Shipping for dummies. Guide for shipping Wheels & Lug Nuts.

[dusred]

Okay folks, today I'm going to take you for a walk through shipping department here at the wheel shop. I run an online wheel/tire ect. business and I've shipped out thousands of wheels & tires and over the years have developed my own method of shipping that has never failed me. I'll explain it very thoroughly so even dummies can understand.This is the first time I've done any kind of a write up so bare with me here. Mods fell free to edit/organize as needed.Today, we're shipping out this 17" Cadillac CTS wheel:



Step 1. This is a 17" wheel so we will need an 18" box for the wheel to fit snugly, the box needs to be as deep or deeper then the wheel, (note: as a general rule the wheel size plus 1" is perfect for the box size. If you go any larger you will need extra packing to hold the wheel from moving around in the box.) I recommend that you use fresh, new boxes as used ones have the tendency to fall to pieces no matter how much tape you put on them. I pay roughly $2.50 per box buying bulk. You should be able to get them from any uHaul or moving supply place for around $3 - to $3.50 each, and trust me it is worth it. You will also need some stretch wrap, good packing tape, something soft to go over the face of the wheel (shop towels work great), and a buddy to help you.

2. Clean the wheel thoroughly using Windex or other glass cleaner. Any dust or dirt left on the wheel will cause scratches during shipping.

3. Put whatever soft film you got over the wheel so the entire face is covered.



I use some soft, thin, cheap cotton sheets but shop towels or paper towels work good also.



4. Have your buddy hold the wrap vertical while you wrap the wheel with the stretch wrap. I made me a custom pole to hold the wrap for me while I turn the wheel.I don't usually have lots of people helping me ship so I made me a special pole to help me out.



When you are done it should look something like this:



Keep in mind that you can't really use too much wrap. Use as much as you need.

5. Tape up your box and put the wheel inside. I have a nice commercial tape dispenser.



Most of you will probably just have good clear packing tape. If you are using clear packing tape be sure to double or triple tape the joints to be sure they don't separate.



Make sure the wheel DOES NOT have any room to move around in the box. If it does you will need to get some news paper or something similar and pack around the wheel until it is snug.



IF THE WHEEL MOVES AROUND INSIDE THE BOX IT WILL BE SCRATCHED!

6. Notice our box is about 2" too deep for the wheel. So, we're going to slightly etch the box to fit the depth of the wheel.



I marked where you need to etch in red. Just lightly run the tip of your knife along the line. If you cut it too deep you will need a new box so be careful; you are just making a weak point so the cardboard will fold over nicely. When you're done etching, cut the corners up to the flaps (you'll see what I mean when you go to fold the flaps down).

This is how it should look when you fold the first 2 down:



Put a small piece of tape across the first 2 flaps as shown.

7. Tape the box shut securely. If you tape a cross as I have you won't have to use as much tape.



This is how it should look when you're done. Tape your label on there and send it away. If you do it thoroughly you won't have any problems with the wheel being damaged in shipping.

Okay folks you now know how to ship single wheels properly. I'll next show how to do sets the most cost efficient way.

Most of the time if you ship your set of 4 wheels in packages of 2 you will save about 25% on shipping depending on the weight and size of the wheels. If your wheels weigh more then 50LBS each then you will need to do them separately.

Pack the wheels the same way as showed above, tape the boxes shut. This is where we start:



Get your shipping labels first. I'm going to assume that you are printing labels of the web for shipping.

As an extra precaution duplicate your shipping labels and put the duplicates on the bottom boxes of your stacks. This way if your banding breaks or the 2 boxes are somehow separated your box that didn't have a label won't be lost.



You are going to be banding the boxes together so that the wheels are face to face; if you band them that way your stack won't have the tendancy to fall over because it won't be top heavy, and it protects the face of your wheels better. If you don't understand what I'm saying lets say something gets dropped on the top of your package and penetrates through the cardboard. The face of the wheel won't be hurt because it is face down and only the back is exposed. It also makes so your banding doesn't have to tighten onto the face of the wheel potentially causing scratches.

Since you are boxes are being shipped face to face in the center your next labels will go on the bottom of the top boxes. You will flip the box up side down and stack it on the other box.

I use 2 straps of plastic banding to hold the boxes together. Not all of you will have a bander like that available. You can also use Duct (gray) tape, strapping tape, or even stretch wrap to fasten the 2 boxes together. Before I got my real bander I used 4 rounds of duct tape 2 going each way and it worked good. One time I did have the boxes separate in shipping but since I had a label (even know it was a duplicate) on the other box it made it to it's destination. So, it is worth it to do the extra label thing.











TADA! You now know how to PROPERLY ship out wheels. You'll probably pay about $5.00 per wheel in packing materials, and I don't think your buyer will mind paying a little bit extra to have them packed properly.

Next, I'll show you the cheapest, best way to ship out lug nuts. (note: If you wish to ship lug nuts of more then 24 QTY I recommend you to use a different method of shipping)

Items needed for this operation:



Lug nuts, padded envelope (buy them from an office store), packing list (if you are a business), shipping label, and a USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope. The Flat Rate envelope rule is that it costs $4.75 to ship anything you can fit in there, anywhere in the US in 2-3 days time. So, it's pretty cost effective.

Pack the lug nuts in the padded envelope so they are very snug inside (a padded envelope is the best thing to use to avoid damaging lug nuts in shipping, it's a not a good idea to have the lug nuts loose inside the flat rate envelope. Always have them contained in another envelope or even a Zip-Loc bag).







Put an extra piece of packing tape across the top so it doesn't come open during shipment. Postal workers are hard on these types of packages. Also some FRAGILE stickers would be in order.





Oh, and then drop it off at the post office .

Feel free to ask any questions.

-Brad Mods-If this thread is in the wrong place feel free to move it accordingly.
Modified by dusred at 7:58 PM 10/17/2008

[RCA]

SICK!Super useable information

But I will probably never get my hands on some of those machines.

ALSO pic for #3 is missing on my PC...

[Gabes13]

this is cool

[don henley]

Where does one go about purchasing the wrap and cotton sheets?

[dusred]

You can buy the wrap & cotton at Wal-Mart or any Office Supply store.