Good shipping alternative (US Domestic)

[gordy]

I was in Austin last fall, the wife fell in love with an ornamental rooster that was too large to drive home with

In January, for my wifes birthday I thought, I'll have my brother pick up the rooster and ship it to me.. well it turns out that UPS, USPS, FedEx all have height, weight restrictions, one being 4 feet height max and being an irregular package it would have cost over $200 dollars to ship an $80 item! The only other option was to ship it freight on a tractor trailer, even more costly.

This was getting dire, then I found Greyhound Shipping, yes, the same as the bus lines, they have a shipping department. Take your package to a bus terminal pay a fee and it goes on the bus to it's destination. The size and weight restrictions are much more lenient than USPS, UPS and FedEx. So my brother and I went with Greyhound in the end it cost, $38 to ship (30 lbs) and arrived in less than 36 hours. The only caveat is it is only terminal to terminal shipping.

Not a bad deal I think

Here's the rooster

 

[megroot]

Unfortenaly we don't have Greyhound busses in Europe.
Maybe some other companies will do the same.
Thanks for bringing this up.

Marc

 

[ausf]

What scale is it?

Did it get it's own seat?

 

[mikec55]

Oils or acrylics?

 

[gordy]

@Jeff , scale is too darn big! Ya apparently it rode alone
@Mike , appears to be oil based enamel, likelt spray paint

 

[Tarok]

Great suggestion, Gordy.

Many airlines offer the same unaccompanied, terminal-terminal freight/baggage option. So this may also be something folks who don't need the door to door service may want to further explore.

Context/qualification of statement: I used to work for an airfreight handler who served as the intermediary between the freight companies and the airlines. Companies like Fedex lodge the freight with them, they then deal with the airline loadmasters and ensure the freight is onboarded, and later off-loaded. While their primary customer base is freight companies, they also offer a cash option to the public. My long-winded point is that this isn't a rare product offering, just something that many may not be aware of

But once again, great suggestion Gordy - it's always great to remind everyone that there are cost saving alternatives out there

 

[gordy]

Thanks Rudi, that's great info as well I didn't realise. Certainly worth mentioning in case anyone needs to ship something large or heavy or irregular with a good delivery time for a decent price, just not door to door