delivery service for Seattle area burners
delivery service for Seattle area burners
We're BurnGreen Express. We're a bunch of (mostly) Seattle-area burners committed to providing biodiesel shipping services for our community to and from Black Rock City. We provided shipping services to our community in 2007 and this year we're doing it again.
It's our belief that by encouraging our local burner communities to consolidate their shipping and to travel by carpool, we can substantially decrease the environmental impact of the event at large and dramatically shift the way people think about traveling. We take bins, water, rebar, shade structures, tents, bikes, almost anything (no emotional baggage – sorry, try BRC Spatial Delivery).
We have a storage location in Seattle where you can drop off your gear any day in August and pick up your gear in September. We plan to leave Seattle Thursday, August 21 and arrive at Black Rock City Sunday, August 24. We’ll be leaving the playa the morning of September 1. Your stuff will be available to pick up at our storage location on and after September 5. We don’t plan to pick up or deliver in Seattle or on the playa.
Here’s an example of how we work:
If you're driving:
• Shipping two 22-gallon bins, your week's water & bike makes space for at least 1 more person to share your gas and keep you entertained.
If you're riding:
• Shipping four 22-gallon bins, your water, 40lbs. of gear & your bike lets you be a passenger without any gear to haul.
Both ways you're decreasing the number of vehicles per participant.
Shipping rates change as we get closer to the burn, so hit us up soon!! Check our website (www.burngreenexpress.com) or email me off list at burngreenexpress(at)gmail(dot)com
It's our belief that by encouraging our local burner communities to consolidate their shipping and to travel by carpool, we can substantially decrease the environmental impact of the event at large and dramatically shift the way people think about traveling. We take bins, water, rebar, shade structures, tents, bikes, almost anything (no emotional baggage – sorry, try BRC Spatial Delivery).
We have a storage location in Seattle where you can drop off your gear any day in August and pick up your gear in September. We plan to leave Seattle Thursday, August 21 and arrive at Black Rock City Sunday, August 24. We’ll be leaving the playa the morning of September 1. Your stuff will be available to pick up at our storage location on and after September 5. We don’t plan to pick up or deliver in Seattle or on the playa.
Here’s an example of how we work:
If you're driving:
• Shipping two 22-gallon bins, your week's water & bike makes space for at least 1 more person to share your gas and keep you entertained.
If you're riding:
• Shipping four 22-gallon bins, your water, 40lbs. of gear & your bike lets you be a passenger without any gear to haul.
Both ways you're decreasing the number of vehicles per participant.
Shipping rates change as we get closer to the burn, so hit us up soon!! Check our website (www.burngreenexpress.com) or email me off list at burngreenexpress(at)gmail(dot)com
Zealot
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.
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AntiM
- Moderator
- Posts: 20301
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 5:23 am
- Burning Since: 2001
- Camp Name: Anti M's Home for Wayward Art
- Location: Wild, Wild West
A note from your friendly moderator ... No, I do not see this as plain commerce, nor a camp fundraiser, I see it as a rideshare for your stuff. Please direct your snark to the policy discussion thread:
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=20085
Thank you.
And Phil, sorry about the crappy merge job I did on the postings.
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=20085
Thank you.
And Phil, sorry about the crappy merge job I did on the postings.
per pound
PRICE: $0.58
per cubic foot
Use this item to reserve shipping space by volume, for unusually shaped items, or light-weight gear that isn't a bin. Add this item to your cart and then change the "Quantity" to the total cubic footage you need to reserve.
PRICE: $6.09
Why would the price go up closer to the burn?
Does it go down if the truck gets full?
PRICE: $0.58
per cubic foot
Use this item to reserve shipping space by volume, for unusually shaped items, or light-weight gear that isn't a bin. Add this item to your cart and then change the "Quantity" to the total cubic footage you need to reserve.
PRICE: $6.09
Why would the price go up closer to the burn?
Does it go down if the truck gets full?
[b]regarding the truck:[/b] we use the largest rental truck you can drive without a CLD. unfortunately, no one in the camp has the resources to own a vehicle large enough for this kind of project, nor a place to store/maintain such a vehicle. and none of us has a CDL.
[b]regarding revenue:[/b] we hauled a full truck last year and i figured we grossed a little less than 80% of our total expenses. and our total expenses don't include personal expenses like admission, fuel for carloads of camp members, personal survival gear, etc. i think that's part of the difference between the business model and the service model: this service couldn't happen without people to load and drive the truck, but (unlike a business model) that doesn't mean the expense of showing up is added to the bottom line of the project.
this year we’re tracking our expenses even more closely than last year and we’ll be posting our financial report online in January 2009.
presently, i’m wondering if that might set us up for a grant application from an outside source that’s interested in supporting alternative/renewable fuel projects. that could significantly reduce costs to the community.
[b]regarding rates:[/b] this year we’ve got one year of experience to draw on, which is helpful, but not a lot. i feel like we have a much clearer idea of some things, for example:
* the truck gets 4 mpg under full load, no matter what the rental company tells you
* we need 2 more days to load and prep the truck and 2 more days to unload and clean the truck
* people need 1 or 2 more wagons for picking up their stuff
* etc.
and the cost of biodiesel has gone up almost $2 a gallon. all of which has pushed up the projected bottom line of the project. but we don’t need the generous margin of error we used last year, so I’m thinking (hoping?) this means we can keep our shipping rates pretty close to what they were last year and still make the project work.
additionally, last year we mostly shipped heavy things for the community. there were plenty of bins full of gear, but by and large our services found a niche for people and camps that had heavy stuff to move like water, rebar, costco carports, and the like. that being the case last year, we worked this year to come up with ways to reduce the costs of shipping water and other heavy things. which we’ve succeeded in doing. shipping heavy things is a fraction of what it cost last year. and, like last year, we’re eating around 40% of the cost for shipping water – because it’s water.
and we don’t pretend to be the most economic way to get your stuff to the playa. as far as I can tell, the cheapest way to move cubic footage to the playa is to rent a Uhaul trailer and DIY. if you don’t know that, check it out. it’s crazy cheap. and I think the cheapest way to move big heavy things is to put it on a container and get a shipping broker to haul it for you. that’s how the shipping camps run in NYC, Boston and Arizona.
but, we’re not interested in being a luxury, either. we’re trying to be an alternative solution that serves the community. if you’ve got something that needs transportation and you don’t know what it would cost to have us haul it, or you think it’d be reasonable to pay less, then talk to us. tell us what you need, we’ll tell you what we can do, and something agreeable can probably be worked out. last year we hauled infrastructure for BRC emergency services and a massive art installation under those exact circumstances. both were relatively last minute arrangements and we talked until we found a solution that left all parties involved feeling gracious.
[b]why we change our shipping rates as we get closer to the burn:[/b]
* our cost projections change as the summer progresses. this gives us the chance to make adjustments.
* we want to encourage everyone to plan ahead.
* we want to better serve the part of the community that knows they’re going months in advance rather than the hooligans, the yahoos and the weekenders that decides to do it at the last minute.
* we think this serves theme camps, art installations, and other large elements that are a huge part of BRC that plan their travel and shipping arrangements months in advance.
[b]Help?[/b]
if someone has suggestions on how we could better serve our community, or lower our overhead, i would seriously LOVE to talk to you.
actually, if someone has experience projecting costs for this kind of project, and wants to help with their expertise, that'd be incredibly helpful.
and anyone that has experience organizing a truck or container for the community? i'd LOVE to get your perspective
chat off list? pros-cons? advice? warnings?
you can email me at [email protected]
or call/text (206) 769-2092[/list]
[b]regarding revenue:[/b] we hauled a full truck last year and i figured we grossed a little less than 80% of our total expenses. and our total expenses don't include personal expenses like admission, fuel for carloads of camp members, personal survival gear, etc. i think that's part of the difference between the business model and the service model: this service couldn't happen without people to load and drive the truck, but (unlike a business model) that doesn't mean the expense of showing up is added to the bottom line of the project.
this year we’re tracking our expenses even more closely than last year and we’ll be posting our financial report online in January 2009.
presently, i’m wondering if that might set us up for a grant application from an outside source that’s interested in supporting alternative/renewable fuel projects. that could significantly reduce costs to the community.
[b]regarding rates:[/b] this year we’ve got one year of experience to draw on, which is helpful, but not a lot. i feel like we have a much clearer idea of some things, for example:
* the truck gets 4 mpg under full load, no matter what the rental company tells you
* we need 2 more days to load and prep the truck and 2 more days to unload and clean the truck
* people need 1 or 2 more wagons for picking up their stuff
* etc.
and the cost of biodiesel has gone up almost $2 a gallon. all of which has pushed up the projected bottom line of the project. but we don’t need the generous margin of error we used last year, so I’m thinking (hoping?) this means we can keep our shipping rates pretty close to what they were last year and still make the project work.
additionally, last year we mostly shipped heavy things for the community. there were plenty of bins full of gear, but by and large our services found a niche for people and camps that had heavy stuff to move like water, rebar, costco carports, and the like. that being the case last year, we worked this year to come up with ways to reduce the costs of shipping water and other heavy things. which we’ve succeeded in doing. shipping heavy things is a fraction of what it cost last year. and, like last year, we’re eating around 40% of the cost for shipping water – because it’s water.
and we don’t pretend to be the most economic way to get your stuff to the playa. as far as I can tell, the cheapest way to move cubic footage to the playa is to rent a Uhaul trailer and DIY. if you don’t know that, check it out. it’s crazy cheap. and I think the cheapest way to move big heavy things is to put it on a container and get a shipping broker to haul it for you. that’s how the shipping camps run in NYC, Boston and Arizona.
but, we’re not interested in being a luxury, either. we’re trying to be an alternative solution that serves the community. if you’ve got something that needs transportation and you don’t know what it would cost to have us haul it, or you think it’d be reasonable to pay less, then talk to us. tell us what you need, we’ll tell you what we can do, and something agreeable can probably be worked out. last year we hauled infrastructure for BRC emergency services and a massive art installation under those exact circumstances. both were relatively last minute arrangements and we talked until we found a solution that left all parties involved feeling gracious.
[b]why we change our shipping rates as we get closer to the burn:[/b]
* our cost projections change as the summer progresses. this gives us the chance to make adjustments.
* we want to encourage everyone to plan ahead.
* we want to better serve the part of the community that knows they’re going months in advance rather than the hooligans, the yahoos and the weekenders that decides to do it at the last minute.
* we think this serves theme camps, art installations, and other large elements that are a huge part of BRC that plan their travel and shipping arrangements months in advance.
[b]Help?[/b]
if someone has suggestions on how we could better serve our community, or lower our overhead, i would seriously LOVE to talk to you.
actually, if someone has experience projecting costs for this kind of project, and wants to help with their expertise, that'd be incredibly helpful.
and anyone that has experience organizing a truck or container for the community? i'd LOVE to get your perspective
chat off list? pros-cons? advice? warnings?
you can email me at [email protected]
or call/text (206) 769-2092[/list]
Zealot
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.
-
capjbadger
- Posts: 2691
- Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:17 am
- Burning Since: 2005
- Camp Name: Lamplighters
- Location: Horus' Left Armpit
Turn on your BBS code option in your profile to get all those bolds and such to work. 
Badger
Badger
Arrrggg!! Avast ye fucking fluffy bunny shirtcockers! Haul your drunken hairy fat ass out of our sight or prepare to receive a hot buttered hedgehog fired up your aft quarters!
Honey Badger don't care. Honey Badger don't give a shit!
Honey Badger don't care. Honey Badger don't give a shit!
-
capjbadger
- Posts: 2691
- Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:17 am
- Burning Since: 2005
- Camp Name: Lamplighters
- Location: Horus' Left Armpit
I don't see what everyone is getting all crabby about! It simply provides a means for those who don't have the ability to load all the survival needs and fun stuff that makes for good times on the playa. How is this service any different from one charging gas money for a ride?
Besides... it makes for good "A**HOLINESS" on my part to provide this information to the newbie who suddenly wants to squeeze in on my already packed ride when he has had 8 months to figure a plan B........ ;)
Besides... it makes for good "A**HOLINESS" on my part to provide this information to the newbie who suddenly wants to squeeze in on my already packed ride when he has had 8 months to figure a plan B........ ;)
Water Pickup
Hey, I have some questions. If we request water, do we need to bring a container large enough to hold all of it at once? This could be hard for a camp without much transportation room, which is who this is meant to serve, right?
Also, is it generally the case that people pick up their stuff in their car when they get to the Playa? If so, does this violate the 'drive directly to your camp rule', or is not a big deal?
Finally, is Monday the earliest we could pick up our stuff? We are a theme camp hoping to set up on Sunday.
Thanks for doing this great service!
Also, is it generally the case that people pick up their stuff in their car when they get to the Playa? If so, does this violate the 'drive directly to your camp rule', or is not a big deal?
Finally, is Monday the earliest we could pick up our stuff? We are a theme camp hoping to set up on Sunday.
Thanks for doing this great service!
good questions! can you email them to me? [email protected]
Zealot
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.
that's very close to what we're doing.
we're arranging to get water significantly closer to BRC than Seattle because, you're right, hauling all that water over 2 mountain ranges is a slightly absurd use of resources.
we're arranging to get water significantly closer to BRC than Seattle because, you're right, hauling all that water over 2 mountain ranges is a slightly absurd use of resources.
Zealot
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.
Seattle, WA (formerly Boston, MA)
ALICE: But I don't want to go amongst mad people.
CHESHIRE CAT: You can't help that; we're all mad here.