Posted on Wed, Aug 04, 2010
Pack n send builds custom crates for both commercial and residential customers. While we crate art work and sculptures, we can also crate your delicate machinery. We are posting this quick video of a very simple crate for artwork.
Since we have been in business since 1981 we can offer advice on how to prepare items to be placed inside a crate, and the best way to build a crate.
There are some very basic questions you need to ask before you contract someone to build a crate.
You need to ask if they can supply the wood for both domestic and international shipping.
Can they build reusable crates?
Do they have experience with both large and small items?.
Have they crated delicate or valuable items in the past? Be sure and ask for examples of these items.
Do they know the proper amount of padding to add inside the crate for different types of items. High value painting with glass require different preparation and padding from artistic statutes.
How do they bind the crate? Do they nail it or use screws to close the crate? Do they secure the crate with metal banding?
If you would like to use and experienced crate builder and freight shipper with over 25 years experience, contact pack n send at 713 266 1450 for your next freight or shipping job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLsuPd4aVik
Posted on Tue, Jul 20, 2010
China– The North Eastern port of Dalian which had been closed to freight traffic has just reopened. Friday there was after a huge explosion and fire left the oil terminal there in flames. The explosion was caused by a pipe from the tanker caught fire. The pipe exploded and then burst an adjacent pipeline which also ignited.
There is a cleanup underway with about 800 vessels. It is reported that they hope to have the clean up completed by July 24th. At this point in time, due to heavy winds and rains, the 800 vessels have exited the area until the weather improves.
Both Chinas oil and grain markets are affected by the closure of this port.
Pack n send monitors ports throughout the world. When we ship cargo and freight, we watch water ways and ports that are affected by both closures and personnel strikes.
For information on packing, crating shipping and freighting, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450. We offer both domestic and international shipping.
Posted on Mon, Jul 19, 2010
Pack n send is posting this article form Handy Shipping News. As new ideas in freight appear on the market pack n send tracks their success. As a company that recycles we are constantly tracking ways to save on fuel and improve freight shipping.
Con-way Invests in New Trade Marked Double Stacking System
US – Fitting a system of racking within a box or tilt trailer isn’t new but, as usual, they do things big in America, and they don’t come much bigger in the full truckload market. Conway Truck load a full truckload carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc. This week the company announced they have initially converted 100 of its standard 53-foot truckload trailers to their DoubleStack™ system, with additional unit conversions planned for later this year, based on customer demand. The racking system allows for loading of cargoes on two separate, adjustable levels throughout the length of the trailer, accommodating shipments of different dimensions while more fully utilizing the trailer.
The advanced cargo loading and capacity management system which allows shippers to more fully and efficiently utilize space in trailers whilst a custom-designed strapping mechanisms unique to the DoubleStack system enable shipments to be securely tied down to prevent movement during transit and provide added protection against damage.
"We are continually exploring ways to bring our customers advantages that enable them to obtain the highest value for the transportation dollar," said Herb Schmidt, president, Con-way Truckload. "With DoubleStack trailers, we're maximizing the available capacity customers can use and adding better protection systems to reduce claims, while driving benefits to our operations through more effective asset utilization."
Con-way Truckload's DoubleStack trailers feature thick aluminum tracks attached to supporting vertical posts every 16 inches along the trailer walls, with adjustable bars, or cross beams, that clamp securely into each track. The metal cross beams are height-adjustable and can be set in a variety of horizontal track positions to accommodate freight pallets of different sizes, while maximizing the stability of loaded freight at any point in the trailer and ensuring optimum capacity use. The DoubleStack system is ideal for a wide variety of customer goods, including fragile products that must be segregated and traditionally cannot be double-stacked, or pallets with products of varying height dimensions and stability.
Posted on Wed, Jun 30, 2010
Is Manufacturing Coming Back to the U.S.?
Why is pack n send posting this article on our website? If it costs us more to do business with China, it will be more expensive to import Chinese goods. If the US can pick up on this, we should be able to manufacture more in the US. This should enable the US to not only to manufacture more goods, but also export more goods to other countries! This will be good for not only pack n send, but other companies that prepare freight, and ship freight to other countries.
By Jack Stack Article from New York Times
June 23, 2010
If you haven't been paying attention to the news lately, you might have missed some interesting developments: the Chinese government has started allowing the value of its currency to fluctuate, and Chinese workers have begun striking in efforts to increase their wages. Both of those developments are likely to increase the cost of manufacturing in China, and here's another newsflash: the costs of shipping containers are also going up. Fast.
Steve Crowder, the president of GuildMaster, an SRC affiliate that manufacturers and sells accent furniture, told me that the costs of overseas shipping containers have increased by 30 percent since the beginning of May - increasing from $4,000 a container to $5,200. And that doesn't fully account for the fuel surcharges that logistics and shipping companies have begun tacking on to take advantage of all the goods needed for an expected surge in demand for the upcoming holiday shopping season. The reason I point out these stories is that I'm seeing an emerging trend: the increasing cost of doing business in China.
The upside of such a trend, of course, is that more and more companies like GuildMaster are taking a second look at United States manufacturers, something that's being called "near-sourcing."
Personally, I've always seen off-shore manufacturing as a significant risk to a company's cash flow, something not enough people pay attention to. It used to be cheap and easy to borrow the money to finance off-shore manufacturing, but that's changed. Consider this example: Let's say you want to order a batch of widgets from a manufacturer in China that's charging 50 percent less than a manufacturer here in the United States. The price may be good, but you have to wire the money up front to pay for your order. Then you wait - up to 90 days while your product is produced and shipped across the ocean.
When you finally get the product to your customer - let's say it's a big-box retailer - you then have to wait up to 90 days before you get your money. Think about that. The time between when you lay out your money to your manufacturer and when you finally receive a payment from your customer can be as long as 180 days. So, you might wait up to 225 days before you get your money back. That's a long time and a serious drain on cash flow. And that's assuming everything goes well. It's also possible that your product won't sell and your big-box client will return it. If that happens, you're stuck holding more inventory and waiting to get paid for it, possibly until the following season.
But let's look at this scenario from a different angle. Suppose you choose to hire a domestic manufacturer instead of one in China. Now, rather than paying up front, you may well be able to negotiate terms where you pay your supplier 60 days after you receive your product - which amounts to a 60-day, interest-free loan. Ideally, you end up paying your supplier at just about the same time you receive your payment from your customer.
The shorter supply chain also comes into play in a big way if you run into a quality problem or a shipping delay or if you have the happy problem of needing more product to meet customer demand. Several big-box retailers will penalize you if they sell out of your product and you can't resupply them immediately - what's known as a "stockout."
When you source your product from China, and need to wait up to 90 days for each order, you have to carry extra inventory as stock-out protection - another big hit to your cash flow. When you use a domestic supplier, you can turn to FedEx or UPS to solve your problem overnight. That means you don't have to carry as much extra inventory.
With a long supply chain, an entrepreneur faces tough choices because the company's cash is tied up with suppliers and customers. With credit still tight, companies can end up struggling to cover the inevitable cash shortfalls that come from growth. Some companies resort to doing things like factoring - borrowing off their accounts receivable at interest rates that can top 20 percent - or bringing in outside investors and private equity money, decisions that cut into either net income or equity.
Then there are companies like Springfield Spring in Springfield, Mass., an open-book company founded in 1942 that makes precision-engineered springs and clips. Norman Rodrigues, the company's chief executive, says that domestic small businesses have long underestimated the true cost of manufacturing overseas, but he believes those costs are now becoming clearer.
"Six years ago, everyone was falling over themselves to get into China to save money and maximize what they called their ‘shareholder value,'" Mr. Rodrigues told me. "But, when you begin to add up the cost of freight, the aggravation of delays, the lack of quality control, and the money you need to invest relative to cash flow, you're starting to see people in the boardrooms of the big corporations reconsider that decision."
Of course, we don't have the same manufacturing base here that we used to. And, for certain products, off-shoring might still make sense. But, given the advantages that a domestic manufacturer can give its customers, like just-in-time delivery and better quality controls, maybe we'll see more opportunities for new businesses to take root in the United States in the near future.
Pack n send already makes our custom crates for shipping in our ware house. That way, each crate is specifically prepared to fit the individual order.
For freight and cargo shipping please visit our website at http://www.pack-n-send.com/. We have listed the countries that we ship to. Or, you can call us at 713 266 1450
Posted on Fri, Jun 18, 2010
US - The Motor Carrier Protection Act just put forward by two Senators is causing ripples amongst the trucking and shipping industries. The bill proposed by Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican Olympia Snowe from Maine is designed to toughen up the criteria needed by companies wishing to take responsibility for cargo in their care and applicable to all freight brokers and freight forwarders.
Industry critics say that this legislation merely increases the power of the larger carriers
The draft outline of the proposed regulations are as follows; each licensee must lodge a broker bond for $100,000 (currently $10,000), the FMCSA) to lay out specific guidelines for applicants plus tougher regulations overall. Licenses to be reviewed annually or be automatically revoked with costs of licenses set to cover the FMCSA's enforcement budget. The are proposing stricter penalties for defaulters, including an unlimited liability for freight costs against any unlicensed broker or freight forwarder.
In addition each registration will be exclusive to each regulatory authority and documents for every transaction must show the license number and the authority which granted it plus the bond providers and their administration procedures will also be strictly controlled.
Motor carriers will doubtless be divided on the issue. To some it will mean more cost and more administration, with one slip potentially costing them serious money, to others, it will remove completely the rogue elements that plague the industries lower end and feed off smaller haulers made desperate by difficult times.
Pack n send has reprinted part of the article listed in the Handy Shipping Guide. We closely monitor proposed legislation that will affect both cargo shipping and the freight industry.
For assistance in shipping both freight and cargo containers, please call pack n send at 713 266 1450.
www.pack-n-send.com