Tried Fastenal to ship a mini bike from New York to Ohio. They wouldn't do it. I don't even try them anymore.
Just to chime in on the cheap YRC shipping. They do ship cheap. Agreed. However, the insurance on that flathead if it got lost or stolen on the way wouldn't cover the value of the engine. If you purchase the insurance to cover the value of a rebuilt flathead be prepared for that $150 shipping bill to look more like $800. One time they "lost" a quick change I was shipping. I would have received somewhere around $500 vs $3000 in value of the quick change. Fortunately they found it 1 month later when they discovered they dropped it off at a construction site 1 stop before the final depot where I was to pick it up. Happy to have it back. I put the quick change in a sealed crate with my name and phone number on every surface of the crate to help just in case of such a possibility. Not bashing YRC at all, simply saying if the item you are shipping is very expensive the cheap shipping (ie., minus additional insurance to protect your investment) may not be the way to go. Bantam
I shipped an expensive oil sump to Australia, buyer lined up all the shipping without insurance. I made a big deal out of my responsibility ending as soon as I walked in the depot door. It did arrive as sent, but sometimes that insurance cost is a comfort. Bob
Pretty sure Fastenal is a franchise store, independently owned. If your local store doesn’t have the desire, manpower,or equipment to handle shipping, that’s understandable.
Fastenal isn't franchised. I've shipped with them without trouble. The online procedure is sound and uniform company wide. It's a matter of moving your loaded and secure pallet from your truck/trailer to theirs. The onus is on the shipper to follow pallet loading rules. In light of the turnover in their counter help you don't want a short timer doing anything more than load your pallet on the truck.
Actually, I'd like to expand this. What @56sedandelivery says about Dunn Lumber was very true, up untl about 10 years ago. Seemed like the Dunn counter guys were accustomed to dealing with high-volume contractors only. I felt the same aggravation that 56 is talking about; if you didn't know VG from tight knot from clear, they pretty much dismissed you. But after the '08 crash, they must have started feeling the pressure from Loew's and Home Depot (or Home Peehole as my wife calls it). Since they couldn't compete on prices, they had to up their service. You go in there now, the staff are pretty helpful, and they added a regular checkout line so you could quickly bypass the counter guys if you were just grabbing basics. Anyway, I bring this up because the exact same thing happened with our big local fastener supplier, Tacoma Screw Products. Ten years ago, the counter people had littel patience for the general public. I remember going into the Tacoma Screw Products in Freemont for a pair of bolts and being told ,"We don't stock grade 8." (Come on, man!) I went a quarter mile down the road and got them at the Fastenal in Ballard. Flash forward 8 eight years, I went into Tacoma Screw Products, and the counter guy was willing to go through a couple dozen boxes in the back room with me until we fianlly found the single obscure fastener I needed. 20 minutes for an $8 sale. Like Dunn, they have upped their game. And while it may be a coincidence, that Fastenal down the road closed about 2 years ago.
The Fastenals here have all closed themselves to the public. You cannot buy a single thing unless you have a corporate account.
This is the best, let the buyer arrange the shipping. Sellers responsibility is to make sure it is packaged to go. Send a few pics, ask..."is this ok"? shipping Obviously I'm not talking about a door latch.... I say this because I spent waaaaaaay to much time after crating an engine to ship it to get the buyer the best deal, all said and done I worked for 2 bucks an hour. It's simple, "I have this big/heavy/oversize item for sale" "Pick up preferred, or buyer arranges shipping" When contacted by a buyer, you ask "How do you want me to pack it/crate it/etc" Explain a 1/2 to a full day of buying supplies and time to do it the way they want adds to the cost. You figure your time/expense. I say this for a few reasons..."they (insert company) charged me 9 dollars to ship a 2 dollar part" Well, they don't have an employee working for free, and they want to make a profit too. So why should you work for free to crate/box/ect something up? Bottom line is if I buy something that can't easily be packaged up and sent, I look for ways to ge it to me. I'm not spending/wasting time to get you the best shipping deal when I sell it to you. That's on you.
I've never charged for boxing or crating, that sump to Australia was packed in free delivered shower packing. Bob
Yesterday I sent in the 3PL form via the Fastenal website much as I have done many times in the past. Shipping a single pallet with a QC mounted on it. Pallet is 55x44 at 150 lbs. pretty straight forward deal. Then I get an email from the PA 3PL office stating that they cannot ship the item as it is too large. Seems the rules have changed?? Here is her response to me: Thank you for your interest in using Fastenals Store to Store 3PL shipping service! We apologizee, but we are unable to issue a quote for a shipment of this size to the location(s) requested. 3PL Shipments that are over 48"x 48" are handled on a case by case basis, with a max size of 96" length or width. We currently lack the capacity to be able to accommodate a shipment of that size from the Bennington, VT area at this time. Please see the attached shipment restrictions document for you to reference. For any other questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or email. I am appealing this today as I have shipped many larger items from this store and don't quite understand this shift in policy. In addition to the above I will say that most of the local store employees do not know anything about the #PL process. Best to just use the web site 3PL form and deal with the 3PL office. Much simpler process, usually.
Having been an over the road driver for a subsidiary company of YRC and having to deal with a large amount of damaged freight that came from YRC, all I can say about your experience with them is that you were lucky. It's great that your engine was created so well but I've seen them set larger, heavier, equipment on top of shipments just like yours and crush them. I know you were shipping something that was cast iron and damned near impossible to hurt but anything attached to that engine, carburetors, fuel pump, generator or alternator that gets damaged can cost you a lot of time and aggravation having to deal with YRC's claims department. Another thing I dislike about them is their policy of not moving a trailer until it's completely full. It makes for cheaper shipping but if you have a schedule to keep, you aren't going to be sure your shipment is going to be there on time. If they do guarantee an on time delivery, I can promise you that they will give your shipment to one of their regional carriers and your stuff will be moved on and off of several trailers with the additional chance of damage. I'm speaking from 20 plus years experience of having to deal with YRC's screw ups and, no, I don't like them one little bit. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yep, I went to a terminal to pick up something years ago and saw them open a trailer to unload it. Stuff was just piled in on top of other stuff all the way to the top. Looked like a hurricane disaster area........... Edit note......don't know what company it was.
I can tell by the reflective jacket, this is a Fastenal employee loading a truck for shipment. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
My recent shipping experience involves UPS packing and shipping. The seller agreed, at my request, to shipping the item PACKED AND SHIPPED by UPS approx. 200 miles. The box was too small allowing the item to punch through in 2 corners. The entire top 3" of the box showed crush damage. The item weighed 23 lbs. and was packed with loosely wadded packing paper and a small amount of bubble wrap in a 48" square cardboard box. A UPS driver stopped to pick it up to return it somewhere for inspection as is! I did not let it go. When I asked for a clear English speaking person in claims the line went dead. The third attempt was successful and the third email from them properly instructed were to send photos of the damage. Lesson learned. In the past I have shipped shop built crates loaded with preferred packing material to sellers in which to return purchased goods.
I hate Fastenal. They lost my shipment. I can't complain to anyone because they've locked their stores down due to the Wuhan Virus. I just think they are using this world event to cover up bad management. In the future, I'm not using Fastenal for shipping or anything else.
I'm in an email correspondence with someone. It might be the PA office. In his defense, he's been extremely nice to me. What I don't understand is how something that was dropped off at a California store on March 4th suddenly doesn't have a shipping number or any current location for it. I called the local store this morning to see if my shipment had come in and maybe they just didn't call me. The girl I spoke to told me that the store is closed due to the Coronavirus and basically its not her problem. She wouldn't even go look in their storage area to at least humor me. We use to have two Fastenal stores here. Now, we only have the one. With service like this, I bet we won't have this store for much longer...
I tried 3 times to ship a transmission through the Fastenal system, three different destinations two of them didn't have lift trucks and the default locations were over 50 miles away and the third one was a hundred miles away. Buyers opted out. Ended up getting a FedEx account and using them. All three buyers had help and took the tote off while the driver had coffee. I was a long-time fastener customer at Fastenal but stopped darkening their door when they insisted on a no-cash formal account. I ended up with a Bolt-Bin franchise who is kicking Fastenals ass, delivers for free and sends me a bill with state tax added on. Works for me.
I recently shipped 5 '54 Buick wire wheels through Fastenal, which the buyer arranged. Honestly, the transaction could not have gone smoother. Buyer emailed me a PDF of the paperwork, which I printed. I palletized the wheels and secured the load. Drove up, handed the dude at the counter the paperwork, and a guy with a forklift took the pallet out of the bed of my pickup. Done. That was the first time I shipped with them but I was very impressed.
I have also shipped through them without any problems at all. I think you may find that the cost starts at about $250.00, so for smaller items they may not be the cheapest option.
While I haven't used them, as the th400/OD (from Nevada, I'm in MN) deal fell thru, I did contact the local Fastenal, got a nice lady who explained the whole process to me, & on the 2nd call, cleared up some Q's that came up from the website. Guess I got lucky, but I'd sure give them a call when I need shipping heavy/bulky stuff - IF I can crate it properly 1st. . Since the deal fell thru, I didn't get into insurance costs. Marcus...
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