Amtrak shipping prep

[Alex F]

If you were shipping a tuba inside an MTS case via AMTRAK, how would you prepare it for shipping, both inside and outside the case?

When Dan Oberloh shipped me a horn last fall, it came inside a Yammie case. The bell and valves were well padded with bubble wrap, the bell was stuffed with crunched newspapaer inside a plastic grocery bag, and the outside of the case was covered with a "form fitted" layer of carboard sheets. Openings were left for the handle. IMHO, the MTS case is much sturdier than the Yammie cases.

Thanks for your wisdom, as always.

[windshieldbug]

Dan knows what he's doing.

Its not so much the sturdiness of the case outside, but the ability of the horn to move around inside that may cause injury. Filling up space with things that will help it reatain shape, but yet still crush are the thing to do. In fact, an old case that will absorb some force may be much better than a very hard one.

Think about throwing your case down a flight of stairs. If you think that your horn isn't going to bounce inside the case when it hits the floor, then you MAY be OK. That's one big reason people invest in flight cases.

I've never shipped a horn, but many people on here like Greyhound.

[jdsalas]

I had my horn shipped to me from Chicago to Texas via Amtrak. It came in an MTS case with a little bubble wrap inside. There was no damage so either I was really lucky or Amtrak takes very good care of their shipments.

[Donn]

I had my horn shipped to me from Chicago to Texas via Amtrak. It came in an MTS case with a little bubble wrap inside. There was no damage so either I was really lucky or Amtrak takes very good care of their shipments.

It may just mean that it takes too much work to inflict the kind of damage you hear about, so they have to let a few tubas get through unscathed.

If a carrier has a policy of paying in full for damages, and a reputation for really fulfilling that policy, then of course it's a fairly safe bet they'll take care of your package. Otherwise, you have to do your own risk analysis based on things like how high a package will be lifted off the ground, etc. I don't know where Amtrak fits in either picture.

[J Stowe]

Amtrak is good in my opinion. I received a pt6 in a hard case and it was in good shape.

[XtremeEuph]

Think about throwing your case down a flight of stairs. If you think that your horn isn't going to bounce inside the case when it hits the floor, then you MAY be OK. That's one big reason people invest in flight cases.

Lmao that made me crack up windshieldbug, but I still hesitate to decide you intended the joke or not