Here is a post from another thread a while back, from Mark Michaelson, a catamaran dealer and parts supplier out in California:
We ship about one mast per week and it is our policy to use CIF freight (Yes
I know, somewhat redundant phrase). This simply means that the freight is
insured to $10 per pound with most carriers. This is pretty standard and I would surprised if
the shipping company you are filing with didn't include that insurance on all
packages.
For those of you thinking about shipping masts:
#1: The mast should be wrapped end to end in tube plastic at a bare minimum.
It's our experience that if you don't do this the mast gets brutally
scratched in transit. Some folks like to go with a square corrugated box in
addition to this ($50.00) or a HD shipping tube ($95) but we have also found
that over packaging them gives the freight companies license to thrash the
package. (At least in their minds)
#2 The mast should say in BIG YELLOW OR RED letters: "TOP LOAD ONLY" all over
it. This ensures they don't stack (at least in theory) stuff on top of the
mast.
#3 Pay by credit card on all purchases. This leaves you at least some
recourse to recover your funds if the mast doesn't arrive and meet the
description the vendor gave you when you ordered it.
It doesn't happen often but when we do have a claim on a mast we either:
A) prevail on insurance or
B) Find a way to work with the freight company to get another mast to the
customer at NO EXTRA charge. Yes, we do lose money sometimes. That's
business.
There's my $1.02 worth....
MM
www.sailingproshop.com Mark Michaelsen
www.sailingproshop.com (800) 354-7245
