Someone with a Fastenal account requested I use Fastenal to ship to him. Go to Charlotte , 25 miles. They never heard of shipping. Local Fastenal [ 5 miles away] Didn't want to bother. Now I have a complete 355 SBC shipped to me. They have no fork lift here just a loading dock so I have to go to Salisbury [35 miles away] where they have a fork lift. YRC Freight is cheaper right to my door. Ship " Dimentional Freight Quote" Even cheaper to a YRC dock near you.
Sorry for your troubles. I am not at all sure I follow your tale, but it would seem like one should establish the shipping route before attempting to ship, or have shipped to you, something large. Kind of like getting the title before you start a build. Hope it all works out.
I Have Shipped 10 Large Items With Fastenal And Other Than Training A New Clerk Every Other Time It Went Smooth As Silk..
Forward Air is another one. My terminal has a forklift. Strapped to a pallet, & plastic wrapped ... a 4 bolt BBC block was less than a C note from Dallas Tx to Los Angeles.
I too ran into issues finding a Fastenal to ship out of state. Seems like the smaller ones tend to exist only for the local manufacturing companies, Cant believe they didn't have a towmotor
The Fastenal connection works fine........ until it doesn't. It sounds like your local store had a gap in their experience. At the first sign that they don't know or care to know, ask them for the contact number for their district manager. "Maybe he can help us sort this out and get it done." EDIT: I posted the above before I learned that only some stores can ship and receive, and it has to be arranged by you online, ahead of time. They don't take your info and do it at the store. So that makes sense and explains most of the complaints. See post #29.
It is sort of confusing, but as I understand the process, it does not start with a trip to Fastenal. Rather one contacts the shipping department through their website. They provide a quote and determine the sending and receiving Fastenal locations Lots of info on the web page.
Our local store won't ship large items either. Not easy to deal with and no interest in shipping anything.
What Pewsplace said. You don't just show up and ship, you contact Fastenal shipping first and after agreeing to the price and terms, they give you a bill of lading you then take to the store.
^^^ yes, you have to approach it this way 1st time can be a bit daunting, and you may not necessarily get the nearest Fastenal. link to Fastenal's 3pl request page https://www.fastenal.com/en/22/3pl-third-party-logistics make sure the person paying for the shipping is indicated. Another thing to be aware of is that if you don't enclose the item in a wooden box, Fastenal will not be liable for any damage....let your imagination run wild.
One thing to remember that most everything they sell is either carried out the front door by hand or on a hand truck. Little if none has to be loaded with a fork lift. Few have a loading dock. I've loaded up my cherry picker and taken it along to lift heavy items so I can load them in the truck so many times that it isn't even an issue anymore. A simple "do you have something to lift it with or do I need to bring something?" solves that problem. A simple look at their shipping map says a lot. The stars are hubs that everything is going to go though to get out to a store. or in through to ship to a different hub. There is quite a bit of "you can't get there from here" without going way over there going on too.
Damn, I learn something every time I log on- I had no idea that Fastenal shipped stuff. I thought they just sold overpriced hardware and chemicals.
I kept reading here on the HAMB how great and wonderful Fastenal was. So, when I had a transmission to ship, I stopped in at a store to check them out. This is a store right across the road from the Snohomish County Airport/Paine Field, less than 2 miles from Boeing and their largest building in the world based on cubic feet. I was told I would have to arrange everything ONLINE, and I'm standing right in the store. Then, they did't bother to tell me about pallets, boxes, etc. After wasting 2 days, I finally just gave up on Fastenal; I'm pretty sure they won't be seeing me again. NOT helpful at all! I guess if you need gloves, or reflective jackets, they're fine. Your results may vary. I am Butch/56sedandelivery. What I inadvertently left out was, when I first entered the store, there were two employees doing nothing but talking with each other, and did't acknowledge me until I was right at the counter in front of them. I really hate when a business does that. Then, add that to the fact the one guy telling me I HAD to go online to make the arrangements (???); why could't he help me, he was obviously not doing anything. I don't go to Mc Donald's either. I really don't know what has happened to pride, customer service, going the extra mile, etc, etc, etc. I never treated any of my patients, their families/friends/Drs.,/Nurses,/coworkers that way; must be a generational thing?
Sorry to hear that you had trouble with Fastenal. I posted some time back about them being great for shipping. You do HAVE to go on line to the Fastenal 3PL part of their website. I had some issues once with a local store not wanting to take a shipment, but i just contacted their person on my bill of lading listed as a contact and let me tell you it was taken care of NOW. i have shipped and received items from all over the country. If you have an item that goes through a couple hubs then yes it takes a bit longer. Seems that freight costs depend very much on whether you deal with a particular company often. Fastenal has always taken care of things for me.
They are an industrial hardware store FIRST, the shipping is sort of a side job and a way to make a few bucks with empty trucks after they make their deliveries. System works fine, go on line and follow the steps, it works fine with me. Bob
Used them twice. A pair of cranks, and an entire Buford 401. Both crated (CYA); forklift took it from my truck straight into their building. They are not a big hub, so maybe some just don’t have them...? Seamless both times; arrangements made on the buyers end. Signed where I needed to, and that was it. No issues on the other end as far as I know. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Just a note - not a bad one really - needed to ship two 1930's fenders from Texas up to New York - the buyer was hoping for the best - the Greyhound quote was about $145 and the Fastunaw guys were at $275.....went with the bus guys and they even adjusted down to $85 which made for one happy customer !
I tried to use Fastenal but they said they do not go into Calif with freight and said I had to drive to Reno to pick up at the store there. I have used EngineShippers.Com about 6 times for everything from complete '34 Ford rear ends, to engines, transmissions, a pair of Vicky seats, and other things. They were reasonable, professional and on time, every time. I am sure they are a broker but nevertheless they did what they were contracted to do without a problem at half what the big freight outfits wanted to charge. Everything needs to be put on a pallet, a shipping bill of lading is e-mailed to the person shipping the item that is to be applied to the freight and it is picked up and delivered. You can even get tracking to see wher your item is.
East coast to West coast, YRC $154.00 door to door. Both had a fork lift. See if you can match that? Complete flathead with iron heads and a heavy steel flywheel. Plus a heavy pallet/box.
Might be a Union thing. I had a transmission shipped and because of odd work hours, wanted to pick it up at the depot rather than have it shipped to my house. Well, first, it sat for two days in the depot, before someone called me to pick it up. When I got to the depot I waited two hours before someone told me to "drive to door 5". When I got there it was ready for pick up. One of the workers pulled me aside and told me "they are breaking your chops because you aren't a union teamster".
The biggest problem people seem to be having is that they aren't, or are unwilling to, following the directions. Their system is to arrange everything online- the local counter people cannot do it, no matter how much you think they should do it the way you want. Shipping is not their main business, so many of the counter people may not even know about it, and can't help you if they do. You have to set it up online, and they are not going to change the way they do business, no matter how much you stamp your feet
^^^^^ X2 ........... They work well for me but I do shop around R&L Trucking was a good deal when I shipped '32 rails to Texas. Bob
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