I have found a used Overbuilt Motorcycle Lift that could be installed on my MC8. It is located near Eau Claire, WI and I would need to ship it to Bellingham WA. Any suggestions as to the best cost method of shipping it would be most appreciated. Also, any comments on the Overbuilt Lift would also be welcome.
How big is it? I imagine it is too big for Greyhound, but they are usually the best way to ship anything that is small enough to fit under the bus. They only ship terminal to terminal though.
My next thought is to suggest that you sign up for an account on uship.com (http://www.uship.com)and you can list the specifics of the job and shippers will send you bids. This is not only big shippers with big truck fleets, but also owner/operators who run back and forth across the country. When I needed my 34 Ford brought out to CA from GA last year, all the 'big shipper' bids were over $2000. I found a guy on uship who was in GA, heading this way and had an empty spot. He brought it to me for $800.
The account is free, and it doesn't cost anything to list your job. It used to be that the transporter paid a small commission to uship for the job and the customer didn't have any extra fees. Not sure if it is still that way or not.
Thanks for the suggestion. I did register with UShip a couple of days ago but have had no responses. The lift is broken down into parts and the total weighs 230-250 lbs.
Here are Greyhounds limits. If it can be broken into a couple of packages it might work...
The maximum weight per package is 100 pounds. The extreme measurements of length, width, and height shall not exceed 30" x 47" x 82".
Here is their shipping website where you can get a quote...
http://www.shipgreyhound.com/
I just did a sample quote. Looks like if you can get it down to 100 pound boxes (as long as the biggest side is less than 82", you can do it for around $100 per box.
Songman:
Thanks for your research. I'm not sure what packaging the guy will do and the sizes, so I'll find that out and then check out Greyhound. I also got an inquiry from UShip so maybe this will work.