Shipping in the heat?!

Gmoney

Gmoney

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I'm contemplating selling a few of my somewhat unused "stable" (I know, the HORROR!) and... though I'd like to make some of them available "anywhere" I'm really afraid to ship anything w/the current heat across the US. with just about any random shipment I get these days the items are physically overheated, so I can' imagine shipping one of these precious ukes in the heat.

Any good packing tips to ASSURE that the uke won't be damaged by the heat while/if it travels?
 
Had a package delivered last week. It had been "Out for Delivery" all day and finally delivered at 6:30pm. Internal temp of the package was 96°F. Local high that day was 110°. Can't imagine what it would do to a use. I don't think it did my coffee and favors.
 
Jerryc41 said:
HMS, Mim, Elderly, Guitar Center, and Ukulele Friend are all shipping instruments every day, and they all seem to arrive safely.
Click to expand...

'm not either of those! They do it every day, so likely have a pretty good system in place. And, they might even have backup stock to send in case of an issue. Not sure you know that "... they ALL arrive safely." either, but...

I've purchased ukes from Hawaii in the past that came shipped in insulation lined boxes inside boxes. Neither I nor a potential buyer may want to risk damage that could be remedied by a local sale which I'm still inclined to pursue.

Mahalo!
 
Don't know first hand, but my niece recently bought a new violin, solid wood of some kind. Pretty high dollar outfit. I went over to look at it and was reading the literature that came with it and in the part that was titled something like important warnings and violin care, at the very top, number one, it said not to let the violin sit in a warm vehicle or out in the hot sun. It warned that heat was the worst enemy of a solid wood violin. Nowhere did it even mention humidity. So the conclusion that I jumped to was that the manufacturer thought that worrying about heat was much more important than worrying about humidity.
 
No expert here, but when traveling with my wife's violins in the car we never leave them in the car in the heat or cold. Sure once in a while it's been a pain to carry around the case, but better than a damaged instrument. I recently traveled 900 plus miles one way and back with one my ukes, as per my brothers suggestion, I loosened the strings to relieve tension. Let it in the car twice while we ate lunch. Don't know if it helped any but it's easier to re tune and play than have to deal with damage. The retail dealers do this every day as stated. Call one of them and ask their advice. One of my uke arrived in June the other two in the spring......don't recall any big issues......pack accordingly, insure,,,,,,and really if you can wait for better temps.....do so....
 
You think think this is a pain? Try shipping something between hemispheres!
 
I recently had an incident with a high-end tenor that was shipped to me from CA to WI. It went FedEx Ground for 5 days and then spent a weekend in a FedEx business center because I was out of town. The tenor was damaged when I opened the package. The adhesive holding the soundboard together had bubbled and expanded. The luthier who made the instrument said it looked exactly like one of his that had been left in a hot car.

That being said, I then had another high-end tenor sent via UPS ground for 5 days that then spent the weekend in the un-airconditioned USP warehouse, locked in a shipping container over the weekend. The box was very warm when I picked it up. The hard case was room temperature when I unboxed it the next day. I opened the case the next day. The uke was prefect.

If you can send it 2-day shipping in a hard case it should be fine. The hard case should act as an insulated container and keep your uke from most extreme swings in temperature. However, it will go from the cargo hold of an aircraft, where the temp can get down to around 0° F. (Some are heated, others are not heated properly.) To then sit in a semi-truck's trailer and then a delivery truck.

The first example was my first experience of damage from heat.
 
Hi Gmoney,
I tried to send you a PM, but your message box appears to be full. Let me know when you have cleared some space and I will resend my message.
Thanks!
Jan D.
 
You kind of have to think about all of the extremes your ukulele goes through before it even gets to the retailer. I'm sure that the sweat shops in Asia where they are made are not maintained at an ideal temperature and humidity. Then they get shoved in an airplane hold or more likely a cargo container that sits on the deck of a ship as it makes its way across the pacific. Then it sets in a storage facility, maybe a warehouse. I used to live across the bay from a huge port, and those metal containers sit out in the tropical sun for weeks. Then it makes its way to the retailer by train, by semi, or again in the hold of a cargo plane. Finally it arrives at the retailer and sets for a while, who knows what the conditions are. I'm sure the retailer is the first place anyone gives it some thought, even if they do at all.. It is a wonder that any of them arrive alive and well. It gets sold. Then in the four or five days it travels from the retailer to the buyer, it somehow self destructs. I mean, I'm just thinking about it.
 
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Gmoney said:
I'm contemplating selling a few of my somewhat unused "stable" (I know, the HORROR!) and... though I'd like to make some of them available "anywhere" I'm really afraid to ship anything w/the current heat across the US. with just about any random shipment I get these days the items are physically overheated, so I can' imagine shipping one of these precious ukes in the heat.

Any good packing tips to ASSURE that the uke won't be damaged by the heat while/if it travels?
Click to expand...

Foam - if you can find some leftovers from other shipments, put around on all sides, as thick as you can.
"Polystyrene and plastic foam are both used as insulators as they have small air bubbles trapped inside them. This makes them very good insulators because heat energy can't flow through them. The same idea is used to keep the inside of buildings warm."
"A Styrofoam cooler does a good job of keeping things cold because the material is a poor conductor of heat. ... Styrofoam has good insulating properties because it has millions of tiny air bubbles that slow the progress of heat through the material."
 
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A little off topic but with all the talk of heat and humidity I thought about a parlor guitar I just bought that was built in 1896. It came from Ohio and existed back in the day of no air conditioning and poor heating. There is not one crack on this guitar. The top is spruce and the back and sides are rosewood. Just amazing it made it all this time without damage. I also have my grandfather's violin which was kept in an Iowa attic - I know because in the middle of the summer and at Christmas we would go to the attic to drag down the toys and would see the violin in its case. It was either stifling hot or freezing. The violin is also without damage.
Were they made and finished differently then? Of course there are many damaged instruments from that time so maybe it was just luck.
 
30svintage said:
A little off topic but with all the talk of heat and humidity I thought about a parlor guitar I just bought that was built in 1896.
Click to expand...

A very good point. How many early Martin ukes were coddled? Many have survived without warping or cracking.
 
mjh42 said:
I recently traveled 900 plus miles one way and back with one my ukes, as per my brothers suggestion, I loosened the strings to relieve tension.
Click to expand...

If you do loosen your strings when you ship, I strongly suggest that you put some paper or a rag under the strings so that if they bounce around, they don't mar your fretboard or the body below the fretboard. Not as important if they are all-nylon strings, but a wound one could do some damage. Also something under the headstock to cushion it is a good idea.
 
I have ordered a few lately with the same concern. I shipped overnight with morning delivery. I think UPS morning is by 8:30am and fedex by 10:30am. More expensive but limits time in heat.
 
Wdh777 said:
I have ordered a few lately with the same concern. I shipped overnight with morning delivery. I think UPS morning is by 8:30am and fedex by 10:30am. More expensive but limits time in heat.
Click to expand...

That's what I've done if it was an expensive ukulele, and I had concerns about the weather, (too hot or too cold.) Yes, it's more expensive, but well worth it to me for an expensive ukulele in questionable weather.
 
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