Having something shipped from Indiana to Utah and then hand delivered for $15 sounds like the best deal in town.

Fact is there are only 3 carriers in the US  . US Post office United Parcel and Fed Ex. On the delivery side  USPS by far the best, employees long term well paid with benefits and theft is aggressively prosecuted. UPS mostly Union employees also responsible people, company trucks too, . FedEx, except the secure documents service, mostly low paid contractors, no benefits poor handling an issue .

Long haul,  contractors handle most parcel freight. None own Railroad’s USPS no airplanes Fed Ex many and UPS some airplanes, over the road trucks are nearly all contractor Major damage out of the carriers hands most times.

Distribution centers were the freight is sorted mix of contracted and owned. USPS going to the central DC model other two use with notable failures start up.  Sandston Virginia USPS DC near me is being investigated by Congress due poor service. All the modern DC’s are largely mechanized and can chew up packages off conveyors and lift trucks..

So the fact is shipping like ASSRA members do only real protection we have is good packing. USPS pays loss claims promptly. Others don’t . Nobody pays for concealed damage, package outside not damaged no payment. Large companies often protect themselves with private blanket coverage. Or self insure monitoring damage losses vs cost of insurance. Often the best choice inexpensive goods.

This from 49 years with three Ocean Carriers that have damaged about anything you could imagine, and recently consulting for merchants and carriers.  You would think risk of ocean transport was our largest issue. We did loose one ship to collision and fire another collision and sinking & occasional heavy weather damage were the ship survived . 

Largest damage issue has always been inadequate  packing. Early was on the pier sorting out cargo problems after discharge or rejecting before loading. Later worked improving carriage certain important cargos with better packing suggestions and handling by our contracted stevedores and terminals. Last in management with “commercial settlement authority” override our claims department when it made business sense . Mostly  with “will pay let’s figure out how to keep it from happening again” Sometimes raising freight rates to the point problem cargoes went to other carriers.

Boats shipping advise,  pack well, insure against loss that you don’t want, or can’t afford  to assume. There are no other options.

Boats 

Boats you got one thing wrong. USPS does not pay claims promptly. And not only do they not pay promptly, but they're just like the other two at trying not to pay at all!
I had a Ballard rifle stolen during a USPS shipment, and would think that would be a cut and dried quick payment. But after two denials, I finally had to contact my congressman's office to get help. Once they got involved USPS paid the claim. It took nearly two months to get it worked out, and once they finally gave in and paid the check did come soon after that.

Or, you can build whatever you want...

When one considers the volume of mail sent daily, I would think the number of problems encountered would be astronomical, but that has not been my experience. There have been a few packages that took a scenic tour of the western United States, but always found their way to the intended location. Because of my good experience with the Postal Service, I will continue to use and recommend them when asked. I might add, I am not compensated for my opinion, but would consider donations!

jdsingleshot wrote on Jun 14^th, 2024 at 10:29am:


I've built a few rifle cases, and the cost of materials, and time involved just isn't worth it to me. 
What I've done on a half dozen cases is to find old gun cases at our local collector gun show that are trashed inside. Often not even any lining left, and that's my favorite choice to buy. They have the right old style look, and just building out interiors is something that takes very little material, and I can do in a few evenings of work.
But it's been a very long time since anyone has brought in a good candidate to sell, so I may have exhausted my local market.

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Wool felt.  Good suppliers sell it raw or with peel and stick. Tongue suppressors and carved to work hard corners or whatever you need. Razor knives to cut corner darts. Take your time and push fit into hard corners. Take your time, slower is better since unlike stretchy vinyls real wool felt requires fitting. It’s worth the time

Rick

There's a Freeland on Ebay currently at 31.00 plus shipping.