Sending a 110 lb amp to the manufacturer for cleaning/calibration. Good idea? How to ship?

Hoping you take MC's advice....I cringed and smiled as I went through his sequence of events.  He is spot on!

I share this as a just how frustrating box shipping can be.  I know your package would not be as susceptible as my my company's but just an example.

One of my customers had a demo piece of equipment I sell.  It is essentially a 50lb egg about 16in diameter.  They saw the driver struggle to get it loaded on its Priority Overnight trip back to my house.  5 days later my regular Express driver casually strolled up my front steps(I saw him while on the phone and wondered...how???).

After my call I went outside and almost threw the box against the ceiling in picking it up.  It was empty!!  The $6000 piece of equipment, its power cord and the bottom section of packing were gone and a new diagonal piece of tape across the bottom flaps.  

At some point from pickup driver to delivery driver the damn thing fell out and the jerks just taped up the box and scanned it.

I am in the middle of the claims process now.  I have been very fortunate when shipping audio components out of necessity but man oh man it always makes me nervous!

If it is working correctly and you are happy do not waste your time or money shipping it because you may never get it back again because of sipping problems/issues because of its size and weight.

He is making the correct decision. He will drive it there.
only 4 hrs away. 
   If my amps go, I have a 1,200 mile drive to Cali.  

It is working magnificently and didn't even give something like this a thought until it was suggested from the good folks at Simaudio as I had wanted this amp for over 20 years and now want this to last as long as possible. If I were not within driving distance I wouldn't do it but since I am and Sim is ok with it, I've decided to do it!

Once again I cannot thank you all enough for all of the great advice and support! Always appreciate folks taking their time to give great advice!

I highly recommend USHIP.COM
They blanket wrap your stuff and it never goes through an automated situation.  The only safer way would be for you to take it there yourself.  Ive used this service many time and most recently had a pair of Klipsch Cornwall shipped to me in Florida from Dallas.