van's

Brantel · #1 10-09-2006, 03:12 PM

I received conf. last week that my wing kit would ship the week of 10/9 (this week) but Anne also stated that it may not ship on a certain day.

This being said, how did it work for most of you that have received wing or other non emp kit orders?

My kit is suposse to be delivered to a freight terminal because the cost was way more to get it to my house and I do not care to pick it up. Will the trucking company call me or what from the point where it leaves Vans?

I am so excited and nervous about this, I want that kit in my hands safe and sound.

Will Womack · #2 10-09-2006, 03:23 PM

You will be contacted by the shipping company. Or you can call them and set up a dilivery. My wings were shipped by ABF and I just called them and set it up. They dropped off right at my house. I suggest that you have someone on hand to help you unload the crates as they are heavy.

Squeak · #3 10-09-2006, 03:49 PM

I picked the kits up at ABF Terminal and save 60.00 on the shipping. Think the wings cost about 230.00 shipping same for the fuselage. Watch out for the finish kit they rate it different and was over 500.00. You can track them online call Vans after it ships and they will give you the tracking number. Had a tractor with front-end loader to unload it off the flat bed trailer very handy.

Squeak
Working on Finish Kit 7A

Finley Atherton · #4 10-09-2006, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brantel

I am so excited and nervous about this, I want that kit in my hands safe and sound.

Just think how nervous you would be if you were waiting for it to be trucked to LA, shipped (literally) across the Pacific cleared through Customs then trucked 600 km. I estimated that my consignment would have been moved by forklift at least 14 times - scary!!

Fin 9A
Australia

JoeG · #5 10-09-2006, 06:10 PM

I picked mine up at the ABF terminal. Saved me 70 bucks. They loaded them up on my trailer with a fork lift. I back up to the garage door and unloaded them by hand with my daughter. They're really not that hard to move around.

One thing to note. You can see that the shorter box has the "This side up" arrow upside down. That's because the 2x2 skids were nailed to the top side of the box instead of the bottom. I flipped the box before opening which turned out to be the right decision - the arrow was correct. Don't know how the mixup happened, but nothing was damaged so I didn't bother contacting Van's about it.

bullojm1 · #6 10-09-2006, 08:02 PM

I called Vans and got the ABF tracking #. From the ABF website I could see the status of where they were. I then called up ABF to arrange a dock pickup -- Saved me $60. I borrowed a E-250 van from work to pick up te crates. The people at ABF used a forklift to put it into the van. I moved the wings (in crates) again a few months later in a Chevy 2500 full sized pickup easily. The spar box hung way out the back, but all was well when it was tied down. My dad and I were able to move both crates somewhat easily.

vmirv8bldr · #7 10-10-2006, 07:25 AM

I had mine delivered to work and then borrowed a trailer from a friend to get it home. I work for a manufacturer and we have great relationships with several freight companies. I even got the trucking company to change the shipping rate to our corporate amount. Saved me about 50%.

They did call when it got to the terminal to ask what I wanted to do with it.

I needed help getting them onto the trailer, but once home I slid them off one at a time, then slid along the floor holding one end up. Worked like a charm, took all of 10 minutes. Oh, and one of the skids had broken off the bottom of the larger crate. No damage inside though.

Brantel · #8 10-18-2006, 08:19 AM

Well my wings arrived at the Knoxville ABF terminal (A DUMP!!!) and I went to pick them up.

As I rumaged thru the piles of trash and boxes to find my stuff, the skins box had been bashed from one end and the wood was busted out here. The runners had been bashed off the box on the bottom side so the box was sitting on its side instead of as the arrows Vans puts on them showing which side is up.

The spar box was bashed on the side.

After calming down, I said to myself that hopefully every thing would be ok so I loaded it all on the truck and the guy driving the tow motor would not mark the bill as having possible hidden damage so I had to get the supervisor to mark it that way.

Got it all home and opened it up and to much surprize and a small miracle, the parts are all ok.

Vans does a great job packing and the end of the skins box that was smashed had the ribs and other stuff that moved out of the way of the forks. If it had been the other end, all the tank and leading edge skins would have been bent. If the smash had happened lower in the box, the big skins would have been bent so I was just lucky.

The spar box was bashed but luckly the spars were toward the top and the bash was at the bottom. All they hit was paper. Here again I was lucky.

One note, as the guy was loading my stuff, he ran over at least 10 other boxes and smashed the poo out of other peoples stuff. I feel sorry for them.

I think the $ signs and arrows that Vans puts on the boxes are viewed as targets for the tow motor drivers.

Now on to the task of inventory!