Engine shipping nightmare!

[glider4]

My new engine is somewhere in the greater Denver area. It has been in Colorado for almost a week. It was shipped from the great folks at Aerosport Power on 5/18 - that's 19 days ago. I'm 1,450 miles from Kamloops where the IO-360 was picked up. I could have picked the engine up myself in three days round trip.

The shipper Aerosport Power uses is a company named Vitran Express based in Indianaoplis, IN. Vitran Express apparently cares not when, or if, your shipment ever gets delivered. In the past 6 days I have made 15+ calls to Vitran's customer service center trying to get confirmation on a delivery time. They have committed to a delivery on three different days and have been a no-show within the delivery window on all three days. I'm taking time away from my work to wait for them to show up....

Please don't take this venting to reflect negatively on Aerosport Power. Sue is doing her best to get this resolved. But if you're shipping your engine and you want it delivered prompty, I'd recommend staying away from Vitran Express. At this point I've written a nasty gram to the President of Vitran and filed a complaint with the BBB in Indiana. No response to either action yet.

Tony Partain are you listening? Suggest new service - engine delivery from the major sellers - Aerosport Power, Barrett, Mattituck, etc.

In the meantime, I'm hopefully Sue will be able to work her magic and I'll get an engine delivered within the next few days....

Al Thomas
RV-8A QB
N880AT
Finishing kit

[Ron Lee]

I will go pick it up and install it so I can start flying again.

[Tony Partain]

Al thanks for thinking about us... LTL shippers(Less than a load) have a logistical nightmare to deal with on every truck load. I can't imagine having 20 to 40 shipments on one truck. We ship 3 to 4 on each truck and all it takes is one customer to cause a domino effect that slows down all of the other shipments. The odds of it happening with that many shipments on a truck are very likely. Or having a shipment lost on a dock some place. All it takes is a fork lift jockey to set a pallet in the wrong place and it ends up the wrong end of the country. Thanks but no thanks!

BTW your choice of Aerosport is a good one, it will be worth the wait.

[glider4]

Two days and many phone calls by Aerosport Power after I originally posted, I did get my engine delivered. That's 21 days from pickup in Kamloops, BC to delivery near Denver. About 76 miles per day.

Vitran Express's service was TERRIBLE. They missed three deliver commitments and I was out of pocket about $250 in lost wages for the 18 hours spent over four days waiting for the truck to show. I have complained to the BBB about Vitran Express and even though Vitran admits to most of the delivery problems they don't seem to care about it. Vitran Express's web site clearly guarantees "it will be done right and on time, the first time" - don't believe it!

I really like Aerosport Power but if you by an engine from them I'd really recommend that you avoid using Vitran Express as a shipper.

Albert Thomas
RV-8A QB
N880AT
FWF & Finishing