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Moto Shipping Recommendation

NormMcElvany

New member
Need recommendation(s) for honest, careful, fair priced Moto shippers for US shipments. Several friends have had bad experiences with some so I'm asking for "expert" advice from the Membership.
Thanks.
Norm
 
Need recommendation(s) for honest, careful, fair priced Moto shippers for US shipments. Several friends have had bad experiences with some so I'm asking for "expert" advice from the Membership.
Thanks.
Norm

I've shipped cross country twice with motorcycleshippers.com and been very satisfied with their pickup and delivery dates and no damage to the motorcycle. I currently have a bike scheduled for pickup tomorrow for shipment to AZ. It was scheduled on their website last Wednesday evening. The price has gone up since 2019 and 2020 but no surprise there.
 
Thanks for the link. I need to ship a 2017 R1200RT from Colorado to Vienna, VA. I just got a quote from motorcycleshippers.com and also Haulbikes.com. The quote from motorcycleshippers was ~$1100. The quote from haulbikes was ~$600.

Both shippers are moto specialists using enclosed trailers and moveable dollies. Both come with positive reviews from members of this site. I think the primary difference is that the lower quote involves a lot of uncertainty with respect to pickup and delivery dates. Given that I have flexibility on those dates, I am using the lower bid.

Cap
 
Thanks for the link. I need to ship a 2017 R1200RT from Colorado to Vienna, VA. I just got a quote from motorcycleshippers.com and also Haulbikes.com. The quote from motorcycleshippers was ~$1100. The quote from haulbikes was ~$600.

Both shippers are moto specialists using enclosed trailers and moveable dollies. Both come with positive reviews from members of this site. I think the primary difference is that the lower quote involves a lot of uncertainty with respect to pickup and delivery dates. Given that I have flexibility on those dates, I am using the lower bid.

Cap

Haulbikes transported my 1200RT from TX to NH and it arrived safe and sound. That's the best I can say about them. Their delivery to NH took 2 months. The bike sat in Oklahoma storage for a month awaiting transport. It was one excuse after another. Awaiting other bikes for New England. No trucks available. No drivers available. The driver got hurt. On and on by a very pleasant woman who consistently misstated the new delivery date. Each time the date approached...no call from them...nothing...until I would call and after being on hold each time from 10 to 45 minutes I would get another excuse. Then the bike got moved to PA...where the waiting game began anew. Just awful.
The worst part was their extremely poor communication skills. If they had been up front from the start, and not over promised and under delivered I could have been more understanding. But it was one, well, lie, after another that got to me. All the while their website had happy talk about prompt, trouble free, nationwide deliveries...
 
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I'm using Federal right now to transport an R1200RT from Ohio to California. They've been very prompt and professional and have great reviews and included insurance. I talked to one other shipper who was a private party from uShip who was extremely rude and refused to give any kind of receipt or contract for the transport (big red flag). I've heard haulbikes can be hit or miss. Some people have great experiences and some have had bad.

For reference, Federal is charging me $920 for the shipment. They picked up within a week of my calling and bike will be delivered in about 10 days. I'll update this post if anything goes wrong.
 
I talked to one other shipper who was a private party from uShip who was extremely rude and refused to give any kind of receipt or contract for the transport (big red flag).

uShip serves as a clearinghouse of sorts, taking your information and soliciting bids from a list of potential haulers. As in many things in life, of three things - quality, speed, low price - you may get two but seldom three. I can't speak with authority about the degree to which uShip screens its bidders, I have heard enough negative tales among some favorable ones too, I would personally be reluctant to use them.
 
I recognize it’s not always a choice, but after navigating the logistics of working with a shipper (and I contacted more than a few), I decided to “self-ship” Using hotel reward points, I ended up spending less than $400 on a wonderful 6-day ride on my new (to me) 2014 RT from California to home in Maryland. (And it was a great opportunity to get to know my new bike.) That said, shipping can be more convenient (and/or necessary); I was leaning toward motorcycleshippers based on what I had read in reviews and pricing with respect to their time estimates. I was also prepared to drop off and pick up from their hubs.
 
uShip serves as a clearinghouse of sorts, taking your information and soliciting bids from a list of potential haulers. As in many things in life, of three things - quality, speed, low price - you may get two but seldom three. I can't speak with authority about the degree to which uShip screens its bidders, I have heard enough negative tales among some favorable ones too, I would personally be reluctant to use them.

I had a good experience through UShip and gave some details on this thread for a specific shipper but that was 7 years ago.

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?74728-Poor-Shipping&highlight=UShip
 
Haulbikes transported my 1200RT from TX to NH and it arrived safe and sound. That's the best I can say about them. Their delivery to NH took 2 months. The bike sat in Oklahoma storage for a month awaiting transport. It was one excuse after another. Awaiting other bikes for New England. No trucks available. No drivers available. The driver got hurt. On and on by a very pleasant woman who consistently misstated the new delivery date. Each time the date approached...no call from them...nothing...until I would call and after being on hold each time from 10 to 45 minutes I would get another excuse. Then the bike got moved to PA...where the waiting game began anew. Just awful.
The worst part was their extremely poor communication skills. If they had been up front from the start, and not over promised and under delivered I could have been more understanding. But it was one, well, lie, after another that got to me. All the while their website had happy talk about prompt, trouble free, nationwide deliveries...

I used Haulbikes recently, and had exactly this same experience. I paid $595 to ship from Colorado to Vienna, VA. I scheduled pickup in October, and was promised delivery before Thanksgiving. The bike was actually picked up in mid-November, and was never delivered. Instead, after it sat in a warehouse in PA for more than a month, a friend went to the warehouse with a trailer, and picked up the bike yesterday. I had the same experience with the staff: they would promise delivery within a narrow window of days, and then it would not happen. They did this several times, each time requiring the person at the receiving end to alter their schedule to hang around and wait for the promised delivery.

There is some good news. The bike was handled carefully, and had no damage in transit. The company is refunding $117 for their failure to move it the last 150 miles. So, I eventually got what I wanted: a bike moved without damage. I can't complain about the eventual cost, although I owe my buddy something for driving to the warehouse to pick it up.

I originally chose Haulbikes based on their significantly lower cost, and with an expectation that they would be slow. What I did not expect was that they would repeatedly misrepresent the delivery window. This practice creates a burden on the person receiving the bike -- in my case, a friend who lives and works in Virginia. I didn't factor in the value of the burden of uncertainty on my friend. Because I am retired, and I don't ride much in the winter, and I was shipping my spare bike, the uncertain delivery date was not a big deal to me. As long as it arrived before spring, I would be able to fly out and ride it later. But for my buddy who has a job and his own scheduling constraints, the uncertainty was a PITA. Knowing what I know now, I will never choose Haulbikes to move a motorcycle again.

Cap
 
I used Haulbikes recently, and had exactly this same experience. I paid $595 to ship from Colorado to Vienna, VA. I scheduled pickup in October, and was promised delivery before Thanksgiving. The bike was actually picked up in mid-November, and was never delivered. Instead, after it sat in a warehouse in PA for more than a month, a friend went to the warehouse with a trailer, and picked up the bike yesterday. I had the same experience with the staff: they would promise delivery within a narrow window of days, and then it would not happen. They did this several times, each time requiring the person at the receiving end to alter their schedule to hang around and wait for the promised delivery.

There is some good news. The bike was handled carefully, and had no damage in transit. The company is refunding $117 for their failure to move it the last 150 miles. So, I eventually got what I wanted: a bike moved without damage. I can't complain about the eventual cost, although I owe my buddy something for driving to the warehouse to pick it up.

I originally chose Haulbikes based on their significantly lower cost, and with an expectation that they would be slow. What I did not expect was that they would repeatedly misrepresent the delivery window. This practice creates a burden on the person receiving the bike -- in my case, a friend who lives and works in Virginia. I didn't factor in the value of the burden of uncertainty on my friend. Because I am retired, and I don't ride much in the winter, and I was shipping my spare bike, the uncertain delivery date was not a big deal to me. As long as it arrived before spring, I would be able to fly out and ride it later. But for my buddy who has a job and his own scheduling constraints, the uncertainty was a PITA. Knowing what I know now, I will never choose Haulbikes to move a motorcycle again.

Cap

Appreciate what appears to be a very respectful and balanced review of your experience.
 
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