Shipping & Receiving Large Items

Receiving large shipments like rec room games or furniture can take a few days to a few weeks and cost a few dollars or a few hundred. When you ship an oversized item like a pool table or video arcade machine, it’s normally as a freight shipment.

These type of items are usually TLT, or Less Than Load shipments, meaning they cannot be shipped out using traditional shipping services, but they aren’t large or important enough to justify the usage of an entire cargo hold of a truck.

There are some general rules of thumb about shipping frieght:

- If an average adult can’t easily pick up your package by themselves without the use of machinery, you can count on it having to be shipped via freight services. Regular mail shipping limits for the three major mailing carriers are as follows — the USPS does not ship packages larger than 130 inches and/or those heavier than 70 pounds. UPS limits packages to larger than 165 inches and/or heavier than 150 pounds. Lastly, FedEx requires all packages to be less than 165 inches with a weight less than 150 pounds.

- It’s expensive. This should be obvious — you’re going to pay a lot more shipping that 60″ plasma television freight then you will shipping that birthday card to Grandma’s house.

- It’s not like picking up a package at your local post office. Typically, freight shipments must be picked up and/or delivered to or from a freight terminal. And even if you pay the normal surcharge to get delivery at your home, you’re going to deal with inflexible parties when it comes to date and time of delivery.

Freight Shipping Options

Each major mailing carrier (UPS, USPS, FedEx) has the option to ship freight. This is usually the safest, easiest way to transfer a large item between a retailer/seller and yourself. However, this is usually the most expensive and can easily run into several hundred dollars depending on the shipped item.

The other common option is to use the services of a freight shipment broker. These companies work directly with trucking companies and find a way to transport your item for you. Before you consider using a service like this, check to make sure they are licensed and insured to cover any lost/damaged items.

Some online freight quote brokers can include:

uShip.com
DIYFreight.com
FreightQuote.com

And lastly, a simple but maybe not so obvious option — rent a truck and pick the item up yourself (or family/friend). Obviously, this would depend on the rarity and value of the item. If you’re trying to have a $2,000 television delivered, it may not make sense to rent a truck and drive 1,500 miles. However, if you just bought a desk that J.F. Kennedy used, it may be simple to get uHaul involved and make a little trip to ensure that it arrives in one piece, within a reasonable amount of time, and for a fairly decent price.