What is the best way to ship a kart?

I was told that so I went there, Fastenal, with my kart on a pallet, wraped in plastic ready to ship, and was told they can't ship it until I call their company. So I go back home and call the # they gave me, the lady said it can't have any hang over of the pallet (which karts do hang over a regular pallet) and they said it had to be totally enclosed in wood crate or would only ins for $250 and the shipping cost had just went up yesterday, yesterday was Sunday ( shipping cost almost doubled ).....so I need some other options!
 
I shipped a fiberglass hood from Pa to California several years ago through the website uship.com. It was really cheap and they sent a van to my house to pick it up. I only used it once and it was years ago but it went really smooth.
 
If you ship through Fastenal you have to put it in a crate. Preferably one you can park an Army tank on top of. They are not gentle.
 
I'd recommend uship.com as well. As good or better rates than most can get due to the broker process from what I have seen.

Cole
 
I was told that so I went there, Fastenal, with my kart on a pallet, wraped in plastic ready to ship, and was told they can't ship it until I call their company. So I go back home and call the # they gave me, the lady said it can't have any hang over of the pallet (which karts do hang over a regular pallet) and they said it had to be totally enclosed in wood crate or would only ins for $250 and the shipping cost had just went up yesterday, yesterday was Sunday ( shipping cost almost doubled ).....so I need some other options!

That sucks man. Sorry the bad luck with them :/
Hopefully you find something else that works better.
 
First, if it's a regional trip, ask around on these forums for someone making that route or something close to it that could "throw it in".

Years ago I remember talk of greyhound sliding a kart into their under-bus luggage compartment.
 
If you end up using a trucking company send it terminal to terminal to save money. You drop it off and the recipient picks it up. Delivery to a residential address is what costs a fortune.
 
I built custom pallets for my Fastenal shipping....up to and including a full crate....but had good rates and luck otherwise. Creating and transporting the new "crates" was a chore.
 
Can't really give who to use but I can say do not use Greyhound , took 2 weeks from CT to PA and they absolutely destroyed the packaging , bent axle and Nerf , took another month to get claim settled
 
Thanks for all the replys.....the buyer sent North American ( the complete family & furniture relocating co ) for it. It was a complete chassis as raced with body, no tires & wheels or engine, and not even on a pallet ( their choice). They completely wraped it up in those thick moving quilts and ran tape around the quilts, stood it up against the trailer wall and used 2 rachet straps to hold it there. Super good packing job on their part, at least when it left! It left Mo going to NY, we'll see how it ends up!
 
Fastenal. Used em at least 5 times.

No one has ever said anything about crate or overhang. One time I got a hard time about whether or not I had drained all the fuel and oil.......there was no motor on it.
 
Damage often occurs in freight yards where items are switched from one truck to another. There is nobody there to watch over things like there is when it first gets picked up or when it gets dropped off at the destination. Pallets/crates get loaded/moved/unloaded quickly and you definitely don't want overhang. Build a robust crate - you could start with two connected pallets as a base - and make sure the kart is secured so it won't move around. Google 'standard north american pallets' and you'll get a list of sizes with 48" x 48" and 48" x 40" being the most common pallets. Used pallets are easy to find. Put big, highly visible labels on all four sides and the top that state DO NOT STACK - this is important. No guarantee this won't happen, but they will usually place your pallet/crate on top of something else or on a trailer floor by itself. Those labels will help you if you need to make a claim. Take a couple pictures when it is ready to ship.
 
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