I know it's been done and I've been to the website. But they are kinda vague as to how the whole thing works and what the requirements are and what kind of treatment your package will have to contend with. Can somebody give a blow by blow of what they had to do to get... Say a fender or a dash pad shipped by greyhound? I've had to take stuff to the bus station before, but I was just the delivery boy, I don't know what kind of paperwork or prepwork has to be done.
I have shipped alot of big bulky items Greyhound. I like them becuase they tend not to break and tear up stuff like UPS and FEDEX. I think it is becuase they handle most everything by hand. It is pretty painless. You just take the package to your local bus station. Tell them where you want it sent. They will look up the closest station to that location that does packages. Not all of them do. You pay and they ship. I can not recall what the weight and size limit is. They do offer insurance. The last item I sent was a motorcycle side car boat only. I also think that the reciever can pay on his end but I am not sure on that. When the package arrives, they call the person to come and pick it up. Hope this helps.
don't do it unless you have it very well planned out! I had a bumper sent to me that way and they never called me to tell me it was in. they'll charge you something like 10.00 a day if its waiting at the station. Best solution:, wrap item in butcher paper, put it in a meat truck, J/K!! Naw really. I am shipping front gravel pans and sheetmetal parts to SC from CA for 30.00 usiing USPS. what I did was wrap the items together, paper and tape, can be newspaper. Then use that large shrinkwrap wrap it good, hit it with some clear packaging tape and your good to go. I think the limit for usps is that it can't be large than 108inches when you length and girth.
What Roman1 said. I have been very satisfied with Greyhound. You can calculate your rate on their website. Take the thing down and pay them. Your client is notified when the thing arrives and picks it up at the terminal. Greyhound doesn't have terminals everywhere so you have to do a little checking to find the most convenient ones. It's a great way to learn about all sorts of one horse towns around the country. Example I shipped a caddy fender from Oakland CA to Rome GA for abour $55. The customer lived about 8 miles from there in a little town. The other fender went from Oakland to Newark NJ for the same cost. That guy lived about 20 miles away. Some locations offer delivery from terminal to client at additional charge. How reasonable is that? Very. Plus the stuff arived in good condition and the Greyhound folks were unfailingly polite and helpful. Where can you get that anymore? Almost nowhere. As far as prep regarding the fenders I taped corrogated cardboard over the corners and sharp edges and then wrapped it all up tight with cear stretch wrap and then taped that down stategicly with clear packing tape. This gave me a "Christo" style fender shape. I slapped address label on and taped them. At Greyhound you fill out a simple form and they enter it into thier computer and print out a coded shipping label. Slam, bam, thank you Ma'am. Delivery took about 3 days. They couldn't have been nicer. I should give the woman who runs the counter in Oakland some flowers.
I've shipped some fairly big things with the them a few times. I went to a local furniture/appliance store and asked if they had any big boxes and they were happy to give me a choice, so I got one that fit the item well. I'd be a little cautious about shipping sheetmetal just wrapped in plastic...if they have some other heavy packages in the cargo bins and the bus driver has to do a panic stop, the packages could shift and your sheetmetal could get dented/damaged. The Greyhound website will tell you where the local terminal that accepts packages is, and you bring it there, they weigh it and you pay, and off it goes on a bus. They will let you know the address of the terminal where it is going. I shipped a chair from Boston to Florida and it only took about 25-30 hours to get there, as I guess they just keep p***ing it off to busses heading south. You have to have the recipients telephone number, or they will not accept the package. They call the recipient when it arrives at the Bus Station closest to the adress, and the person comes and picks it up. I never heard anything about storage charges as I guess the people I shipped to, picked it up shortly after they got the call that it was in. They do say they have a service where it can be delivered right to the addess, but I have never used it (it does cost more). All my items were received in good condition.
hehehe I can just picture this greyhound bus full of old ladies crusing some little backroad looking for someone's house... DHL isn't doing too bad by me now that they found the house...the first time they delivered they couldn't find it (they had turned around in the driverway 3 times though) ups always leaves stuff laying in the driveway and generally doesn't even bother knocking during the day. fedex never would knock and just leave a "we were here" dealy so it would always take an extra day for them to deliver. usps was ok but having to drive into town to pick up stuff ****s and my luck is that it always arrives on a satuday and by the time they deliver the mail I don't have enough time to get to the post office in time.
I don't have any worrys regarding the shipping of sheet metal. The cargo holds are not so big that you have to worry about loads shifting. They move everything by hand. The cadillac fenders were fairly stiff items. They would have hade to receive a good blow to suffer any damage. By all means stiffen up anything floppy. Greyhound automaticly insures up to $300 and you can get additioal coverage (maybe, don't recall) It's those cut rate truck freight outfits that bust stuff up so effortlessly that you have to watch out for.
I just shipped a vega roof from ohio to KS for $40 & it got there in 12 hours. I just wrapped it in cardboard. It was easy & I will use them again. Ask porkn****** how it arrived. I think it arrived as good as i when i sent it.
Heh heh, My brother went to college in Rome, GA. I've been there a couple times. I have to ship a dash pad, I was going to build a 1x2 frame that fit's inside 2 boxes, then shrink wrap it in the areas between the boxes. The ends will be inside the boxes.
im waiting on a shipment from greyhound that was sent by brewsir for the jag seats i got from him. he called me from the bus depot as they left on there way to me.
Got some fenders for a '34 PU from Minn, shipped by Greyhound. Wrapped in cardboard and taped. Arrived in 2 days, they called, I picked up. Recieved as shipped, done deal. I'd use then for anything bulky that usps, ups, etc. charges an arm and a leg to deliver. Frank
they should be there tomorrow I would think!!! Limit is 100lbs. two old seats in some boxes weigh 94.3
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