Shipping with Fastenal

[andyvh1959]

For those of us into heavy things, sometimes finding a great deal or desired item is a downer when you find it on Craigslist Portland (either one) and you're in Green Bay WI. But, some people know that you can ship large items reasonably with Fastenal. You have to package whatever you are shipping on a standard pallet, and enclose it adequately so other pallets can be stacked atop it, or banged into it. Keep in mind Fastenal only uses fork lift trucks for handling, and that means items can be shoved into trailers and stacked, bumped, pushed, as needed to load the semi.

Say you want to ship a LS1 V8, or that vintage motorcycle as a group of parts, from Green Bay to Atlanta. Get two pallets, load the items onto the pallet strapped down tight. Box in the pallet with OSB/wood screws, and put another pallet on top, screw the OSB to the pallet. Result is a wood shipping crate, Do whatever you have to do to protect the goods because Fastenal does not provide damage protection. You have to arrange/deliver the palleted item to your local Fastenal store. They can deliver it to any Fastenal store on their trucks.

Being a heavy item on a pallet, you have to be there with the means to accept a pallet load from a fork lift onto your trailer or pickup. Its worth checking out, because you may be able to ship a vintage bike across country for far less than USPS or Fedex.
https://www.fastenal.com/en/22/blue-lane-freight

 

[nutjob]

Fastenal does provide insurance, In order to receive insurance, shipments must be FULLY enclosed within a wooden or metal crate prior to shipping. If damage occurs, Fastenal will pay out based on shipment density class.

Also motorcycle's are on the Forbidden Commodities List: https://www.fastenal.com/content/documents/2020/blf/Appendix_B_6.15.2020.pdf

And not sure you will be able to stack pallets,
Nationwide Max dimension length 72” (Length is the longest dimension of the shipment)
Nationwide Max dimension width 50”.
Nationwide Max dimension height 90”

You need to read and understand the fine print.

Kevin

 

[mike93lx]

Why am I reading an advertisement for fastenal here?

 

[MeentSS02]

Thought I was going to read about having fasteners shipped to your house being too expensive, to which I was going to say just ship it to your nearest Fastenal location and pick it up. That's not quite what happened though.

 

[alcorelli]

I'm just fastenated by this.

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[Jeffh40]

Thought I was going to read about having fasteners shipped to your house being too expensive, to which I was going to say just ship it to your nearest Fastenal location and pick it up. That's not quite what happened though.

Fastenal has the worst stocked stores I've ever seen for a fastener store. I would never recommend someone go there to get fasteners. Heck, Home Depot has more fasteners and that isn't saying much.


Typical conversation:
Me: do you have 3/4x5 wedge anchors?
Fastenal: Yes we sure do.
Me: Great, I need 100 for a job I'm working on.
Fastenal: We only have 5 in stock in that size....

 

[WisJim]

In the last few years Fastenal's prices have gone up and service and selection have gone down. I used to get unistrut and stainless bots and now their prices have doubled, while Menards unistrut is identical and half the price

 

[MeentSS02]

Fastenal has the worst stocked stores I've ever seen for a fastener store. I would never recommend someone go there to get fasteners. Heck, Home Depot has more fasteners and that isn't saying much.


Typical conversation:
Me: do you have 3/4x5 wedge anchors?
Fastenal: Yes we sure do.
Me: Great, I need 100 for a job I'm working on.
Fastenal: We only have 5 in stock in that size....

Agreed, but that's why I order online first, and then go pick it up in the store closest to my house. It saves on the shipping cost, and you can get exactly what you need regardless of how that one store is stocked.

Unfortunately, that means if you really need something, you'll be waiting a couple of days. If that's the case, I always just run up to Lowe's and/or Home Depot...they usually have something that will get me by. I'd never stop by a Fastenal store in person unless I verified before-hand that they had what I needed sitting on the shelf.

 

[andyvh1959]

Nope not an ad for Fastenal, especially since in the hydraulic hose market Fastenal dabbles as a supplier against Parker (my employer), and not well at the OEM level.

But the convenience and cost of shipping a large heavy load via Fastenal is very interesting.

 

[mike93lx]

Nope not an ad for Fastenal, especially since in the hydraulic hose market Fastenal dabbles as a supplier against Parker, and not well.

But the convenience and cost of shipping a large heavy load via Fastenal is very interesting.

Your post is an advertisement, you just may not be getting paid for it.

You offered no first hand experience, just stuff that I would expect a salesperson to say

 

[krod]

I'll jump in with first hand experience with this service.

From my experience using Fastenal for shipping, I've found that IF you have a good store in your area, it works great. Thankfully there are several here that have guys that are really good to work with.

I've shipped engines and LARGE sets of tires on pallets with zero issues. They've always been very reasonable with the rate. Like anything else YMMV, and you need to understand how to strap things down to a pallet that will be handled several times before it gets to the destination.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

Has Fastenal restarted their 3rd party logistics operations? I requested a quote for shipping to Ohio on March 17 and got an email saying that they had shut down 3PL due to COVID-19 and that they would contact me once shipping resumed. I haven’t heard back from them yet.

 

[ez-duzit]

...You have to arrange/deliver the palleted item to your local Fastenal store. They can deliver it to any Fastenal store on their trucks.

Being a heavy item on a pallet, you have to be there with the means to accept a pallet load from a fork lift onto your trailer or pickup...

It is important to note that not all Fastenal stores have a forklift. So you must check ahead of time.

They provided most excellent service at an unbelievably low rate to ship a pallet-ized 8"jointer cross country for me.

 

[Jagmandave]

Like WWN says, they haven't been offering this service for a while now.....I've been wanting to ship a large floor jack to the Denver area, so far no go.

 

[nynexit]

I’ve got a few relatives I’d like to strap to a pallet and send somewhere else for cheap .
-couldn’t resist [emoji23]



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[sweetk30]

few shipments with them now and only problem was the 1 driver forgot to off load my item at the store so it was a wasted day and return trip for the buyer . i emailed the person i was dealing with at fastnal and they gave me a full refund for the problem no questions asked and i didnt even ask for that .

so hands down good service with them so far and love the customer care they provide .

and yes i gave the buyer the shipping money back since he paid for the shipping and had a wasted day for nothing . he was super happy then for that .

you can pay on the ship end or pickup end . just how you set it up is all . i have done both .

 

[dshop]

I have used Fastenal dozens of times to ship fenders, tires and wheels, top assemblies, seat cushions etc. I just tie strapped and shrink wrapped the items.
Everything arrived in good shape, no complaints on either end.
The best part is the recipient pays the freight when it arrives, no hassle for the shipper.
They ship on a space available model, so it could take variable times.
I got a pallet full of 16" tires and wheels from CA to NC in 5 days once.

 

[minke]

I’ve got a few relatives I’d like to strap to a pallet and send somewhere else for cheap .
-couldn’t resist [emoji23]



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Are they palletable?

 

[alcorelli]

Is that a form of cannabalism?


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