From: bv@wjv.com   
      
   In article ,   
   Frank Durda IV  wrote:   
   >I recently shipped a DT-1 which has the same footprint as a   
   >Model III/4/4D and found that shipping for a box of those dimensions   
   >here is a girth penalty and it is pretty much in the range of   
   >$55-$70 US for any weight from 2lbs up to 70lbs in a box that size   
   >to destinations in the lower 48 US states.  Fed-Ex ground was   
   >even more expensive.  Reasoning:  Your big box is taking up more space   
   >in their trucks and so they can't put as many other packages in   
   >there with yours.  You are paying for the space other packages   
   >could have occupied.   
      
   >I've run into this same issue when shipping 19" equipment   
   >cabinets, and found the charge for shipping an assembled but   
   >empty cabinet and a fully loaded cabinet were pretty close. Bulk   
   >matters.   
      
   When we were building our recording studio back in 1977, we wanted   
   it shipped by air so that there wouldn't be 3000 miles of bouncing   
   in a truck.   
      
   Since the sucker was about 12 feet long [40 inputs] and the   
   other dimensions were about 4 feet by 4 feet.  The oversize   
   charge meant it would cost as much to ship a Volkswagen by air -   
   even though it only came in at about 1500 pounds.   
      
   The funny thing is that instead of saving a lot of time it took   
   4 or 5 days to get from LA to Orlando.   
      
   First the freight plane had an engine problem and took longer to   
   get off the ground. Then it ran into weather.  It stayed overnight   
   on the gound in Nashville.  Then the next day it overflew Orlando   
   because of weather and went to Miami.   
      
   By this time the crew that was to bring it into the studio had been   
   cancelled 3 times.   
      
   It was NOT unloaded there, and the plane was ready to fly to NYC,   
   when the designer/consultant of the studio called the head man at   
   the air-freight company, and they called the plane back just as it   
   was getting ready to taxi for takeoff.   
      
   The console was unloaded.  Then it was a lot of phone calls finding   
   a trucking company on a Saturday morning to load the console and   
   drive it from Miami to Orlando, and also arranging for   
   $100,000 worth of insurance for the 220 mile trip.   
      
   And another funny thing happened with a duplicate console.   
      
   Globo - the TV network from Brazil - came to Orlando to see our   
   console - which was the first of a new line - as no one but us   
   would commission the prototype [but we knew the people who built it   
   and the person who designed it so we trusted them], and Globo   
   ordered two.   
      
   With the import duties in Brazil they came to $250,000 each.   
      
   And one of the got lost.  This is a box 4'x4'x12' weighing   
   about 1800 pounds.  There was all sorts of panic and it was found   
   two weeks later in a warehouse at the airport in NYC as it got   
   shoved behind something else - but there were a few people panicing   
   at that 'lost' console.   
      
   Bll   
      
   >So when buying a Model II/III/4/4D/12/16/16B from someone, expect a   
   >good chunk of the cost to just be in the shipping charges, and that's   
   >not including any peripheral enclosures.   
      
   The 16/6000 cost a LOT so ship when they were new.  As I recall   
   Tandy had a special box that was outide the UPS maximum dimension   
   for that time, so people who tried to box them in something that   
   fit those dimensions often would up with machines that were broken   
   in transit.   
      
   Bill   
      
   --   
   Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com   
      
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