Shipping

[kiltboy]

I've heard a few people say that they ship their stuff out and then fly or use some other means of transportation. What service do you use and and where do you ship to? thanks

[calsur]

http://www.greyhound.com/

I have used this service twice to ship oversized and weight stuff.

The last time was about 5 years ago when I was going to a Habitat for Humanity Jimmy Carter work project in South Dakota from California. I shipped 400 pounds of tools round trip for a couple hundred bucks.

The only bad thing is lead time. If I remember right, I had to ship the tools 4 to 6 weeks in advance.

Greyhound ends up holding your stuff until you arrive. Hope this helps.

[kiltboy]

thanks

[juanicoheal]

OK, here's a topic that I can either help or do major damage with....

If you are from out of the US, you will also have the wonderful experience of dealing with Customs.

Your major concern if using Greyhound, or any other 'bus-line-type' courier service is depot proximity to the event. AND your transport between depot and the event. Now I'm not entirely familiar with Nevada, but I can see that there isn't a depot in either of the closest towns.

If proximity is not a problem, you have several courier choices. Of course there's:
Fedex: Don't believe their promises, but they aren't just for overnight delivery - they do have other cheaper options by ground.
UPS: Fairly reliable, with ground options.
DHL: Just don't cross borders with these guys - they'll lose your documentation every time.
You can also look in your local Yellow pages for Freight Forwarders, they should be able to get you a good deal on trucking. You don't have to send a full trucks worth of stuff, but you will have to have somewhere for them to deliver it to.

Never pay airfreight costs unless you MUST leave things to the last minute, and then the IATA guarantee for delivery is only 3 days. You are better to give yourself a week or so for the stuff to get there, and pay WAY less to move it.

I would suggest that a little extra legg work and phone calls to local forwarders will save you mucho dinero in the long run.

Other option is - see if someone in your area is going with a truck and has some space for your crap.

[Icepack]

I've heard a few people say that they ship their stuff out and then fly or use some other means of transportation. What service do you use and and where do you ship to? thanks

Depends on where you are coming from. There are people in NYC and in Boston who get a truck together full of Burning Man people's stuff. You load your stuff a few weeks ahead of time, and then fly out to Reno and meet the truck on the playa when you get there. We are considering doing it this year. For 1 person it's cheaper than driving. For 2 people, it's a bit closer of a tie in terms of money, but it does save time.