jdeas

jdeas

Well Known Member
Well, I finally received my RV7 quickbuild (fuse+wings) and brought it to its new home this weekend! Given the questions I have seen on this site, I wanted to give a breakdown of the true cost of picking up a quickbuild yourself. I hope this will help some of you make a more informed choice when it comes to shipping options. Please understand that I am not suggesting this is the best way. Partain Transport and the trucking lines all have good points to their service. I am only supplying this as a reference for the path less taken.

My move was from Vans to the Los Angeles area. Mapquest showed my move as 982 miles. Only 5 of those miles were not on the I-5 fwy!

$ 200 Plane ticket from Burbank to Portland
$ 550 24ft Uhaul w 30 blankets ( $400 rental + 12% tax + Bankets + $20K insurance)
$ 100 Hotel Thusday night
$ 60 Meals
$ 75 Hotel Friday night
$ 370 Gas
$???? Missed day of work Friday
$???? 16.5hrs of wonderful scenic I-5 :cool:

$1355.00 Total

For me this was worth the trouble and cost. The local Uhaul dealer was excellent. I was able to speak to several people at Vans, take a quick flight, and tour of the facilities. I must say I was impressed with the facilities and the people I dealt with. The level of organization and profesionalism from the dock personel all the way to the office manager was top notch. If I had any reservations before the visit, their gone now.

Now I just got to find a way to organize all these parts..........
 
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congrates!

Now, just trying to explain to the wife, "HEY HONEY, LOOK WHAT I FOUND". :rolleyes:
I think part of the whole experience is picking up the kit yourself...way to go!
 
Alternate cost

I don't think I lost anything on doing it myself but that may not be true depending on where you live. I.E. The cost for a one-way Uhaul can vary several hundred dollars depending on the dropoff location alone. Twentyfive miles to the south of my destination was another $100! You need to ask the question based on your destination.
I also wanted to meet the people I would be dealing with for the next few years so the trip served more than one goal for me.

Cost would be best answered by Partain Transport and a trucking company. Take into account that the shipping company is not door to door and the fuse and wings must be crated. Vans can give you the crate cost and weight for the shipping company. Also check with Partain about their schedule. They appear to be quite popular and may need to be booked months in advance.
Perhaps they we chime in with like numbers for my Uhaul profile above?
 
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Similar trip

When we picked up our kit we found a vast difference in truck rental prices. U-Haul was one of the highest at that time. We ended up with a 24' truck from Budget for less than $150 as I recall. We rented the truck by in Portland by shopping around by phone from home. We used accumulated airline miles for the trip to Portland and drove day and night down the I-5 with a brief pause at a rest stop in Southern California before crossing the mountains south of Bakersfield. We also saved the crating charge and were able to pick up our tip tanks at Grants Pass, Oregon along the way. We turned in the truck at a Budget facility near the John Wayne Airport Santa Ana/Newport Beach. At that time November 11, 1996 there was a trend of people to move from LA to sales tax free beautiful wilderness Oregon and the rental companies were anxious to get the trucks returned to LA. I don't think it is something for everyone but for us it was a wonderful adventure. It is good to think ahead about the unloading task and a location for the unloaded parts (some quite large). Our truck had a ramp that pulled out from under the bed, we bought a couple of 4-wheel (castering) furniture moving dollies and I had a neighbor give me a hand with the wings and fuselage. The unloading went well with these capabilities. One thing I missed was the airfoil pattern that was stenciled on the packing crate of normal shipments for aileron/flap alignment but I was able to trace the tip tank profile and create my own airfoil pattern.

Bob Axsom
 
The key is to shop around

The key is to shop around. This past weekend I picked up a kit 500 miles away. U-Haul wanted $.99 a mile for a truck , and $202 for a one way trailer. I ended up getting the uhaul trailer locally, pulling it to my destination and back, for $70.00 (and $310 in gas).
Penske and Budget were also $.99 a mile.

L.A. prices I guess
 
Trailer round trip

I have a good truck for this but I still went the one-way truck route given:

1)gas driving up (My F-350 Diesel gets ~15mpg w/o trailer. The Uhaul (gas) got ~9mpg)
2) 16hrs drive up
3) I could not find anyone that rents an enclosed trailer large enough for the fuse. With an open trailer I would have felt the need to crate the wings at the very least.

The crate may be extreem but given the overnight stop, unknow weather, and road conditions. I would not take a chance with uncrated wing or fuse on an open trailer.
Lots of bouncing rocks etc over the 900 mile trip....
 
Shipping Cost

Cost would be best answered by Partain Transport and a trucking company. Take into account that the shipping company is not door to door and the fuse and wings must be crated
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Just to clear up a statement. Partain Transport does not require crating charges, in fact we will not ship a QB crated! And yes Partain Transport is door to door.

Partain Transport's current cost to ship a RV7 QB to Los Angeles is $1201.00. Total Cost

I hope you enjoyed the adventure because our cost to ship a QB to Los Angeles is less that you spent doing it yourself!

When you take into account work, you spent way more than we would have charged. Sorry but that's the way it is.....
 
Time and money

Tony,
I was not trying to imply that you were not door to door or needed the crate. That statement was for the shipping companies. After rereading I can see where this could be interpeted wrong (sorry).:eek:

I started this thread in the hope of giving the community an apples to apples comparison between your service, shipping, and do-it-yourself.
Thank you for posting the cost associated with your service for the same distance. I know many people have priorities that will make your service more attractive than Uhaul'in. For many just driving a 24' truck such a long distance can be an ordeal.

My trip however was not a waste! Far from it. I could have waited for a delivery slot from your fine service but then I would have been idle for some time. I also would not have had the opertunity to visit Vans and meet several of the staff that I will rely on during this project. If not for those two factors you would of had my buisness.
 
phil9diesel said:
Next time buy the slow build and borrow a Schweitzer trailer.
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I like this - now that's optimism! Notice he didn't say IF you build again, but WHEN! :D
 
Pirkka,
Priceless? No other way to meet the people at Vans except Mon-Fri. As not everyone works a normal Mon-Fri job this cost is an individual question.
BTW, I never said doing it yourself was the cheapest way to go. It was just the best way for me given my goals.
 
If You Can

If you can't or don't want to do it that's the way it is. But if you do it, it is something you will never forget like a movie or a specific ice cream cone.

Bob Axsom

thetrucktf2.jpg
 
Priceless!

jdeas said:
Pirkka,
Priceless? No other way to meet the people at Vans except Mon-Fri. As not everyone works a normal Mon-Fri job this cost is an individual question.
BTW, I never said doing it yourself was the cheapest way to go. It was just the best way for me given my goals.
Click to expand...

I think, maybe what Pirkka meant was missing a day of work to visit Van's, especially a Friday IS PRICELESS! Meaning no matter what it cost you, it was more than worth it. :D

At least that's how I read it.

Besides, we all spend lots of money getting aluminum from Van's only to one day (hopefully) take it all back as a completed airplane. Wish I could have driven up there to pick mine up. :)
 
RatMan said:
I think, maybe what Pirkka meant was missing a day of work to visit Van's, especially a Friday IS PRICELESS! Meaning no matter what it cost you, it was more than worth it. :D

At least that's how I read it.

Besides, we all spend lots of money getting aluminum from Van's only to one day (hopefully) take it all back as a completed airplane. Wish I could have driven up there to pick mine up. :)
Click to expand...

That's my hope. The view driving down to LA (16hrs) was great but the view back up (6hrs) should be even better :p
 
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