Transporting an Engine - Recommend me a Courier

[DottyMR2]

Hi All,


I've gone and bought a new engine for the MR2, Happy days! It's a rather nice one but the downside is, it's in Kent! So couldn't be any further away if I tried!

Now I'm in the dilemma of do I hire a van and make a weekend of it or do I get a courier.

Trying to price everything up just now but of course, searching google brings up countless couriers and pallet delivery services. A recomendation is always better, espeically as I'll be paranoid the whole time incase something gets broken in transit.

Can anyone recommend a a courier to bring an engine, gearbox and a few parts up from Kent to Edinburgh? It'll all be packaged on a pallet and wrapped up etc.

[ALBA MELV]

Are any local haulage companies that you know of part of a pallet network? If so I'd be trying them first.

Paisley Freight seem to always get a good write up when sending alloy wheels but not sure if they have the means for engine transportation too.

My tips -
1) Make sure the seller has drained fluids or at least taken preventative measures to stop any discharges.
2) Make sure the seller secures the engine to the pallet properly. A driver should refuse to collect if it's unsecured unless the driver is willing to strap it down properly but in my experience truck drivers are lazy buggers and always in a hurry.

[8bit]

Never used them to move an engine around but I've used Paisley Freight for large/heavy stuff in the past and was happy with them.

[ModernAndy]

Can't see how a courier wouldn't be cheaper than hiring a van and driving down yourself. Especially something like a Transit that will gulp down fuel. No recommendations on who to go for other than palletways or another courier used to transporting larger stuff.

[madmax666]

I used http://www.pallet2ship.co.uk/ last week to ship a pallet and it worked out around £70.
Was collected by DHL and delivered by Dyce Carriers and it arrived in the same condition it left.

[Allandwf]

You could also try shiply.com

[IATM]

to be honest shipping an engine is not a problem - just use a pallet service which I assume will be around 100 inc vat.

Trouble you are going to have is the sender going to be able to package it safely and securely onto a pallet to not endure any obvious damage.

The only advantage of going to get it yourself is you would "look after it" and check on it and make sure its strapped down etc etc etc

[Who me ?]

ModernAndy said:

Can't see how a courier wouldn't be cheaper than hiring a van and driving down yourself. Especially something like a Transit that will gulp down fuel. No recommendations on who to go for other than palletways or another courier used to transporting larger stuff.

No recommendations, except as stated to avoid Ford Vehicles like the plague for long trips. They don't guzzle fuel, they are fuel a holics. Even so , quick calculation from Edinburgh to Kent ( took Chatham a sort of mid Kent),makes it round trip of 844 miles. At 40MPG, that's about £124 plus rental and overnight stop. Then if on pallet, you'd need a van capable of fitting in pallet and being comfortable to drive for that lenght of distance.
From a quick look at van hire, I'd add another £120 . I'd say it's a no brainer for courier.

[ModernAndy]

A transit with 6 gears should do a little under 40mpg at 70mph on the motorway (obviously not just any dual carriageway- that would be illegal) so the fuel cost above should work out. Good luck getting a rental company that will let you do 800-1,000 miles in a day or two though.

[Davel]

You could speak to Abbey Removals in Perth.

I think that they do that run from time to time.

[DottyMR2]

I had thought a van a viable option as the cheapest quote I've had no shipley so far is just under £300, hence I thought I could just do it myself for that ammount.

It would be a loooong weekend but as said above, the plus point is that I could take extra care of it the whole way. I actually found a hire for the time I needed with unlimited miles for £150, surely a catch in there somewhere though.
The idea of these networks freaks me out as if there is 3 or 4 transfers, there's 3 or 4 chances for a muppet to do something muppety.

I'll give all those guys a contact and see what the story is, thanks for the recommendations. Always better when someone has previous experience of a company.

[ModernAndy]

If that's a 2 day hire, I think the catch is the price. It would be what you'd pay anyway after paying for the excess mileage but at least there wouldn't be any hassle handing the keys back.

[Who me ?]

ModernAndy said:

A transit with 6 gears should do a little under 40mpg at 70mph on the motorway (obviously not just any dual carriageway- that would be illegal) so the fuel cost above should work out. Good luck getting a rental company that will let you do 800-1,000 miles in a day or two though.

TBH ,Andy ,I was driving a 5 speed 90 Transit at work and hired a 115 six speed Jumbo and found little difference between economy on either .
On hiring companies, I had a look at Enterprise and they don't charge mileage, but on cars they have a £600 excess which you can reduce to £100, at a cost. But if you go for Enterprise, book on line as you'll get better rates than in shop. SWB Transit type about £38 per day , larger one about £43/day. However i tried a weekend hire from friday ( I used 9.00 fri -9.00 Mon ,) it's cheaper than two days through the week .They charge for three days in each case, but weekend rate is about £10 a day lower , which makes the weekend three days only £2 more .
Might be worth checking the weight and pallet size though .

[ModernAndy]

I found that I could get just under 40mpg doing 70 in a 100 SWB LR 6 speed but when I had a 2.4 90 5 speed MWB HR (51 plate a few years ago) doing similar I got about 28mpg. I'd imagine the height of the roof makes a big difference, also I might have been adhering to the 70 a bit more in the 6 speed.

[sherman]

Why not hire something like a transit connect rather than a full size transit as these smaller vans are sometimes designed to take a pallet in the back. Also it would drive nicer than a transit.

[Who me ?]

Sherman- I'd be looking at the weight capacity of the van . Easy enough to take a saw with you and make pallet fit smaller van, but a van close to weight limit on that sort of trip would be a handful and not help with fuel consumption .Andy ,I notice Enterprise offer a small van as Astravan/Transit Connect or similar. I've tried to find weight capacity on Vauxhall Combo ( which replace the Astravan, which might not be capable of the weight), but it's not given, whereas the NEW Transit Connect can carry up to 1000kg ,and at a lot less than the rental of a SWB Transit( £46 AS AGAINST £80)on a similar weekend hire. .

[ModernAndy]

The transit connect will be a lot more fuel efficient as well if it can take the load.

I still believe the right courier would be cheaper but if you do just want to make a weekend of it for a laugh then I'd go for the smallest van everything will fit.

[RG63AMG]

I have used paisley freight in the past and no problems and cheap.

[robbyc111]

In the past I have used a number of companies https://pallets4delivery.com/ were pretty good- they didn't make a big deal out of shipping engines and the prices were pretty resonable

[BillyWhizz888]

I used Paisley freight recently to ship my big block caddy engine and box ect.

They arrived no problem but the sub contractor they used put the pallets in but not strapped down