Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Shipment help. 55 galon drum

Wasn't sure where to put this. It does relate to a petro piece.

Anyone ever ship an empty 55 gallon drum?

Maine to Detroit ares, and with me estimating 45 lbs and 24 x 24 x 50, FedEx tells me $185 for FedEx ground.

Waaaaay to much!!
Anyone know of any other methods/options?

Check with UPS. Ground should be less then your fedex price.

Silly as that would be the first time that I found UPS ground to be cheaper than Fed-X ground...

Shipped a Coca cola curb sign complete thru Greyhound bus and their companion bus companies from MN to AZ for 120 so try them as they are always looking to fill the buses.

Also Steve make sure you post on the transportation board here as it works great!!!

I concur. 95% of the time, FedEx is cheaper.

And remember, anything sent UPS that is not completely wrapped in cardboard is subject to an additional fee.

A 55-gallon drum takes up a lot of real-estate in a truck, finding reasonable shipping for less than $150 is going to be nearly impossible

Try The US Postal Service, standard rate. You may be surprised. They raised Priority the first of July, but have gotten more competitive on standard rate mail. They are trying to get back all the business they gave away years ago before UPS and FedEx existed. Go to any Post Office, give them the measurements, weight, and zip code destination and they should be able to give you a price.

Ed I believe that's outside the USPS size limits.

That crossed my mind Mike. But I hate to bother people.

This is turning out to just way too much cost. The item itself is far less than the shipping cost's.

Steve if it was going to bother someone, they won't contact you but most of us use it knowing the pay it forward will come when we need it at some point.

You might want to have the guy remeasure the barrel as the ones used currently measure 23" X 35".

Post office might take it as an oversize item, much cheaper! Check their website for dimensional maximums

Oops I see someone also mentioned them!

Uship.com

Do you and your buyer have a Fastenal location near you? I have shipped with them on larger things and they were cheaper than any other shipper.

Fastenal Shipping

I never would have thought Fastenal provided shipping service. I have one two miles from my house (not far from you either Steve C.). I am going to get a quote from them next time. Thanks for the tip Budd (Chad).

Steve, no problem. I have used them for bigger and heavier parts before and they have always been cheaper. They have their own trucks and as they drop product off they have room in their trucks so they try to use that space for shipping for other people.