Time to sell some anvils.. Couple of them 300 pound class. I know they need to go by truck freight but how do you go about getting a reasonable price for shipping??? You  that have shipped this way, approximately cost?? Sold some on eBay but they were under 150 pounds so they could go UPS freight and I believe UPS limits the 150 pounds  for their freight, at least they used too.

   I know I have to put them on a pallet and in my case taken to the shippers terminal .which I can do.. Trying to sort out which trucking firm to use?? Thanks in advance for your help...

Greetings Bob,

 

Just a suggestion...  Get with you local blacksmith group and offer them to the members... Also you will find very interested parties are willing to drive a long way for a good anvil...   Advertising on CL brings people out of the weeds..   Good luck

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

I dealt with a guy from uship to get my anvil from Mass to SC.  It was surprisingly cheap.

 

You're shipping "less than load" so you can deal with anyone on uship that has a van and is willing to drive somewhere. If a trucker with an 18-wheeler is driving by and can load it, all the better.

 

The biggest problem is finding someone when you need them. 

I sold a 200 lb post vise on EBAY a couple of month ago.  The buyer arranged through FEDEX ground to handle the shipping.  I secured it "very well" to a pallet.  FedEx emailed me the day before pickup.  A 48 ft truck/trailer stopped on the road in front of my farm on time.  I brought the pallet out and put it in the truck.  5 days later it was 2500 miles away.  I do not think it was too expensive.  Be sure to check all before assuming it would be out of line.

Avoid Saia freight

The areas on Fedex is LTL (Less than a Truck Load) Freight.

https://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/ltl?locale=en_US

You need to know the freight class and NEVER pay list price for shipping. Discounts will be 60% or better typically.

UPS also has a freight rate tool that does a default 60% discount.

https://www.ups.com/uifs/create?loc=en_US&client=UIS&stcWarn=true (You will need an account)

Also do not forget to add the weight of packing and pallet material. These can add almost 50lbs to a shipment.

I like to use pallet wrap if you can get it becuase it helps make sure the stuff stays on the pallets

All that said, just call these carriers Freight divisions and they are very glad to help out.

 

If you do have a freight company handle it, make very sure of their policy regarding loading and palletization.  Can you load a palleted anvil onto the deck of a big truck?  Will the truck come with a lift gate?

Just out of interest, and sorry to hijack the thread slightly. But what would be the best way to ship an anvil from the UK over to the US?

Me and a buddy of mine were thinking of shipping some over.

   think about ship ballast. Here in the U.S. nail kegs have been shipped as ballast.

think about ship ballast. Here in the U.S. nail kegs have been shipped as ballast.

I was thinking more along the lines of filling a container and shipping them over to sell. Or shipping an individual anvil to a buyer from here, though that might not be financially beneficial for anyone...

Andy

As far as shipping overseas, speed costs generally. It's much cheaper to ship on a slow boat vs fast transport. You'd have to start contacting shipping companies about container rates. I had to do all the leg work on something like this years ago when I was in Scouts for a merit badge. It wasn't all that hard to get the info and that was long before the internet. If you can find a small ship with extra room going over, sometimes you can get really decent rates since they are hauling empty space anyways if your load isn't huge. A 20' shipping container full of anvils sounds like a huge amount. a pallet full might be a better quantity. I've seen how many ASO can get loaded on a pallet if stacked well at one of my industrial suppliers and I can't see you selling 40 or 50 that might fit on a pallet right away. Even a small container would hold several thousand anvils.

As far as shipping overseas, speed costs generally. It's much cheaper to ship on a slow boat vs fast transport. You'd have to start contacting shipping companies about container rates. I had to do all the leg work on something like this years ago when I was in Scouts for a merit badge. It wasn't all that hard to get the info and that was long before the internet. If you can find a small ship with extra room going over, sometimes you can get really decent rates since they are hauling empty space anyways if your load isn't huge. A 20' shipping container full of anvils sounds like a huge amount. a pallet full might be a better quantity. I've seen how many ASO can get loaded on a pallet if stacked well at one of my industrial suppliers and I can't see you selling 40 or 50 that might fit on a pallet right away. Even a small container would hold several thousand anvils.

 

Volume and weight of the load are the considerations for a container.  Yes, you could stack many anvils in a twenty foot container, but it would be way overweight.  There is a weight limit for the load in the container.  The few people I know who have shipped anvils over have weighed each anvil, and know exactly what the load weighs.  They pack the container till it reaches the weight limits.  It usually just covers the bottom on the container.

If you are shipping less than a full container, say a pallet full as noted above, you can get a price estimate for cubic feet (or cubic meters) in a shared container. There is a load limit per crate, but it is pretty high since the dock forklifts are *robust*. Freight carrier's limits to and from the container are usually the limiting factor.

 

I had a student who moved overseas after graduation, so had to sell or donate all of his household furnishings, but crated and shipped just his clothes and essential tools that way.