Masts are very hard things for shipping companies to deal with. If you get less than a container full of stuff, or less than truckload the package (mast) gets moved from shipping company to shipping company, even in the US the less than full truckload companies, (refered to as LTL) are a hub and spoke system, so the mast could get passed through a number of hubs and handled a bunch of times. Its pretty easy to damage a mast and the more times its handled, the higher the probability.

When I needed a mast for my Dart 16, I talked the Vanguard customer service person into putting it into a shipping container they had coming with other stuff. It arrived perfectly.

I've heard so many stories of masts arriving crushed that I would never order one mast and expect it get here undamaged.

The only way to make it arrives safe is to put it in a container and handle it once. Obviously PC isnt doing this and Hobie is.

Which would make sense since Hobie can put more stuff in a container, more frequently.

If your mast comes into a specific port it might be worth going to pick it up from the shipping company.