Cross-Border Shipping

[patagoniac]

Cross border shipping advice wanted for two orphaned saws in Washington...
Today I tried to return to Ontario, Canada with 2 powerheads (packed well & empty of all fluids) in a sportbag through Sea-Tac International in Washington. With my bags checked & gone, I was on my way incurring only a small excess weight surcharge. After responding to being paged, the good folks at United notified me that these cannot ship by air because of Haz-Mat Regulations. With my flight boarding, I had to scramble for a pick-up & they now sit in an associates business near Olympia. Please note that if I did not have the saws picked up same day, they would be disposed of by either crusher or donated to local firehall. A private courier was dispatched to pick up the unpackaed offenders, as the dufflebag & all the padding was allowed to carry on to Toronto. I was arranging still arranging the pick-up on my cell as the plane taxied to the runway. Thank to some good friends in Tumwater, I have my saws.
Any advice on the best course of action from here. I was thinking UPS ground, but I would expect a hefty brokerage fee at the border. Cost is also a consideration.
This is my first post so please... temper your remarks, it has been a long day.
And now the culpirits: Stihl 032AV & Jonsered 2150 (my 4th Stihl & 1st J-red).
Thanx.

 

[mattinky]

I would'nt use UPS, I've heard horror stories of them tacking on very pricey surcharges when shipping to Canada (as high as $80-$90). I would use the USPS - you can't beat 'em on price, just list the contents as chainsaw parts on the customs form and show them as a gift and you should be good to go. Although I've never shipped a whole saw to Canada I have shipped a ton of both motorcycle & chainsaw parts up there through my eBay business and I've never had a problem with USPS.
Matt

 

[JoeCanuck]

No UPS

+1 on the NO UPS - Brutal brokerage fees :angry2: :angry2: :angry2:

I'd go with US and Canada Post everytime.

Joe

 

[woodfarmer]

don't use ups there a complete rip off on brokerage charges, i've used usps several times, never had a problem with saws but they always seem to lose my smaller parts, maybe they get stolen i don't know.

 

[Madsaw]

I have used ups on 3 times shipping to canada. 2 of the 3 times there was a tariff on the other end. These 2 was the lower value of the 3. Someone once said ship it as a gift and it will not get tariffs on it. My first shipment went to Calgary was 4 boxes totaling 250lbs. The valule was about 400 no fees for some reason. The second lot to the same guy same kind of parts but just only 50 dollars worth this time got hit for another 20 bucks fees. It hard to say how things work sometimes.
Bob

 

[bigbadbob]

Sent a saw to Wisconsin, Stihl lightning, $75 U.S. Bought $43 U.S. goods had UPS send them $38 border fee by them and that was with no duty, plus 18 shipping. I will never use them again.

 

[PWB]

Ship post office. UPS charges brokerage fees that are through the roof, I imagine other couriers are in the same boat. I've shipped 1/2 dozen bigger packages from the staes to ontario (musical instruments) mostly post office. IF you pay customes fees (not always a given with the post office) it will be PST, GST, and 5 bucks for the post office to do the brokerage. Never had a problem yet with damage either, can't say teh same for UPS.

 

[MikeInParadise]

Definitely use the US Postal service as you will only pay a small fee compare to the brokerage charges by the delivery services.

I remember getting an on-line quote on a $15 part that had $75 in shipping charges. I called them and they said they only shipped with UPS so I spoke with the sales manager who was amazed at the charges and said he did not realize that it was so much.

He shipped it to me via post office and then actually phoned me in 3 weeks to see that it arrived and said he was going to change the way they shipped small items to Canada.

 

[powelllake]

Avoid UPS. They attach (fees) and have been (in my experience) a bunch of bumbling rubberheads including 21 days to deliver an Express envelope from the US to Canada...

 

[adkranger]

For shipping I'll echo the others' recommendations, USPS is best(or your Canadian counterpart).

As far as your experience with your saws on the plane, not an extraordinary or new experience. They have very stringent rules on what goes into the belly of those machines and for good reason. BTW these rules predate 9-11, they're a safety thing not anti-terrorism. We used to send out wildfire crew sawyers completly outfitted including chainsaws. But many years ago the airlines' rules changed stating power equipment, like chainsaws had to have their tanks(both oil & fuel) completly "purged" of any petroleum residue. Empty is not purged. A pilot considers an empty fuel tank full of vapors a potential bomb. After purged they have to be sealed and certified. Then we'd have to go through the whole process again to get the saws home. Needless to say it's a PITA and we do not send our own saws with our crews anymore. After TWA Flight 800 blew up over Long Island in the '90s the industry took a much harder stance on this issue. Good luck in your future saw procurement, send 'em via USPS and avoid yourself unnecessary hassles.

BTW welcome to AS Patagoniac!

 

[patagoniac]

Thanx for your (cross border) help.

I appreciate the many responses to my inquirey. I wrongly assumed the customs brokerage fee were similar for parcel post as UPS. In hindsight, I should have posed the question about travelling by air with chainsaws on this forum before leaving home. I also have a new respect for the airborne forestry "smoke-jumpers", who, apparently must parachute from airplanes into dangerous firezones with swede-saws and hand tools??? I am just happy I did not loose the saws in this process. It also occurs to me that the cargo holds of commercial aircraft are filled with Vodka, Sambuca and aftershave in easily broken glass containers.
Again, many thanx.

 

[lawmart]

wow i guess i was lucky i bought back my ps 5100 from clearwater Fl. in august this year. When i was on vacation. it was in my suit case landed in Buffalo Ny. then drove over the border.No questions asked.


Lawmart

Playsafe

 

[adkranger]

Patagoniac, I hope you didn't take some of the info in my post wrong. Smokejumpers and other wildland firefighters do utilize chainsaws in line construction duties. Commercial airline restrictions don't necessarily apply across the board with gov't and contract air ops. When S-jumpers drop in on a fire their saws and other tools are packaged up and shuted in with 'em. It's not a perfect world, but the birds they fly on have open cargo type interiors, very drafty, not much chance of vapors building up to a dangerous level. They may drop the tools out of a separate plane too, not exactly sure. Maybe there's jumper on the board somewhere that'll pipe in. What I was referring to in my previous post was when we send a crew out of state to assist USFS we fly commercially, a bunch of yellow shirts mixed right in with the suited business crowd and vacationing families. We use helicopters in state for fire suppression ops and occaissionally carry our saws inboard on the bird, though the pilots are always neverous 'bout it. They're usually more concerned with the extra fuel containers, safety cans are the rule. If possible we will package the tools and saws and fuel cans outboard in a sling load, much safer but adds a little to the logistics. We're in the middle of redoing the SOPs for all aviation support in our State and most likely no more carrying hazmats in board, emergency or not. There's just too many horror stories and close calls out there.

 

[adkranger]

wow i guess i was lucky i bought back my ps 5100 from clearwater Fl. in august this year. When i was on vacation. it was in my suit case landed in Buffalo Ny. then drove over the border.No questions asked.


Lawmart

Playsafe

If your saw was brandy new, never filled it's ok to check in. But then again, it may have just been overlooked by a tired/bored TSA worker. Of course who'd think some chainsaw nut would put a saw in his suitcase. Now if you were coming INTO Florida with chainsaw in a suitcase, especially from down below the Border you might asked a few pointed questions in a brightly lit room with a two-way mirror.