Learn Me: Shipping Via Greyhound

I'm looking to ship an over-sized, but fairly light item to a fellow GRMer. I don't UPS's rate. The quote I'm getting from Greyhound is much better, but I've never shipped anything on a bus before.

Is this a reliable way to ship things? When it reaches it's destination how quickly does it have to picked up?

Thanks for your help, Bryan

Watching with interest.

I've shipped and received stuff via Greyhound before. It is a very inexpensive and fast way to ship bulky items, like a combat air dam (MR2), or a differential and axles, etc., just 2 things I've done that way. It usually gets there the same day or the next day. Very fast. I dunno about how fast it needs to be picked up. I wouldn't want my stuff hanging around the bus stop, so I get there right away. You can even ship stuff from/to Canada fast and cheap.

I've shipped seats via Greyhound before, with mixed results. They are cheap and fast, but you have to drop-off and pick-up at a service center. I'm getting ready to use them again (possibly) for my Porsche seats as well.

Another option is to put your item up for bid on uShip. I've shipped a whole car, but they do anything large/bulky/weird, etc. If you get lucky, there will be somebody with a trailer that has enough room to toss your item on extra, usually for peanuts (compared to UPS/FedEx).

I shipped a fiat hardtop from Philly to LA about 10 years ago.. was really cheap.. but you have to take it to the station and get it picked up at one. Two years ago I had some bumpers shipped to me.. because I could not get there for a day or two.. they tacked on "holding fee"

They do charge storage fees. It once caused problems for me because someone I shipped stuff to with greyhound left it there for like 2 weeks and had to pay almost $100 in fees. Other than that, i have shipped stuff a few times, and had stuff shipped to me once, and it was just as good as any other shipping method, and a bit cheaper.

I've done it a few times both ways, and it was painless.

Excellent. Thanks all.

Javelin,

Probably a stupid question, but how did you package the seats when you shipped them?

I shipped a couple of rusty Nova fenders to a guy in Michigan via Greyhound. I guess what's rusty in Virginia is pretty much rust-free in Michigan. Anyway, it was cheap and fast, like a good hooker. Hardest part was finding someone at the bus terminal to process the shipment. The designated area was well-marked, but utterly unpopulated by workers. When I finally tracked someone down, none of the computers in her area worked, but she was helpful and used a terminal in the main ticketing area. As you might well imagine, Greyhound is not catering to the high-end traveler, and I'm guessing most of their personnel are not college-educated. No matter. It got there.

Cliff notes: It's cheap. It works. I'm one for one.

MG Bryan wrote: Excellent. Thanks all. Javelin, Probably a stupid question, but how did you package the seats when you shipped them?

The last pair were cloth, I didn't package them at all. Just tossed them in the bus. They arrived A-OK. For the leather Porsche seats, I'll probably packing tape some heavy garbage bags on them.

MG Bryan wrote: but how did you package the seats when you shipped them?

I went to a local hardware store that sells a E36 M3 load of appliances, and grabbed a fridge box. I laid one seat on top of the other, reclined (without rails), taped them together for stability, then cut the box so I could pretty much just cover them in cardboard for protection. I think I used a full roll of packaging tape.

I was once asked to ship something that way that I sold on eBay, and after trying to arrange it for a week, I gave up and shipped it UPS and ate the cost. I'll pay for a little extra convenience of not having to drive to an incredibly shady drop-off point, deal with some really rude ignorant people, and then have the thing be crushed under a bus by someone's luggage.

Your results may differ, this is only one experience.

A buddy of mine organized a group purchase of cf hoods and we shipped at least 50 of them via the hound. As others said - ofter gets there same/next day. All got there safely although we did have trouble 1 time with a new person working the shipping counter.

I once shipped a SVX trunk lid from PA to MT. It was cheap, but it took almost two weeks, and tracking during the trip showed that it left Pottsville, PA but nothing else until the guy got the call to pick it up.

I wrapped the hardtop I shipped in shrinkwrap.. lots of shrinkwrap.. but other than that, nothing special.

I agree on the average education of the greyhound worker and their usual clientel. You could probably ship a body and they wouldn't notice

I shipped a bumper via greyhound about 5 months ago and it disappeared.....Insurance then took around 3 months to get any money back.

But then on the other side I shipped some carpet and it got there in 3 days.

With that said...they are CHEAP. But if they loose or damage it their insurance process is hell.

I ship a lot and use Greyhound for large items. Shipped a go kart and a convertible top mechanism for a 69 Camaro this month. Pack and box well in STURDY cardboard like the appliance boxes previously mentioned. I haven't had any problems with Greyhound.

I have shipped via Greyhound two or three times. On all occasions the items I was shipping were fiberglass bumpers, sideskirts, etc. They always made it to their destination in one piece and it was dirt cheap!

I've only used bus shipping once and it was a berkeleying nightmare. I bought some expensive NOS Porsche parts (shipping included) and the seller decided to go the bus route. They "shipped" it to an address that doesn't exist and it was missing for about a week. Their tracking was almost non-existent as well. I finally found it a week later behind the counter of a gas station near the bus place.

Never again.