Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[jim stephens]

On 11/26/2016 8:05 AM, Noel Chiappa wrote:

No; it just sailed right through. The fact that it was Canada->US probably
helped.
The US Customs can be jerks.  But Made in USA on the unit trumped the BS 
for me twice.  It wasn't obvious in both cases, but once I showed it on 
the device the foolishness stopped.


I think our Canadian friends had much more trouble even post NAFTA than 
I had.


The old used items I buy have all been clearly US origin or manufacture 
and they do sail thru.


thanks
Jim

Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[Todd Goodman]

* Noel Chiappa  [161126 11:05]:
> > From: Todd Goodman
> 
> > Did you have any issues with customs bringing in the racked equipment
> > from Toronto?
> 
> No; it just sailed right through. The fact that it was Canada->US probably
> helped.

Well, I've had problems with US Customs coming back into the US from
Canada as well (not to mention from the US into Canada but that wasn't
about computer equipment.)

> 
> IIRC PakMail in Toronto picked a customs broker - or maybe we were talking
> about doing that, and he decided we needn't bother? I forget now.

That's good to know!

> 
> 
> > Both times the carrier knew it was unpalleted computer equipment and
> > did a good job using blankets and strapping them into the trucks.
> > ...
> > The other carrier did a great job .. They mostly ship antiques and
> > pianos and other items that can be fragile and not palleted
> > ...
> > Both were very competitively priced in my experience.
> 
> Sounds like these were both so-called 'white glove' shippers, who do things
> like furniture, etc.

Yes indeed.

> 
> Those are also an option, but in my experience, somewhat more expensive: when
> I was shipping a pair of -11/84's from California to Virginia, the shipping
> cost just about doubled when I had to switch from freight to 'white glove' for
> them. Hence my advice to palletize stuff, and send it freight (at least for
> cross-continent, where the difference really adds up).

These were on uShip where the carriers bid on your shipment so the
prices were really very reasonable compared to even regular LTL
shipping.

Todd

> 
>   Noel

Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[Noel Chiappa]

> From: Todd Goodman

> Did you have any issues with customs bringing in the racked equipment
> from Toronto?

No; it just sailed right through. The fact that it was Canada->US probably
helped.

IIRC PakMail in Toronto picked a customs broker - or maybe we were talking
about doing that, and he decided we needn't bother? I forget now.


> Both times the carrier knew it was unpalleted computer equipment and
> did a good job using blankets and strapping them into the trucks.
> ...
> The other carrier did a great job .. They mostly ship antiques and
> pianos and other items that can be fragile and not palleted
> ...
> Both were very competitively priced in my experience.

Sounds like these were both so-called 'white glove' shippers, who do things
like furniture, etc.

Those are also an option, but in my experience, somewhat more expensive: when
I was shipping a pair of -11/84's from California to Virginia, the shipping
cost just about doubled when I had to switch from freight to 'white glove' for
them. Hence my advice to palletize stuff, and send it freight (at least for
cross-continent, where the difference really adds up).

Noel

Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[Todd Goodman]

* Noel Chiappa  [161125 18:49]:
[..SNIP..]
> I have had good luck with PakMail (http://www.pakmail.com/); I've had them
> ship a couple of 6' racks (one from Arizona, one from Toronto), and been very
> happy with the results.
[..SNIP..]

Hi Noel,

Did you have any issues with customs bringing in the racked equipment
from Toronto?

I've had so much trouble in the past that I've had to use a customs
broker (this was a container from England.)

They wanted prices and state of origin for all the pieces and pulled
everything out of the container for inspection twice (which I paid for
including transport to and from the inspection station of course.)

For the OP, I've had good success shipping racks and an a keypunch with
integrated table, both unpalleted, via uShip.  The key to use them is
specify everything in great detail (covered, unpalleted, etc) up front.
Both times the carrier knew it was unpalleted computer equipment and did
a good job using blankets and strapping them into the trucks.  I did
have help preparing the racks (getting cables all inside the racks and
shrink wrapping them to keep things from sliding out, thanks Steve!)

The other carrier did a great job picking up the keypunch (the seller
was very happy with them) and delivering.  They mostly ship antiques and
pianos and other items that can be fragile and not palleted and so were
a good choice for shipping vintage computer equipment.)

Both were very competitively priced in my experience.

Thanks,

Todd

Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[Pontus Pihlgren]

Congratulations! Where does one find _three_ Crimsons these days?

I would consider going there myself to pack them,, Crimsons are 
somewhate fragile. Not extremely so, like some SGI machines, but there 
are some places you shouldn't lift.

Perhaps you could find an SGI collector in california to help you in 
exchange for one of them. Check out nekochan.

/P


On Fri, Nov 25, 2016 at 02:59:15PM -0500, devin davison wrote:
> I have purchased 3 large SGi crimson computers and need them shipped from
> california to florida. I am uncertain of a good service to use for the
> task, i need the machines to be packaged up / put on a pallet at the pickup
> location, the owner is unable to do so. Usualy I would use YRC freight,
> however they do not offer the service to package the machines on site.
> 
> Hopefully someone here can make a suggestion. Ive never dealt with shipping
> something this large before. I did have a Microvax 3800 shipped with YRC
> freight, however that was purchased through a business and was packaged
> before shipping. The crimsons will be a bit larger.
> 
> I have the machines paid for, but figuring out the shipping has had me a
> bit stumped for the past few days.
> 
> --Devin

Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[COURYHOUSE]

we liked our winstar that was on a  taurus  wagon chassis  I  was  told... 
wish we still had it  hauled a lot of  stuff in  it!
 
currently have a  subaru forester...unfortunately  is is not  as much 
volume as the winstar with the seats  out! I  hear the outback  has a 
longer   cargo  area.Ed# 
 
 
In a message dated 11/25/2016 8:57:21 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,  
el...@pico-systems.com writes:

On  11/25/2016 05:49 PM, Noel Chiappa wrote:
> I have discovered that a Ford  Taurus wagon nicely holds an H960 6'x19" 
rack
> (I joked that the car  must have been designed by someone who collects old
> gear :-), so I  have been able to pick up a shipment consisting of _two_
> H960's this  way: one inside, and one on the roof rack. With only one 
person,
> one  has to remove the heavy units first, and put them in the car  
separately,
> but it can be done.
>
No, it was designed by a  guy whose wife plays harp in the 
symphony. My cousin does that, and the  Taurus from years ago 
was the only station wagon that would fit it.   The others 
came up short by just one  inch!

Jon

Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[Jon Elson]

On 11/25/2016 05:49 PM, Noel Chiappa wrote:

I have discovered that a Ford Taurus wagon nicely holds an H960 6'x19" rack
(I joked that the car must have been designed by someone who collects old
gear :-), so I have been able to pick up a shipment consisting of _two_
H960's this way: one inside, and one on the roof rack. With only one person,
one has to remove the heavy units first, and put them in the car separately,
but it can be done.

No, it was designed by a guy whose wife plays harp in the 
symphony. My cousin does that, and the Taurus from years ago 
was the only station wagon that would fit it.  The others 
came up short by just one inch!


Jon

Re: A good shipping service for large computers?

[Noel Chiappa]

> From: Devin Davison

> I am uncertain of a good service to use for the task, i need the
> machines to be packaged up / put on a pallet at the pickup location

I have had good luck with PakMail (http://www.pakmail.com/); I've had them
ship a couple of 6' racks (one from Arizona, one from Toronto), and been very
happy with the results.

The shipping cost in the Arizona case may not have been the absolute lowest
possible I could have secured had I been on the spot, looking around, but.. I
wasn't on the spot, looking around; and it was pretty reasonable (I've
shipped a number of large items from the West Coast, so I think I'm
reasonably well calibrated).

And they went to the person's house, picked the thing up, put it on a pallet,
and shipped it.


A tip for keeping costs down when shipping via freight (i.e. on a pallet,
which generally is a key thing to do to keep costs down) to one's house (i.e.
not a place with a loading dock): if you have a vehicle which can hold the
item(s), have it/them delivered to the nearest freight terminal, not the
house, and go pick it up. That way, they won't have to roll a truck with a
lift-gate to your house, which is an extra cost.

Every line I've ever used (SAIA, FedEx Freight, etc) were happy, when one
arrives to pick it up, to dump the shipment in their yard, and let one take
everthing off the pallet and load it all into your vehicle. (But check with
your local terminal first, to make sure they're OK with it. And check the
weather prediction to pick the day to go get it! :-) And you generally save a
couple of days, too.

I have discovered that a Ford Taurus wagon nicely holds an H960 6'x19" rack
(I joked that the car must have been designed by someone who collects old
gear :-), so I have been able to pick up a shipment consisting of _two_
H960's this way: one inside, and one on the roof rack. With only one person,
one has to remove the heavy units first, and put them in the car separately,
but it can be done.

Noel

A good shipping service for large computers?

[devin davison]

I have purchased 3 large SGi crimson computers and need them shipped from
california to florida. I am uncertain of a good service to use for the
task, i need the machines to be packaged up / put on a pallet at the pickup
location, the owner is unable to do so. Usualy I would use YRC freight,
however they do not offer the service to package the machines on site.

Hopefully someone here can make a suggestion. Ive never dealt with shipping
something this large before. I did have a Microvax 3800 shipped with YRC
freight, however that was purchased through a business and was packaged
before shipping. The crimsons will be a bit larger.

I have the machines paid for, but figuring out the shipping has had me a
bit stumped for the past few days.

--Devin