FEDEX keeps destroying my New CARY 805RS Monoblocks - What can I do to prevent Nightmare?

Again ALL route deliveries from ground are delivered by ground crews. The delivery trucks at UPS don’t even have air ride. Fed Ex or UPS doesn’t have lift gates. The best you can hope for is a dolly.

Freight on the other hand has air ride suspensions, liftgates, dollies, pallet jacks and a class A drivers. In other words. They aren’t bouncing all over town OFF route before they get your package to you. They have to stay on truck routes and only come off, for deliveries. No short cuts..

Overnight will cut the amount of handling and transportation time. The number of miles might actually be more, with some routes, like UPS. BUT the way it’s routed is the key.

I like UPS better, if only of the way they drive, exit and deliver packages. Even if they do drop and run. They always park on the correct side of the road and exit on the safe side. The route has more right turns for speed and safety.. They are better at delivering packages on time than any other service. The most reasonable is USPS.

Side note:

When I worked at Detroit in the 70s, we worked on Greyhound Busses. They use to haul freight everywhere. We would load a pair of V8-71 heads in the cargo holds. 250-300lbs each. In a crate dripping oil everywhere. Poor suckers on the other end just like us, were trying to figure out HOW to get it back out. We just had to load it. They had to unload it and 2-300lb crank shafts too. The crap we use to do.

WHY? They had air ride and freight companies, DID NOT. Now if you want to haul freight, not deliver it, you have to have air ride, just so the insurance will insure at a halfway reasonable rate.. Springs, suspension is for heavy HEAVY equipment only any more. The Cab though, is air ride.. Like a Cadillac most of them, with 2 or 3 sticks, for gear changes.

Fruit for thought..

Regards

As an engineer I have been designing product which is shipped worldwide since 1981. The case you describe is common among companies which do not follow basic shipping guidelines which are published and available for use to design packaging and product. These guidelines describe in detail, shock loads and g loads a product will encounter during shipping. It turns out shipping by Air Transportation is actually the roughest. See ATA, DOD, and trucking association shipping guidelines for more information. Apparently CAREY has chosen not to follow the packaging and product design guidelines.

I think I know what I am talking about since I designed electrical product to be air dropped from a aircraft and to survive a high speed extraction out the back of a C130 doing a touch and go on to a concrete runway which is a 3 meter drop.

You have already received good suggestions, and I especially support freight shipping for heavy/expensive items and strapping them to a pallet.  I have twice shipped a pair of Clayton M300 monos (almost 100# each) and a pair of Lamm M1.2 monos on pallets using FedEx Freight, which seemed organized and professional as already mentioned.  They also seemed logistically superior to their ground/air brethren wrt both timing and locating...I doubt the freight arm of FecEx sends stuff to the wrong city very often.

In cases where expensive electronics are shipped by commonly used shippers (i.e., UPS or FedEx) they should be boxed in the manufacturer's purpose-designed packing - dense closed cell foam specifically shaped to hold the item at least two inches away from the walls of the box is best.  You can identify the level of care taken by a company by looking at their packing.  Cardboard boxes should be double wall and even if these guidelines are followed, I recommend using a second, outer box that isolates the manufacturer's box by an additional one to two inches.  Here are packaging guidelines posted by DHL.

I just received a Hattor preamp that was packaged in its own foam-lined case that the shipper packed inside of a sacrificial outer cardboard box, and it arrived with no issues. 

It is Cary's job to deliver new, undamaged amps to you.  Rather than taking an active role, you may want to ask Cary, "what are you going to do differently to get these amps delivered to me intact?"  Good luck!

It's Cary's fault. The amp is ONLY 85 lbs.

My 4 McIntosh Products all came in specific CARDBOARD boxes, inside other specific CARDBOARD boxes. My MC2250 80 lb amp went hither and thither, originally, I got it used, then to the factory for pre-sale check, back to me, sold, off to ....

McIntosh sells model specific boxes for you to use if you don't have one.

USPS, FedEx, UPS, doesn't matter. Yes, a problem can occur, but not frequent, not repeatedly. 

Hi Mitch2 and all others who have offered excellent suggestions:

Monday morning I will do exactly as you have stated.

They have to MAKE SURE the amps arrive in perfect working condition!

I will accept nothing less. I have wanted these amps for many years - since I first heard them in the late 1990s.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Being an audiophile is supposed to bring great enjoyment in listening to beautiful music. This is all I ask for and hopefully I will be able to do this sometime this week.

Best,

Mike