need I elaborate?????

Bought my previous anvil in person . . . so this is my first experience with the freight costs of shipping an anvil!!!

Any suggestions from your previous experiences?

-Mark

Google UPS site and check rates from zip code to zip code

Haha, already did that, that's why I'm shocked! Anyone know of any cheaper ways, short of driving out there myself to get it?

Doesn't ups have hundred weight rate any more? You would get a big break on shipping 100# or over. It was cheaper to ship 100# than 50#.

Question.....

would it not be cheaper to drive there and pick it up yourself?

Make the trip a mini vacation, a drive can sometimes take you past the odd G-sale or estate sale and you may find treasures.

Just a suggestion. Also I don't know where it is and where it is going.

one last thing, sometimes moving companies have extra room on moving hauls and for a fee they will "move" your anvil from one place to yours and probably cheaper.

Question.....

would it not be cheaper to drive there and pick it up yourself?

Make the trip a mini vacation, a drive can sometimes take you past the odd G-sale or estate sale and you may find treasures.

Just a suggestion. Also I don't know where it is and where it is going.

one last thing, sometimes moving companies have extra room on moving hauls and for a fee they will "move" your anvil from one place to yours and probably cheaper.

This is true. My cousin was a long haul mover, and he was always looking for a few more bucks. Perhaps if you could talk to some drivers at a nearby truckstop.

Yeah, would be a 3000 mile round trip to go get it... don't think it'd save much cash. I did put an add on the local craigslist out there, looking for a trucker with "extra room". Turns out UPS freight is much cheaper than Fedex or Yellow, coming in at $170 bucks. I guess i can live with that. Fedex freight wanted over 400.

This thread is going to be helpful for me since I am thinking about shipping an anvil cross country.

I will look into UPS freight........all the FEDEX online quotes are looking to be more expensive than the anvil itself!

Get a quote from a local shipping company as they usually work in conjunction with others across the country.Kasper and I shipped a ton of coal 3000mi. for just over $600 a couple of months back.

This thread is going to be helpful for me since I am thinking about shipping an anvil cross country.

I will look into UPS freight........all the FEDEX online quotes are looking to be more expensive than the anvil itself!

BLASPHEMY!!!!

a good anvil, your baby, your love and meaning to life has no dollar value.

LOL

i told the seller that UPS Freight was much cheaper than the Yellow Freight he suggested, and he was beside himself. Since he's a guy that sells and ships a lot of anvils, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and give Yellow a call. I only got an online quote from Yellow... so maybe something was amiss.

I am only babbling on about this so the thread will be complete for future searchers. lol

Update for anyone shipping an anvil in the future: Yellow Freight seems to be the lowest rate I've found thus far (if you find a cheaper one, please let me know!) From terminal to terminal, Topeka, KS to Boston, MA, is $165, compared to $450 by Fedex Freight. If you have no corporate affiliation or corporate discount (like I don't) they do have all kinds of random discounts, it seems. The customer service woman voluntarily applied a discount to my shipment, after asking if I had a corporate discount code or not. Ask for "Contract # 8060" or something similar. Think it was probably a 10% discount or so.

Freight item number for an anvil is 183620, and Yellow classes it as a class 60. LOL I find that funny since I read somewhere that the class takes many things into consideration, including the fragility of the object, with 50 being the lowest number. Seemingly there is something on the planet earth that is less-fragile than a blacksmith's anvil. LOL What is class 50, kryptonite?

My anvil by fedx cost $75 frt but it was only 140 lbs from Minnisota to Louisiana.

Shipper is a major customer so gets great rate.

yeesh. you lucky duck.

Other things to consider is will the receiving location be a business with a dock, a business without a dock, or a home. I had some heavy things shipped to work so they could be unloaded with a fork truck for me. Lift gate fees will run $50 and up.
If you lack a "dock" which can be a parking spot and a machine to unload with, ask around to your local businesses who receive regular loads of goods. These can be hardware stores, marinas, equipment dealers, etc. These places can offload your goods (anvil) for a nominal fee (sometimes just a case of pop or beer) and load it into your vehicle with same equipment. Since the carrier is dealing with a "dock to dock" situation there is less cost. Even less if one or both docks are on scheduled LTL (less than load) routes.
Some carriers will let you pick up at their terminal too so it won't hurt to ask.
One store I worked for would receive all sorts of stuff for our landlord. We were the only business in that strip that had a forklift. He had deliveries often enough that he stopped asking, they would just show to C/O etc. We would get a propane refill out of him for "big" projects, but not often. Other stores would ask before they scheduled deliveries of shelving or equipment. We would play nice when asked nice.
Phil

I paid $187 to move a 350 pounder from PA to IN doing terminal to terminal with in the same freight company. The freight company loaded it in the truck for me on the pallet. Can the seller get it to the terminal?

It helps to be a business. I've never seen a freight company that wouldn't give 50% discount just for the asking (On-line quote is probably full fare). Yes, this is for business-to-business. I always had 70% discount plus pizza lunch for the whole crew every month (10 large pizzas)! Tell them you can unload - when they get there just kick it off the truck in the dirt! Should be class 50 or 55 - "rough steel casting".

Also think terminal pick up. If they don't have to retail delivery that give them a good excuse to come off the price.

For items over 150 pounds (including anvils,) I have had the best prices from R&L Carriers, R+L Carriers , no charge for a lift gate, but it must be strapped to a pallet. As with all of the shippers I use, I think there is a surcharge for residential delivery. I have narrowed my shippers to UPS, R&L Carriers and the United States Postal Service. UPS wants to do my freight, but I will not use them until they drop the surcharge for the lift gate.

Freight classes are quite a study, used machinery ships for a lot less than new machinery. Damage liability I suppose. Remember "pallet" does not always mean a 44 X 40 manufactured pallet. They just want a supporting structure that allows a forklift to get under and prevents the part from tipping over. Otherwise it should be as small as practical.

Edited July 20, 200916 yr by nakedanvil