Shipping a windsurf board?

erik · Joined: 10 Apr 2000 Posts: 18

Any recommendations on what company to use to ship a board? I have one that is going from Pacific to Atlantic water.

jjstien · Joined: 31 Mar 2000 Posts: 36

I've had good luck with amtrak. It takes a little longer than air, and it's probably competetive to ground transportation. You do need to have a terminal in the neighborhood of where you are shipping. Definitely cheaper than fedex or UPS. Look at Amtrak website

In a box, lots of bubble wrap, cardboard around the rails... good luck

MikeUzi · Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 28

Try an airline air cargo. I have used American Airlines air cargo to ship from Hawaii. You drop it off and they tell you the flight # it goes out on, usually the same day. You then have to pick it up at the airport. It was about $60 for a surfboard from Honolulu-LAX.

jam-1 · Joined: 23 Mar 1999 Posts: 81 Location: Redwood City

Been a while since I last shipped something, but I had good luck with DHL. They were cheaper than FedEx and UPS.

victor · Joined: 03 Aug 1998 Posts: 581

roadway express. www.roadway.com

if it's going to an individual it's cheaper to send it "will call" where the consignee picks up at the nearest terminal. they charge a premium for residential deliveries.

you might find it cheaper with other carriers but roadway has been good to me.

bmoney · Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 22

Give Greyhound a shot. I have had a bunch of bulk items (hockey eq. bag, steamer trunk) shipped from the east coast out here (SF) that way. Assuming you can adequately protect the board, it might be worth looking into as a cheap option...

keycocker · Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 3598

Put it in the box it came in (probably from Thailand) wrapped the same way with bubble all over and cardboard on the rails..If you don't have one, try any shop. We keep them for our clients.
We also wrap them in wetsuits so they ship together.

erik · Joined: 10 Apr 2000 Posts: 18

Thanks for the advice!

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

I just got quotes from FedEX, UPS, and Roadway for shipping a 272 cm x 62 cm board from WA state to San Francisco. The first two wanted $300-$600, Roadway wanted $175. Three things strike me about that:
1. Almost no board's unique enough to justify that expense in most areas, especially near a venue like the Bay Area.
2. At 25 mpg, that would pay for a trip to the Gorge to pick up the dang thing.
3. FedEx/UPS obviously don't want our business on big packages.

Amtrak doesn't accept packages that large.

\m/

madspaniard · Joined: 23 May 2005 Posts: 380