Changes in shipping engines

I was doing some research tonight for a meeting with a client on Tuesday. Came across some revisions in the NMFC regarding shipping engines with LTL trucking companies, thought I would pass them along.

In a nutshell, you are now able to recover more for a lost or damaged USED engine than you could have in the past. Your rebuilt engine can now be shipped for it's full value with 3 pricing tiers based on actual or declared value.

Some details:

In the past used engines have had an agreed upon release value of 10 cents/lb and shipped as class 70 or 85 depending on packaging configuration.

New engines had a maximum value of $25/lb.

There was some subjective verbiage regarding rebuilt versus reconditioned.


The latest revisions give those shipping engines a few choices:

1: used engines ship under item 127090 and have "core value only" rates are Class 70

2: rebuilt/reconditioned engines shipped as item 120800-4 have a released value*** not exceeding $5/LB. Rates are based on Class 85

3: rebuilt/reconditioned engines shipped as item 1208004-7 have a released value not exceeding $10/LB. Rated as Class 100

4: rebuilt/reconditioned engines are shipped as item 1208004-8 when a release value is not stated. They will be rated as Class 150.

*** A release value is a value that the shipper states on the bill of lading. This value limits the carriers liability in the event of loss or damage. The following must be stated on the bill of lading or engines will be rated as Class 150:.

"The agreed or declared value of the property is hereby specifically stated by the shipper to be not exceeding _______ per pound for each article."

Good stuff, Daryl!

I wonder if this could be helpful for those of us buying used motorcycle engines on ebay. Maybe we can request a specific class/rate/item so a seller will not try to ship it in a cardboard box. :-)

Russ,

Probably extremely boring thread to 99+% of the members, however it may prove valuable to a few so I thought I'd pass it along.

The NMFC item numbers I referenced apply to all internal combustion engines.

As far as ebay sellers improperly packaging stuff....my suggestion would be an agreement that ownership of the motor doesn't transfer to the buyer until the buyer receives it (f.o.b. DESTINATION). If it shows up "damaged", refuse it, and it is between the trucking company and the seller.

This entices the shipper to make certain that the packaging job is overkill. Otherwise they stretchwrap it to a pallet or toss it in a box and send it on its' way.

It also helps when a damage claim is later declined because the engine wasn't sufficiently packaged. That wasn't within the buyers control, so why should the buyer be held holding the pile of junk?

Regarding ebay engines and being protected against receiving junk, I feel fairly confident in the process. Perhaps over confident.

When I buy a used engine on ebay I pay via PayPal. If there is an issue when the engine arrives, I always have the option to open a PayPal dispute. It's my understanding that PayPal retracts the payment from the seller until the dispute is settled, and that judgements are typically in favor of the buyer (assuming the dispute is valid).

I recieved an ebay engine recently and it had lousy leak down numbers. I worked with the seller and he gave a fair, partial refund, so we avoided the dispute process.

PS. What prompted my comment above was a recent thread in another forum. Someone shipped an engine in nothing BUT a carboard box! Needless to say, it did not arrive in good shape.