what's the best way to ship a bunch of small items across the country?

Question

I'm moving cross country and want to ship a bunch of my stuff. I have no furniture to send - just books, clothes, some electronic items, etc. What's the best way to send these? I care about price and safety (i.e., lack of damage), and less about speed. I'm trying to get an idea of how much it will cost me per pound.

Answer 1

That depends on a number of factors. Shipping companies charge based on the weight and the size of the container and how fast you want it to get there. The cheapest mode of shipping is by train, however trains usually take forever to ship and they are usually used for more commercial means.

For small items, I'd probably recommend using a company like UPS or FedEx. For fragile items, make sure you properly cushion around the items. The box will go through a number of slides and drops on its way to it's destination. The sorting facilities consist of conveyors and slides so the box will see some rough handling. Don't overstuff the box full of heavy items. The heavy items will tend to want to burst out the corners of the box. For heavy items use a doublewall carton. There should be a little circle on the bottom of the box stating whether it is singlewall or doublewall and the Mullen Burst Test or Crush Test value of the carton. Most cartons will have the older more well known Mullen Burst value. The higher the value, the better the box will hold up. Doublewall holds up better than singlewall.

I don't recommend shipping around the Super Bowl or March Madness. Field goals and three pointers tend to get made with the packages around that time of year.

One last thing, don't cushion your items with packing peanuts. They should only be used if you do not need cushioning but just a filler for void. Packing peanuts allow the item to work it's way to the bottom of the container during shipment due to all the vibration during shipping. If the package is dropped after the item has worked it's way to the bottom, the packing peanuts will provide no cushioning whatsoever to the item.

For larger items or for a ton of items you can use a pod, to ship stuff. It's basically a big metal container they drop off and you can fill up. Then they pick it up and ship it to where you want it.

Answer 2

Pods is the most economical way to move small items, but they don't charge by the pound, they charge by the size of the container. They deliver it, you fill it, and they either store it until you need it in their climate controlled wearhouse or ship directly to you. You can either pack the items yourself or hire someone to just do the packing and loading. But it is cheaper than using the major shippers or movers.