UPS Shipping and Grizzly Tools

[Rod Sheridan]

It is certainly very upsetting when something you've paid good money for is damaged due to to poor packaging and handling.

Earlier this year I purchased a Hammer A3-31 and had it delivered to my house while I was away.

The machine was on a pallet made from 1 " thick solid wood, on top of 4" formed steel channel for the skids.

Not a mark on the machine, the skid was designed to be picked up by a pallet jack and obviously was designed for the rigours of sea shipping from Europe.

In addition when I removed the machine from the pallet and opened all the accessory packages, there were two bolts about 3 inches long that go into holes in the machine side. These bolts allow one fork of the pallet jack to go under the machine. and the other fork picks up the machine via these two bolts.

Very well engineered packing and moving features, which prevented me from having one of those "OH NO" experiences.

It must be less expensive for other manufacturers to deal with replacement parts caused by poor packaging, however if I ever received a piece of machinery in the condition many of the posts indicate, I would be writing the manufacturer, as well as not patronizing them again.

Regards, Rod.

[Cary Falk]

It's a shame to see all of the damage threads but I am not surprised. I worked for UPS in my youth for a whole week unloading trucks. I worked the standard trucks and not the heavy freight trucks but I can't imagine ithe mentality being too much different. We were required to unload 3000 packages an hour at less than 70lbs. The boxes are packed in walls. There were heavy fragil things in the middle of these walls like tv's and such. Pull out the wrong package because the loader didn't build the wall right and the whole wall comes down TVs and all. They work on a quanity instead of quality. I hate to have things shipped(especially by UPS) but it is a necessary evil. I am more amazed when something get to it's destination undamaged.

[Jeffrey M Jones]

My Dad and I just got a 6 inch jointer, 15 inch planer, 14 inch bandsaw, and 3hp collector from gizzly and all 4 pieces(in 7 different boxes) were in the same condition. The jointers fence carriage was actually sliding around in the back of the truck!!! Luckily the driver was really nice about it, he obviously felt bad and really helped out taking care of the paperwork, a new carriage is on the way in compliments of ups. I was sick to see that the boxes were so messed up when they arrived though, we almost sent them back. Thank god nothing else was damaged though. I cant believe that they tipped it over!!!

[Ted Miller]

Never ever ever refuse any delivery you get. Mark down as much as you can on the BOL. After the driver leaves take all the pics you can, even if the crates are in great shape, take pics anyways. Consealed damage can happen and pics of the outside will help you out. If you refuse freight, it could end up on their dock for many days with even more damage and/or missing parts to come.

I deal with 2-5 million dollars is freight deliveries every year. Freight changes trailers all the time during its trip. Its rare that a load will stay in one trailer from the shipper to the consignee. Many freight companies sub out cross country driving to docks near you then the original freight company makes the FOB delivery to you.

UPS Freight is one of the worst for damaged freight. I deal with claims adjusters on a monthly basis, and now claims are a vendor who is not affiliated with the freight companies. When you have pics in hand, you will come out ahead every time.

You can write anything you wish on the BOL, so don't feel intimidated by any driver, he does not care what you write, it's not coming out of his pocket. I treat drivers like I treat customer service reps on the phone, it's not thier fault items are damaged. Trust me drivers don't get inside their truck and look at your delivery and think they need to kick and punch holes in it. If they load their trailer, they know how their day is going to go so they will not have to work around your freight. Like I said since the freight can change trailers up to 3-5 times plus hitting various docks, damage can happen.

Not sure how many of you are in this shipping business, but when it comes to handeling your freight, you get what you pay for. Grizzley has a account of course with UPS Freight, so they get a huge discount with the tonnage they ship on a daily basis. But if the shipper is not thinking about their freight being moved in a LTL load then damage can occur...

[Peter Quadarella]

Obviously you get what you pay for in shipping and item. Yes a Hammer will come better packaged, but you are paying for it. I have been reading 1982 issues of FWW lately, and Grizzly is selling their machines for the same prices as the advertisements in there. How is that possible? Cheap packaging among other things.

I'm glad I have the less expensive option, as long as Grizzly makes good if I get unlucky.

[Tom Godley]

The packing on some products is just amazing -- it is a real art. But nothing will stand up to a fork lift when it misses its mark or overshoots when shifting cargo around and the packages hit each other.


And the cost of the item IMO has nothing to do with the packing. I just had a very expensive item delivered that I was surprised was not better protected. Thankfully, the shipping was first rate but expensive.

I was impressed with the packing on my PM2000 saw - and the free shipping that Amazon uses was fantastic. Now the packing for the fence rails was surprising poor.