Shipping and Packaging from Vans

[con_doggiee]

Has anyone dealt with packaging and shipping issues from Vans? I just took delivery of an empennage kit and a light box, the packaging was such that the light box container was damaged during shipping and panels were bent, and duct tape was placed directly on aluminum skin protective covering such that removing the duct tape removes the protective covering. Pics attached. I’m trying to calibrate my expectations here, is this a par for the course when buying direct or is it worth a discussion with Vans on packaging quality and the carrier? Regardless, I’m excited to finish inventory and get to work. Thanks for your input!

 

[Carl Froehlich]

Not typical. Van’s shipping has always been magical on how well they package stuff. I suspect you drew a rough UPS driver.

On the tape, this is standard practice. Remember the blue plastic’s function is to have the parts move well in the CNC machine, not as a long term protective skin. Just remove the tape as best you can.

Side note. I recently heard of a “shop” that dimpled and riveted skins with the blue plastic still on. This made a mess of things.

Carl

 

[Sam Buchanan]

I think you are justified in expecting better packaging than that. Sharing your photos with Vans would be appropriate, they may replace the bent skins, but at the least they need to know about the damage.

 

[con_doggiee]

Not typical. Van’s shipping has always been magical on how well they package stuff. I suspect you drew a rough UPS driver.

On the tape, this is standard practice. Remember the blue plastic’s function is to have the parts move well in the CNC machine, not as a long term protective skin. Just remove the tape as best you can.

Carl

Thanks Carl, I appreciate it!

Conor

 

[con_doggiee]

I think you are justified in expecting better packaging than that. Sharing your photos with Vans would be appropriate, they may replace the bent skins, but at the least they need to know about the damage.

Thanks Sam! I’ll send them a note and see what they say.

Conor

 

[JimCMI]

I don't know what's up with the light box kits, but it almost feels like they are mad that they sell them. I bought one and it showed up looking like it fell behind the shelf and got kicked around the floor for a year.



Anyway; I went ahead and built it and polished it. I learned that I wasn't going to polish a whole airplane, so maybe that was the lesson they were trying to teach me.

My tail kit was amazingly packed and arrived perfect, but the -14 tail comes in a wooden crate via freight, not UPS.

 

[con_doggiee]

I don't know what's up with the light box kits, but it almost feels like they are mad that they sell them. I bought one and it showed up looking like it fell behind the shelf and got kicked around the floor for a year.

View attachment 87539

Anyway; I went ahead and built it and polished it. I learned that I wasn't going to polish a whole airplane, so maybe that was the lesson they were trying to teach me.

My tail kit was amazingly packed and arrived perfect, but the -14 tail comes in a wooden crate via freight, not UPS.

I had one light box before this on that came with the kit and I agree, they seem like afterthoughts. And understood! I appreciate the input!

 

[FlyGuy65]

Had a damaged shipment last month. It was the new flap motor kit, so there was a heavy motor packed with some fragile aluminum pieces. Sent photos of parts and shipping box to Van's, they sent replacements very quickly at no charge to me They also filed a claim with UPS, and told me to keep damaged parts/box for a month in case UPS wanted them. While no one wants damaged parts, I am extremely happy Van's service. I had fears of getting stuck in claim limbo between Van's and UPS, and that was not the case at all.

 

[bertschb]

I've placed dozens of orders from Vans over the past two years and I've found their packing to be the best I've ever seen from any business.

 

[CF86301]

Van's is generally +1 sigma or better on packing. (A****n is generally -2 sigma or worse on packing.) I've experienced the inconvenience of ripping Van's Gorilla tape off blue vinyl, but I've never had a bent part, and I have almost everything except some backordered FWF parts. (You can recycle some of the tape to wrap your bucking bars as needed.) A few missing parts, yeah, but they ship them out promptly. And some of the crates can be repurposed as components for cradles.

YMMV.

 

[Carlos151]

Just picked up my RV-15 wing shipment yesterday. Vans had quoted a price with ABF based on a total weight of 677 pounds. Somewhere between Aurora, OR and Nashville, TN, ABF decided to re-weigh the crates and came up with 790 pounds and of course the added cost for that increase in shipping weight. When I arrived at the ABF terminal in Nashville I asked them about this and they volunteered to re-weigh the crates. Weight came in to within a few pounds of the original Vans estimate so the price was adjusted back down to the original quote.

Moral of the story, beware of random weight gains enroute; it'll save you a few nickels.

 

[Don Scott Jr.]

Just picked up my RV-15 wing shipment yesterday. Vans had quoted a price with ABF based on a total weight of 677 pounds. Somewhere between Aurora, OR and Nashville, TN, ABF decided to re-weigh the crates and came up with 790 pounds and of course the added cost for that increase in shipping weight. When I arrived at the ABF terminal in Nashville I asked them about this and they volunteered to re-weigh the crates. Weight came in to within a few pounds of the original Vans estimate so the price was adjusted back down to the original quote.

Moral of the story, beware of random weight gains enroute; it'll save you a few nickels.

Hello, my Empennage kit will ship today or tomorrow. I live in the Atlanta, GA area. How much did you pay for shipping to Nashville? I think Atlanta might be a similar cost.

Don.