Shipping Heavy Speakers: Freight of FedEx

I just sent out some large bookshelf speakers to my daughter in San Diego. I live in Wisc. Distance of approx. 1800 miles. shipping boxes were 18"x18"x30" tall. 40 lbs. each. Sent them FedEx Ground insured. I put 2" styrofoam on all sides of speaker in the box, and sealed securely. If this thread is still going in a couple of days, I will fill everyone in on their condition once my daughter receives them. This could be interesting for better or worse. A few years ago I had a pair of speakers shipped to me UPS ground from New York. They arrived severely damaged. I was paid the claim, but was out the $150 shipping charge. I guess you always take a chance with things like this. One thing I have learned about this is the greater the distance, the greater chance of damage.

Have you tried IPSparcel，I used it twice and the services were excellent。

Thanks for the replies. I decided to go with a shipper from UShip. The speakers I will receive are Spendor S100. The original boxes are in good shape with all original packing materials, corner and edge guards. Speakers weigh 95 lbs each, boxed.

I am able to handle the entire transaction on my end.

At the same time, I am shipping a pair of Klipsch Cornscals from Scottsdale, AZ to McKinney, TX. These are also going freight, using a shipper found thru UShip. The buyer is handling the transaction.

The driver handling the Klipsch shipment has asked that the speakers remain as is, no additional packing or crating. He said he will handle everything.

I should have a good feel for this in the next couple of weeks. So far, it seems to be a great choice for shipping large speakers. I did purchase additional insurance thru UShip for the Spendor S100 I will receive.

Another vote for strapping both boxes to a pallet securely and ensure they have ample straps to prevent 'sway' when the pallet is moved; heavy shrink wrap and taping is a vital additional measure. UPS Freight does a good job with this sort of thing. Old Dominion, Estes and Southeastern have also served me well on both the inbound and outbound. Yellow Freight and Orange were very good contenders but I believe UPS bought them both a while back. If I was to ship today, I think I'd call OD first and UPS 2nd though Estes would be close behind. Caveat,...not all may serve your area.

***LTL carriers are not guaranteed to bring pallet jacks or ***lift-gate capable rigs with pallet jacks. You have to specify this at time of contract, otherwise they will assume they are backing up to a loading deck and that you have pallet jack, etc......***

I shipped my Revel Salons to the buyer by BAXGlobal. They did a perfect job. Those speakers were about 150lbs each.