Originally Posted by
DropBarFan
Too bad about the BikeFlights problems. A few years back I looked up UPS & FedEx prices to ship a bike to Europe & was surprised at the high cost...much more than airline fees. It's possible I could use a company account for UPS or FedEx though I haven't checked to see how much that would save.
bikeflights is effectively a 3pl. 3rd party logistics is a massive business(one in which I work).
They are seen by the carrier(ups, FedEx, etc) as a customer and as such, the volume discount makes it possible for them to ship cheaper(usually) than if a customer goes direct with the carrier.
Adding their margin onto the freight rate still ends up being cheaper(usually) than some random person going to the carrier direct.
It's all about aggregated volume. Ups, FedEx, etc see bikeflights as the customer.
ETA- I do get a kick out of the periodic threads about shipping bikes. People swear one carrier is better than another based on limited experiences and random internet claims.
Both companies, as well as ALL LTL carriers, have damage claims by the thousands each day. It's simply unrealistic to move LTL and small parcel without incurring damage. The damage typically happens because terminals unload and reload shipments multiple times within a shipment's life. The more touches, the more chance of damage.
Discussing which carrier is better is almost like declaring Kraft jetpuft marshmallows are better than store brand marshmallows.