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QB Shipping Options

Lizard Lips

Active Member
I recall reading somewhere about a freight company that "specializes" in shipment of QB kits, thus saving the costs of Van's crating. I understand the trucker has rigs that have an internal crane to assist in unloading the QB fuselage and wings. I live in a relatively rural area and have no one to assist me in unloading the kit.

Does anyone know where I can find out some info on this company. I understand I may have to wait until he has a run to make in my area and that it is best to get in line as early as possible. My QB RV-14 fuselage and wings were shipped from the Philippines September 7th and that it takes about 4 weeks enroute to the USA. Van's then needs probably a couple of weeks to do their thing making delivery here in Texas around the end of October.

Joe Reaves

RV=14 Empenage Complete
Awaiting QB Fuse and Wings

Arion Lightning flying.
 
Call Tony Partain, he is located near Van's and does a good job of transport. He is used by Van's.Number is 54 -330-0828

He will bring my QB to Indiana when it is ready.
Dave
 
Shipping Cost Savings

My experience with Tony was that the money saved on crating will be spent on Tony's high shipping cost. Also the driver did virtually all of the unloading.

In the end it is a break even and I have not heard of any one receiving damaged parts.

Richard
 
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Don't even think about it. Partain is the way to go. We shipped our QB wings and Fuse with him to Spring TX (separate shipments). May be a little more expensive than common carrier, but why risk it with truck drivers and transfer terminals that have no idea how precious that cargo is. Partain and his crew know what they're doing and were very helpful on the unloading.
 
I used Tony Partain to ship my RV-10 QB wings and fuselage, along with my empennage that I built at Synergy Air Oregon. Good communication, arrived without damage, and the driver helped with the unloading and move into my shop. I highly recommend Partain Trucking for moving the QB kits.
 
Same here, Partain subs a great shipping company that specializes in kit cars. The driver was awesome. Worth the $$$.
 
+1

Partain delivered all of my QB kits...UNDAMAGED.

All of the other large deliveries were damaged in one way or another.

FEDEX speared my empennage crate with a fork lift and damaged the spar.

Finish kit crate was damaged, luckily no parts damage.

Engine crate was damaged, thanks to Barrett's excellent packing, no engine damage..but it was close.

Prop crate damage but again, saved by proper packaging.

Point is, I had no damage with Partain...
 
Thanks everybody for the info. I knew I had read about Tony but could not find the proper reference.

I called Tony Monday and we agreed to agree for him to ship my QB fuse, wings and Finishing kit. Yes, he's somewhat more expensive, but you don't have the $950 crating charge from Van's. The only thing that will be crated by Van's is the Finishing Kit. If my figures are correct I saved quite a bit of money by using Tony and have peace of mind that he will take care of my shipment. His 17 year track record is awesome.

Any RV builders in the East Texas area?
Joe Reaves

RV=14 Empennage Complete
Awaiting QB Fuse and Wings
N468JG reserved
Arion Lightning LS-1 flying.
 
One other idea would be just to rent a one way U-Haul and take it yourself. You get to see the country side and might save a few $$$. This is what I did, though my distance is not nearly as far as yours and it worked great. I got all the kits, including finishing kit and did not need any crating which saved $$$ .
 
I quoted renting a truck to drive a kit from Oregon to Texas and it was around $1000 and over 20 hours. Not worth it in my opinion.

Also, I'm in Caddo Mills building an RV-7. Probably an hour from Tyler. I'm planning on flying there for lunch this weekend, actually.
 
One other idea would be just to rent a one way U-Haul and take it yourself. You get to see the country side and might save a few $$$. This is what I did, though my distance is not nearly as far as yours and it worked great. I got all the kits, including finishing kit and did not need any crating which saved $$$ .

This might work out for some, but when you count the rental, the gas, and time to drive it yourself (including one way transportation to get in position) the percentage saved is small. I have a kit coming from Wisconsin later this month, and I did the math - far easier to let Tony do it. Maybe a few dollars more - but I?d spend those buying material to build support structures in the rental to make sure nothing shifted on the way....
 
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