I made a mistake and shipped out two pallets of parts through Fastenal right before Christmas. I dropped them both off at about the same time (Two days apart) and they left the store on the same truck. I should have known better. The manager didn't think it was necessary to label the pallets as they came in and I didn't think is was necessary to label them at my shop since we were going to place a Fastenal label on them at the store, and after wrapping them up in plastic shrink wrap. Well, That was a mistake. The manager sent them both to the wrong destinations. Now the customers are having to deal with this mess and find their parts.

This is the first time in three years that labeling pallets became an issue. But this is the first time I sent two out on the same truck.

Last year they dropped a pallet which resulted in the pallet breaking and parts falling off. The guys at distribution through what they could back on the pallet and left a door sitting in a corner of the warehouse. The customer had to call and have the shipping guys locate his door. Miraculously it was found and returned, undamaged no less.

But to be honest, they're no worse than Fedex or UPS.

I usually have one major shipping incident per year.
Fedex broke a well packed dash pad once. The box arrived at the customer's home and it looked like it had been hit by a truck.
UPS broke a transmission housing I ordered. I guess it was to heavy for them to lift so they pushed it off of the truck.
I hope this latest Fastenal incident covers me for 2017. LOL

 

I hope you don't get any negative feedback from your customers through this. Everyone that does business with shipments are at the mercy of the shipper in most cases.
I have shipped stampings that fit my tooling fixture just fine from Toronto to Indiana. By the time they got to Indiana the parts were bent badly. I was back charged the cost of hand tweaking every part to fit their fixture. The driver swore up and down the crate didn't shift and was not strapped to the max on his truck.
We all know who drives trucks nowadays EH!!!
I'm still waiting to be compensated for the charges!!
Its part of the shipping deal sometimes.
I hope everything goes ok with your pallets.

Eric

 

I have been lucky. I have used Fastenal several times and never had a problem yet. I had UPS brake a Vista Cruiser top glass but I believe it was my only problem with shipping.

 

My single shipping incident was w fedex. I received damaged MC wheels I was not home at drop off. I called fedex the lady told me the wheels have to go back to the seller and he had to file the claim, so back they went now the seller had my money and product, I called fedex a couple more times over the next several days as well as spoke to the seller. Fortunetly the seller was honest and thru conversation we discovered that they were repackaged ( poorly) in transit. On another call w fedex ( about my fifth call) the lady from fedex I don't understand why they haven't refunded the money yet it says right on your ticket the box fell off the pallet was run over by the forklift and was repackaged!!

Long story short they refunded the money, I renegotiated w the seller and got the same rims back ( I had to replace 1 because of damage the second was repairable). But I did not care for the seller had my money and product and the ship insurance money went to the seller as well.

I will add for most items over 5 lbs and under 100 lbs fedex is the cheapest VS UPS or USPS not including bulky items.

 

I've dealt with a FedEx claim as well. It's definitely an ordeal.

With Fastenal I leave all arrangements and claims to the buyer. But I try to help in everyday possible.

Selling classic Oldsmobile parts is a passion for me so I hate to see parts getting damaged. They are getting so hard to find and they are so needed for our restorations.

 

Me to. Ordered a lift-gate tail gate take-off for my F250 (tailgate with the slide out step). When I received it it looked like it was dropped from 30,000 feet. I had to fight like hell to get refunded. Finally did with many phone calls. Upon the last attempt, I spoke with someone new to the situation and was refunded in whole. Why the run a round?

 

That's a bummer that you all have had difficulty shipping parts. I've shipped intake and exhaust manifolds, wheels, bumpers and carburetors in the past and never had a problem. Usually I ship through UPS. I guess I've just gotten lucky.

 

I've used Fastenal a couple times and so far been happy. Only twice though.

 

I have had good luck with fastenal but I do not just label but I staple the labels to the pallets and tape it to the item being shipped. I crate as well as possible. I used to own an LTL freight business and I can tell you any time there is a claim they look for every out they can so not to pay. Packaging is usually the out as most do not package well. Wrap things like a cocoon and then box or crate to protect even more, Label everything fragile on all sides. It is an issue if there is a claim. Take lots of pictures as packaging and after. I always take a picture as it is dropped off as well.

 

Fastenal has been good to me so far but like everything there is no guaranty that something won't happen in the future to my shipments.
Most people try and do their best I like to think.

 

I ship a lot through FedEx and Fastenal. When my truck is out of commission the store manager will actually come by and pick up my out going shipments.

On average I have one issue per year with shipping, whether it be with FedEx, UPS, USPS or Fastenal. It's just a numbers thing with me now. One out of every 100 outgoing shipments will have an issue.

Right now I'm dealing with two issues. A dash pad was damaged during shipping by FedEx and Fastenal has misplaced three boxes of parts out of the four that were on the pallet. FedEx will come through with their insurance, or they won't. If they don't come through I'll take the loss and move on. With Fastenal I leave everything to the buyer to handle due to the size of the shipments and the cost of shipping. I just do my best to package them up as good as I can within the limits of the customer's budget.

I will continue to use Fastenal.

 

Everything is crated now. No exceptions.

But it's worth it. The crates protect the contents as the underpaid employees of Fastenal move these rare and hard to find parts across the Untied States, loading and unloading them usually three to four times before they reach their final destination.

 

I just shipped 2 crates, 72" L X 30" W X 15" H, across country from Washington State to Virginia. It took 2 weeks to the day and everything arrived as shipped. Building a sturdy crate is the best way to ensure what you ship arrives intact and undamaged. The Fastenal people had me contact them a day early to let them know I was ready to ship. That allowed them to have their pallets ready to receive the crates when I took them to Fastenal the next day. It worked great!

Randy C.

 

I'm nailing my crates to the pallets. This gives me a little more assurance they will not get dropped off of the fork lift.

 

I built my crates as part of the pallet with deck screws. I shipped some doors and that was the only way i could feel safe. I wanted to make sure they would get to the buyer in same condition before they were put in a crate.

 

I've shipped a couple of hoods with great success. The materials cost roughly $60.00. Shipping is around $150.00. It takes about 90 minutes to build and although I loaded it by myself, I'd recommend you have help loading it. It's quite heavy.

 

Nice

I had two aluminum hoods shipped to me that way.
They tack sprayed them to the crate using spray foam insulation.

 

How hard was it to clean them up afterwards?

 

I had them place plastic between the spray foam and the hood.
Tacked into place with plastic barrier zero clean up.
You have to make sure your spray foam insulation is compatible with plastic.

 

Took pictures before shipping it just in case. Got word from buyer that they looked good . I was worried they weren't boxed good enough . The Fastenal guys didn't complain about it. Made skid out of 2x4 s
Was too narrow though. Had to lift it by hand.

 

yeah I understand the struggle. I just joined but I recently came across the same problem with Fastenal when I was shipping some stuff with them. they performed highly inadequate so I am not pleased with them. I am looking for a company to ship my car now. Any suggestions?

 

There are some companies that you might like for example Uship or A1A. I used both of them in the past and I liked both of them. Uship is a bit more expensive so if you want something a little more budget friendly you should use A1A. They are really professional and have some really friendly staff. You can get the vehicle transportation rates online for free, and you can choose if you want open or closed shipping. either way the company is really good. I used them when I shipped my car across state lines and everything was really nice and there were no damages and the car got there on time.

 

I bought some fenderwells off a guy in Washington state. He said he shipped Greyhound quite a few times. I was leary but it worked out good. I followed the tracking #s, they did take the scenic route. They called and I picked them up at 8pm in downtown Youngstown. It was a little "seedy" but no problems.