PACKING! One of my PEEVES!!!

[Mark Nixon]

First off, this rant is NOT about anyone on 1stgen!

So, okay we have all shipped parts at one time or another, but the stuff I have been RECEIVING lately has been absolutely ATROCIOUS!

I received two P-7100 injection pumps and 2 turbos to-day (all cores), not ONE of them was packed with anything more than poorly wadded up newspaper and very damned little, at that.
It was so bad that one of the boxes was literally torn open, the only thing keeping the contents in was a glue spot on one of the flaps.

For those who don't know, PACKING PEANUTS are quite possibly the very best way to ship even something moderately heavy.
If you have something that will collapse the peanuts, put a layer of peanuts under a piece of heavy cardboard and/or surround the part with cardboard, then with a layer of peanuts between the box and the cardboard wrapped part.

Don't like to ship peanuts in your parts, such as manifolds, turbos, or the like?
BAG IT, then pack accordingly.
You'd be surprised how handy your generic plastic shopping bag is in shipping parts!

Also PACKING does NOT mean "Fill the box loosely to the top and close the flaps", it means fill the box, settle the material, then PUSH more of the material in and fill again. I usually leave a slight rounded hump on top before I close the box and tape the crap out of it.
Ask anyone who has received parts from me, usually if it's a part of any weight, the box appears more ROUND than square when it's received, because the peanuts are PACKED and hold the item SUSPENDED within the packaging.

When shipping a smaller part, I'll use newspaper or bubble wrap, but again, I make sure the package is STUFFED when I am through.
To me, PACKING means secured so that there is no appreciable movement within the vessel of containment.

Mark.

[1STGENFARMBOY]

It's always best to use the tape with string in it also, if you don't have peanuts then newspaper will work but
like Mark said you (MUST) use alot of it.

when your done shak the box, if your part moves it's not tight enough, remember that fed-ex and ups can
and will break it if posible, so you need to make it darn near imposible to break.

believe me...my company has had to eat 10's of thousands of dollars of broken crap due to ups ground, and
they always say (it was packaged wrong)

i have takin a but chewin or two over this.

Dar

[oldestof11]

Packing peanuts at Walmart~ $10
Box of appropriate size~ $20
Insurance on Intercooler~ $20
Satisfied customer~ Priceless

I agree Mark, I was sent a turbo that was tightly packed with newspaper but even then, the USPS dropped it just right and the outlet of the compressor housing was slightly bent...

[Mark Nixon]

Packing peanuts at Walmart~ $10
Box of appropriate size~ $20
Insurance on Intercooler~ $20
Satisfied customer~ Priceless

I agree Mark, I was sent a turbo that was tightly packed with newspaper but even then, the USPS dropped it just right and the outlet of the compressor housing was slightly bent...

Jon, one of the turbos, an HX35 core, was damaged on BOTH the inlet and outlet on the compressor.
Turns out it has an exhaust housing that was (apparently) cracked when removed, so all I got was a "rebuildable" cartridge. Maybe.

When I buy packing peanuts, they are in a bag as large, or larger than, a standard trash bag, for $30.
Boxes I swipe from the recycle bin at the local convenience store, or the grocery.
Anything to cut my costs, since I frequently do "Shipping Included" on some stuff.

I've even created my own boxes for long and large stuff.

Certain bendable/breakable long trim I ship in a PVC pipe.

Mark.

[1STGENFARMBOY]

just for the record....the rule of thumb for ups is at least 3 inches of (cardboard) on all sides
in order for them to cover the damages.

[ellis93]

Certain bendable/breakable long trim I ship in a PVC pipe.

Mark.

Yep worked good too! And I even ended up using the pipe

[BC847]

Mark, you're preaching to the choir here. In addition to well wrapping something and then firmly packing it with peanuts, I've often placed a piece of 1/4" cheap plywood against the interior of the big sides of the box. This helps keep pointy things from stabbing your goods and helps keep the box square with the corners reinforced.

If I send something expensive that a fellow forum member has bought from me, I figure it's cheap insurance to spend $10 ~ $15 on some cheap lumber and make a fitted box. Not too long ago, I sold my intercooler to someone and sent it to them in a well fitted box. I even sanded to exterior corners of the box so nobody would get splinters handling it.



I don't want anyone calling me talking about "I want my money back as all I got was a pile of busted stuff, wrapped in pieces of cardboard with lots of UPS/FedX applied tape holding it together!"

[1STGENFARMBOY]

another good way to help insure your box will make it to the destination if it moderatly heavy, is to cut handles in the ends
so that the 95 lb girl or panty wearin sissy don't drop it when he slides it off the table.

i have also set my own weight limit regardless of what they say and it's 75 lbs, anything over that
goes freight if it in a bigger box, if it's something like a starter of something small but heavy it does
need to be in a wooden box like BC done with the intercooler.

[dazedandconfused]

I worked for DHL 10 years ago and if you could see the way boxes were handled you would s#it yourself. That's why I don't like to ship stuff anymore.

[Mark Nixon]

I generally DON'T like shipping in wooden boxes, especially ones I make (not JUST because I'm a lousy carpenter, either!), because with a lot of weight cheap wood literally EXPLODES when dropped and, oddly, it's worse when screwed together rather than nailed together.
Generally speaking, most people use the thinnest and lightest wood to cut down on weight.
Don't deny it! WE ALL DO!

I once shipped a Dodge 8-3/4 dropout in a seemingly well-built wooden 1/4" plywood box, when it got there the box was all broken up and the yoke had gotten damaged.
UPS denied the claim, saying that it was shipped using IMPROPER MATERIALS for shipping!
However, shipping said 8-3/4 dropout in a 6 gallon bucket was considered "Proper", figure that one out.

Also, FedEx (maybe UPS?) always marks objects over 60? pounds as "heavy", with the weight, so the chances that someone who is wimpy grabbing it and screwing it up are pretty slim (Given they can read, that is) and aside from the crating incident above, I have NEVER had an incident where a heavy package arrived damaged.

I'm not saying any way I do it is best or worst, all I'm saying is I know what works for me.
I use a pretty standard and mundane process to do it, that some other people still can't seem to grasp.

Mark.

[1STGENFARMBOY]

Oh they get droped...it's 70lb when the heavy sticker goes on, i recieve/ ship 30-50 boxes a day from 1 lb to
130 lb on ground trucks and 5-15 in freight a day.

sent two boxes to cali with vacume switches in them 100lb each 30in-30in-36in boxes that the product was sent to me in,
filled it full of peanuts had a coworker set on the box so i could (band) in together, when it arived to the customer
not one piece could be salvaged, $20,500 worth of parts. not covered because i didn't use 3 inches of cardboard on all
sides.

just throwin that out there.

[Mark Nixon]

...$20,500 worth of parts. not covered because i didn't use 3 inches of cardboard on all
sides.

With that high of value, even properly packed, the insurance still likely wouldn't have paid without a court case being brought against them.
For 20-1/2 Gs, I certainly would have looked into court action, especially with "EVERY PIECE DAMAGED", it sounds like "Due Care" wasn't exercised in the handling of them.

Food for thought, NONE of the FedEx nor UPS depots (around me), much less the UPS Stores or Fed Ex's Pack N Ship actually (conspicuously) POSTS their shipping guidelines, nor do they tell you to "read this rules sheet" before you ship with them.
In reality, it's the counterperson's (or driver's) responsibility to accept or deny shipping the package due to content or packaging that they suspect won't handle the weight within.

In short, they are supposed to be "smarter than an idiot".

Mark.

[1STGENFARMBOY]

I agree....it's up to you as a shipper to know or find out the rules, i took this case to the highest possible person at UPS
and they said the case won't hold water because i didn't ship per there instructions on there non-public how-to-ship sheet,
but every level i talked to threw that little tid-bit out at me right off the bat, (WELL DID YOU HAVE 3 INCHES OF CARDBOARD
AROUND IT), I said how was i supposed to know how to pack so it's covered under your insurance, he said call the ups store and ask.

It was also due to the end reciever not taking pics and getting a UPS representative out to look at it, they just shiped back to me and
i was told to take care of it, buy then it was, why didn't they call us, or did they take pics, why did they recieve it without stating to the
driver it looked damaged, i'm like (I DON'T KNOW) there all.... well we can't do nothing now.

by then i could have shot somebody.


Like Mark said, just try to pack it where it's almost imposible to get damaged, and if you think you should take out extra insurance.

[1STGENFARMBOY]

OH and theres also this little thing called hidden damage, even it the box is in good condition and the contents
is broken, know matter how much insurance you take out, they won't pay because the box doesent show it's been
mishandled .....thats all on the shipper (no matter what).

that is also a freight rule to, so make shure if it's freight it needs to be banded to a skid very good, and it's a good idea
to put this thing called a tip-and-tell on the side, it shows if it's been turned over, even if you have it banded to a skid
you need a sticker that states THIS SIDE UP.....

ask me how i know this......it's only a $7,000 story.

Dar

[oldestof11]

We have a UPS hub near me. A lady who used to work there said they would PURPOSELY drop boxes labeled "Fragile" from the top tier to see/hear it break. I about choked her.

The drop height is around 60-75'...