Shipping a trunk (as well as bicycle) in Canada

bombardier

I am looking to ship a storage trunk across Canada from Niagara to Vancouver. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on people to do this with.

The trunk's dimensions are 20" deep/42" wide/24" tall conservatively (maybe 1" less in each dimension at most). I've heard of using anything from something like Purolator to shipping by Greyhound or a busline or by rail with something like through VIA. Today is Sunday so I can't really call around but some ideas/suggestions/recommendations before everything is open tomorrow would be muchly appreciated! Shipping time is non critical, just safe and relatively affordable (say a few hundred dollars most).

It would be carrying stuff like my computer case, keyboard, smaller but heavy stuff like 360+accessories and DVDs/CDs, art supplies, additional clothes and so on so it would probably weigh at least 100lbs is my guess and it would need to be fairly well cared for.

Also are there any good services for shipping a bicycle the same distance? It might cost as much as a low end bike to buy, but it's a pretty damn nice bike!

Cycophant

I've shipped a few things across the country, and there's a few different options:

1) Greyhound. Usually the cheapest (although not always), but I'd say it's rather unsafe. No matter how you send it, odds are it's going to get knocked around, but Greyhound always seems particularly abusive with their shipments. Not to mention that on two separate occasions I've had expensive electronics mysteriously "lost"while on Greyhound.

2) Canada Post/Purolator. Usually the best way that I've found for shipping items. Problem is, excessively heavy or large items they usually won't take, and I think a large trunk that weighs 100lbs probably falls under that category...

3) Air Canada Cargo. Sometimes the only option for larger packages. It can get a bit expensive, but I believe as long as it's not "rushed", it's not too bad. I had a friend ship all his personal belongings from Toronto to Edmonton via this route, and it only cost about $500-$600 or so.

Jerry

I looked into FedEx (or UPS or something, I forget). The price was decent for the ground shipping. They have a little tool thingy on their website to see how much a given package will charge you.

Keep us posted on how it turns out. I want to ship Montreal to Vancouver in like a month

bombardier

It looks like FedEx has a combined length/width/height of 160 something inches, so my package definitely falls under that, and there is a 150lb limit. For that the cost to ship is about $166 which is very reasonable. I'll be checking out some other places like Canada Post and Purolator and let you know.

Thanks for the tips cyco, I think I'd like to avoid greyhound since most of the stuff is actually electronics and doesn't need to be bumped around. I also doubt they would do delivery to the residence.

mts

as far as shipping a bike goes, check out a local bike shop they sometimes will ship the bike for you to another store/possibly even to your new address

bombardier

Hey, that's not a bad idea!

Advent

http://www.upack.com/LP/Brand/abfupackbrand1.asp?refnum=googleabf&cid=G/BRAND/US&grp=abf&mtc=phrase&ad=1124996220&kw=abf&gclid=CKuYhoPnsJQCFQRJFQodPCW1uA

http://www.pods.com/

Not sure how these would compare, in case the courier or national mail options don't work.

bombardier

I actually called pods the other day and they are basically for moving houses full of stuff. The smallest crate they have is 7x7x10 feet or something, and to ship it would have been $4000+.

Upack looks to be about the same but they don't do Canada -> Canada stuff. Odd.

Corvus

I mailed a bike the width of Canada (Victoria to Halifax and back) and had no trouble, of course, my bike was not very valueable, but Canada Post treated it just fine.

Go to a bike shop and ask if they have any spare bike boxes. Disassemble the necessary pieces of the bike, box it, mail it. As suggested, a bike store may do this for you too. Shouldn't be any problem.

I did the same shipping with a desktop computer in a box, probably not quite as big as your trunk but still a pretty big box and Canada Post and UPS were both fine. Oh wait, I just read that part about it being 100 lbs. Thats going to cost a bit.

I experimented with using Greyhound once to ship some stuff, but it wasn't noticeably cheaper than Canada Post or UPS, and it was slow. That may have changed, I havent had to ship anything for a few years.