Ship an Organ in a POD?

[searchinferu]

I was wondering if someone has used a POD to ship an organ. It would seem that this would be a convenient way to ship an organ and possibly a bit cheaper than having a moving company come out and package everything up.

Are they completely weather tight? Are the doors wide and tall enough? Is they any means to secure items inside...places where to secure straps and so on? Is there more than one service offering these?

Just fill in the blanks. Fill free to color outside the circle as well.




Regards,


Bill

[SBurton]

In the US there are several companies offering these. UHaul, ABF (trucking), PODS, and PackRat are a few.

I haven't seen the inside of any of these, but I did find a video of a PODS 'brand' unit. Precious little to actually secure the contents...just a few eyebolts that I really wouldn't trust for much. I imagine any of these must be weathertite, or they couldn't stay in business. I think I'd secure a plastic tarp over whatever I was shipping just the same.

A couple of years ago my wife and I toyed with the idea of using one of these to ship her inherited household goods (mostly furniture) from PA to AZ. The cost was nearly a wash between the ABF Pack 'n' Ship and renting a UHaul truck/van and driving it ourselves. We decided to make a vacation out of it and went the UHaul route, taking two weeks to make the trip...good times!

If the UHaul version looks anything like the inside of their trucks, there will be plenty of tie-downs.... UPDATE! I just looked at a UHaul video of a U-Pack container, and it's just a wooden box inside...NO tie-downs of any description.

[SubBase]

Type of organ?
In my trailer, I have bolted heavy d-rings to the floor, and since the organs I move a fairly stable and not seriously top-heavy, I just secure them by screwing padded wood blocks into the floor around the base (so it can't shift/slide) and one tie-down strap across from fore to aft (of the trailer; organ is cross-ways) with the requisite moving blankets and taking precautions so things do not rub the finish off when the music desk is down and lid locked closed; use blue tape where wood rubs on wood or across the key edges if the music desk sits on it.) I have moved up to 4 at a time in the trailer and haven't lost one yet.
I think PODs have plywood floors and wood studs on the walls, so my system would work in a POD. But one home-sized organ would be pretty lonely by itself in one of them.
Casey

[SBurton]

In my trailer...

This is where we run into trouble.

Are the container owners going to be OK with someone drilling, bolting, screwing and nailing into their container?

[SubBase]

This is where we run into trouble.

Are the container owners going to be OK with someone drilling, bolting, screwing and nailing into their container?

We rented a pod for a tool/materials storage locker for a house we were remodeling, and screwed in all sorts of shelves and fitings, unscrewed them when we gave it back and never heard "boo" from the pod-people, so YMMV.
Casey

[Bach-On]

I wonder what the insurance terms would be? Those details would probably matter.

And how do they get the POD from the ground to the truck and back down at the destination? Is it one of those tilt truck bodies like some car wrecker services use? If so, probably not so good for an organ.

We used a piano-organ mover for a long-distance move on our Allen R-230. Seems like it cost $800 from Piqua, Ohio to Wilson, North Carolina. And they were fully insured. Not a scratch or a problem. We were very pleased.

Bach On

[SBurton]

The POD truck has a very special delivery rig that keep the POD horizontal at all times, so no problem there.