[Robert C.]

Originally Posted by 440GP69

I am getting ready to send, Heads "iron", block, and several small parts all packaged and crated very well, who would you guys recomend? it will be shipped from my family buisness and is going to Koerner racing engines in Tuscan AZ,

Beleive it or not UPS freight does a good job. This is the first block that they had a problem. And they are going to take care of it. Yes they screw up sometimes, we all do.

Don't kick them to bad becasue the others are the same or worse. We use FEDX freight too. Same deal big name and we feel better protected in a cases like this. You can't just leave a block in the bushes or on the front steps.

[440GP69]

Thanks Bob!

[Geoff]

UPS sucks outside the US also.
Outrageous prices & slow delivery.
The US Post Office recently introduced an international Express Mail service, & you can track the shipment. Great service. I got my KRE heads this way, took 4 days, & cost less than half what UPS would have charged. Unfortunately, not all US companies wil send by PO. They only send UPS. I am waiting STILL on a part sent with UPS that cost twice as much as the PO would have charged, & if delivered as scheduled, will have taken nearly two weeks versus 4-5 days for the PO.
They are, in Australia at least, the American Express of the shipping industry. AM is banned by many companies, arrogant, out of touch & losing business from gross overcharging.

[Cliff R]

Geoff, agreed, USPS is the lowest cost source for out of Connus shipping. Their infrastructure has been in place longer, and they are subsidized by the Federal Government.

They used to offer "canoe" service, which was even less expensive than current offerings, but took at least a month, if not two to get things overseas.

In any case, our experience with the USPS has been less than desirable. Keep in mind that they use plain old folks as rural carriers, driving whatever kind of vehicle they can keep moving. When I say "plain old folks", I'm being kind. The first driver we had here drove vehicles that were held together with super glue and duct tape. She couldn't come to the shop without a Marlboro in her face, and was NOTORIOUS for running only the junk mail for 4-5 days at a time, then you would get ALL of your regular mail tied together in one big bundle. Turns out she was only getting paid "X" hours to run the route, so to help with babysitting charges (of course she's a single mom with 4 kids), only ran the route as it was supposed to be run once or at most twice a week. When confronted with the complaints, she reportedly slipped and fell that day in the main office, and is still on disability, FWIW. Her replacment wasn't any better, they should have just "cloned" the first one, she didn't last 6 months. The current driver is excellent, except for the part timer who on occassion does Saturdays, and keeps leaving boxes UNDER THE MAILBOX, which is about 300yds from the shop on a lonely deserted country road!

The problem with rural carriers/vehicles, is that NONE of them are set up for handling packages, so a rural driver may get quite a few boxes which will end up piled on top of each other in the trunk, back seat, or on the floorboards. Not at all a desirable or professional way to handle large shipments.

We use UPS for ALL shipments here within the US, and some to Canada. UPS is not always competitive to Canada, and one or both parties may get back-charged with "brokerage" fees to some postal codes.

The best way to ship anything, is to go back and read my other post, "pack it up to withstand a fall from at least a two story building", and usually you will be fine with any carrier. It's interesting that with this thread running, we got a carb in here yesterday via USPS, with a BIG hole in the box, choke pull-off and passengers side of the carb hit really hard and damaged, typical for nearly 100 percent of what they bring here!.......Cliff

[grivera]

"Cliff: "Pack everything that you ship so that it will withstand a fall from a two story building "

I can't help but find that funny as hell!

[Will]

Funny, but accurate.

One way we'd cram a trailer full if we had a crate or something that wouldn't clear the door by 2-4 inches or so would be to back the forklift up and take a running charge at it. Those forklifts weigh about 8000 lbs. Things went crunch and the door would then close...

[Geoff]

Cliff,
You get mail on Saturday? You lucky guy!!! Disappeared here decades ago.
I have had stuff delivered by USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.

Rarely had a something break, although I did receive a PowerTrax LSD, all metal, that had a piece broken off from rough handling. Cannot remember which company shipped it, but the internal packaging was NOT strong enough to contain heavy metal parts in the event of a plane hitting severe turbulence/truck hitting a large pothole. I actually contacted Ricmond Gears & told them that the cardboard packaging inside their box was not strong enough to restrain the weight of parts. I see that a lot: inadequate packaging, with insufficient thought given to the long distances involved with frequent changes in handling.

So far, fingers crossed, the USPS has been great! Maybe they take extra care with the EMI service because they charge more for it & they know it goes overseas?

[79TA455STROKED]

I had a black t/a dash i bought on ebay sent to me ups.It was just dropped off when i wasnt home.When i came home,i noticed a big horseshoe shaped indent and rip in the box.When i opened it,what do you know,a small crack in the top of dash rite where the indent/rip in box was.
I paid $600 for this dash,it was MINT.
I called ups,they sent someone to the house.He looked at the box and damage and how it was packed which was a box lined with 2" foam insulation board.
He gave me no problems.I told him you cant but it new and it cant be replaced.
They cut me a check for the insured amount which was $700 and let me keep the dash.
I fixed the small crack and used the dash.
Guess i was lucky they gave me no problems covering it.

[GTO JOHN]

Hey Rob, Sorry to hear about this mess. I hope your cooled off a bit now and not taking it out on my body and frame you got over there! You going to CarCraft on Friday? I plan to be over there. John

[77birdman]

My engine from PDude was coming back via UPS. They called me and told me the engine was at their Pocono facility and it would cost me another $200 or so to get it to my house. I don't know how the screw up occurred but the plain thruth was: they held my engine for a ransom. Lucky I don't live that for from the the warehouse (couple of hours dirve), I immediatley got in my truck, drove there and demanded my engine. To my surprise the employees were very nice, got a forklift and loaded it for me.

[lemans411]

no john your car is safe . i will be at car craft on friday and sunday . i am driving my buddys 70 gto that he sold and now is buying back lol. gimme a call when you get there

[lemans411]

well this just keeps getting better ! now ups cant find my engine . they lost it lol what the hell? i guess maybe my 400 will be getting some new heads for next summer instead of going on my 505 lol. i'm sure everything will work out fine it's just frustrating thats all.
i guess i can just start minitubbing my car to take my mind off it. gotta fit my new 30x13.5 x15 et streets

[David Holmberg]

Insert "Big eyed jaw dropped" Smilie here...

Rob, hang in there man, things have to get better soon!

[lemans411]

well i just thought i'd update this thread. i recieved my ia2 shortblock yesterday complete and in one piece. a big thanks to bob and frank for getting another shortblock built for me while still dealing with ups after the shipping fiasco. and for putting up with my many phone calls for updates . sorry guys. they even upgraded it to a 535 . thanks frank. lol it took me about a half hour to unwrap this thing they had it packed so well.




got my heads bolted down already!

[440GP69]

Man looks great! Whats your combo, looks similer to what i am doing, Who did your heads?

[Robert C.]

Originally Posted by lemans411

well i just thought i'd update this thread. i recieved my ia2 shortblock yesterday complete and in one piece. a big thanks to bob and frank for getting another shortblock built for me while still dealing with ups after the shipping fiasco. and for putting up with my many phone calls for updates . sorry guys. they even upgraded it to a 535 . thanks frank. lol it took me about a half hour to unwrap this thing they had it packed so well.




got my heads bolted down already!

Thank you for being so nice, as many of you know, Customer Service is priceless.

[steve25]

UPS has been a employee owned bussiness for a while now, so I do not know how much you can blame management. People who do not care will aways be jerks who do not care, if you do not have a item of equipment to move something, than dont move it!
I have seen things shipped in by UPS to where I work that would have been in better shape when recived If they would have just thrown it out the back of one of their overnite jet transports and let it drop onto the rear parking lot here at work!!!

[Thumpin455_GTO]

Good to hear it worked out, and upgrading to a 535? Man thats some quality service right there. I guess you were in good hands the whole time.

I got a kick out of this thread, I was an Air Transportation Craftsman in the USAF. That means I drove forklifts, palletized cargo, moved jet engines, tied down helicopters, tanks, and trucks on C5s and C17s. I watched reserves and the civilian employees drive to load planes, pallets and unload the trucks dropping off cargo. Lets just say some people should never be allowed near a forklift no matter how much training they receive. When you punch a hole in a 55 gallon drum of whatever in a warehouse on an Air Force base, its a BIG deal. A REALLY BIG deal. One reservist did it 8 times in two weeks, apparently her spacial skills needed some adjustment. She wasnt allowed on a forklift after that.

In ten years of driving forklifts, pushing 463L pallets, and that is during incredibly high load times from two wars where I was at a primary base for movement, I never destroyed anything with a forklift. Cant say the same for other people, I guess it makes a big difference as to how much trouble you get in with a small mistake as to how many big mistakes you make. I could write a novel of stupid things people have done, including dropping a pallet of explosives off the end of a dock. Lucky for us it didnt go boom.

Since most civilian shipping companies probably wont fire the guy who is working for minimum wage because he cant be replaced easy enough, it would seem that most people wouldnt care how much stuff they destroy. It doesnt 'cost' them anything, not a job, not extra free time, not a few days doing some menial task so they have time to think about it. It is apparently standard operating procedure to not give a damn.

[Ron]

And Bill and I thank you Bob C.

[lemans411]

Originally Posted by 440GP69

Man looks great! Whats your combo, looks similer to what i am doing, Who did your heads?

all pontiac 535 /sd performance 330 cfm heads , victor intake , solid roller cam. looks pretty similar except i bet you dont have 8.5 to 1 compression do ya? mines getting a little help in the air flow dept. ;)