Brantel

Brantel

Well Known Member
I just picked up my fuse kit!!!!

The crate bottom is curved open on one end and I can see skins in there. Hopefully when I get it home I will find no damage.

Those ABF freight people stink! I walked into the terminal and see my crate standing longways on its end. $$$ signs and arrows pointing sideways. Who knows how many times it has been toppled over. One skid runner was ripped off.

They trashed my wing kit boxes as well. For the finish kit, I am going to request a different carrier. (Who knows they all may be the same)

At any rate, Fuse is here :D :D :D
 
Brantel said:
......Those ABF freight people stink! I walked into the terminal and see my crate standing longways on its end. $$$ signs and arrows pointing sideways. Who knows how many times it has been toppled over. One skid runner was ripped off......
Click to expand...
ABF delivered my fuselage kit this past March with the exact same dedication and care you experienced....except both skid runners on the bottom were torn off and a hole was punched through a corner of the crate, presumably with a fork lift blade. This is a good example of why I tend to keep a small digital camera stuffed in my pocket. I sent these photos to Barb at Van's and she said she would have a talk with the ABF representative who was going to be at the factory that day. Apparently, her words fell on deaf ears. Luckily and thanks to Van's careful packing, my fuselage kit suffered no damage.


fuse00215wg4.jpg
fuse00415dq2.jpg
 
Last edited:
They are all the same.


Except for Fedex, from what I here.

My fuse came through roadway and it was sitting in their warehouse the same way when I showed up. The finish kit I didn't see but the forklift guy almost dropped it backing away from the dock. It was off center about 2/3 or so and when he hit a bump with it about 6 feet off the ground it teetered A LOT. I was too far away to run up to stabilize it, I just looked on in horror. It balanced itself out and was ok but the guy on the forklift even freaked out for a second, ONLY because I was standing right there I'm sure.

Oh ya, I had a forkilft hole in one of my crates but I don't remember which one. I think it was the wing spar crate but not possitive. No damage to the contents though. Like Rick says; Vans knows how to pack.
 
Last edited:
Yes, my wing kit crate was trashed. One entire end of the wide box was busted out, paper hanging out of the box. The spar box had a hole in the side from a fork.

Due to the way Vans packed it, nothing was even touched but it was just shear luck.

I also took pictures and informed Barb about it back then and she mentioned she would pass the info on to the rep. Like you said, I doubt they care.

I know that we can get claim money back for damages, but these people don't understand that we wait for 8 weeks and sometimes longer for the kit, we don't want it trashed.

Hopefully when I get home, I will find that the parts are OK like they were fro the wing.

Van's should save their paint and stop painting arrows and $$$ signs on the crates because the freight companies pay absolutely no attention to them.
 
PARTAIN TRANSPORT CO

Shipped RV7 QB kit via Partain. Excellent service and they understand what the kit means to you.

Finish kit was shipped by ABF. Never again!!!

If you have the option, ship with Tony Partain. Good service, nice trucks, friendly drivers, and an RV builder.

'nough said.
 
The other side of the coin

I had my kits delivered by ABF and had excellent service. I got a phone call before they delivered them and they were both shipped flat. My Dad who used to be a driver said it depends on what freight class it was shipped. Many places want to put as much freight in that truck as they can and those big crates sure take up space! The other problem is many drivers have to handle their own freight to the tail gate and they use the hand truck like is shown in the pictures. A call to ABF should help if a claim needs to be filed.
Paul
N694BP
 
You must log in or register to reply here.