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The best reason to use Partains!

R

rv9aviator

Well Known Member
This is how my finish kit arrived on ABF Freight. The box was clearly marked with arrows and verbage as to how it was supposed to be positioned. This truck was mostly empty with only what you see inside. I took the picture as soon as the door went up at my local terminal before anything was removed. There was absolutely no reason to turn the box up on it's end. I had the terminal manager note the receiver that there could be internal damage and accepted the box. On inspection I found the clear plastic membrane covering the canopy was ripped by the fiberglass cowl in two or three places. I just knew the canopy would be scratched. When I peeled the plastic back around the tears I was amazed to find the cowl had not touched the canopy, just the clear plastic membrane. I really dodged a bullet on that one. I talked to Tony Partain about delivering the finish kit when it was ready to ship and was waiting on Van's to call or Email me telling me the kit was ready to ship. I was then going to call Tony and see if he had a truck coming this direction anytime soon. I guess because I paid for the finish kit in full when I ordered it they felt there was no need to contact me before shipping. I initially marked on the order form to ship by ABF so Vans called ABF and headed it my way. This was my mistake for not calling Vans and advising them I might be using Tony Partain instead of ABF. BTW, Kudos to Vans for shipping two weeks sooner than promised. It never ceases to amaze me how some companies can show so little regard for customer service.
finishkitnp7.jpg


Is this not plain enough?

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ABF damaged both shipments I used them for, will never use them again. Used Tony for the finish kit and all was well as expected.

On my fuse kit, I walked into the terminal warehouse and saw my fuse kit standing on end like that. Before I could screem "STOP" the towmotor driver walked over and pushed it over and let it free fall (upside down as well) to the ground. That just about costed me a trip to the local jail.

ABF is like playing Russian Roulette :mad:
 
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Another dodged ABF bullet

When my wing kit crate arrived it had two big holes in the side apparently caused by a over eager fork truck operator. The truck driver might have known something he wasn't telling because he insisted I open up the crate right there at the delivery site in the middle of a parking lot where I work.
Unbelievably there was no damage other than some dirt smudges on the wrapped parts bundles. The forks went in about two inches over the aluminum sheets. The warnings painted on my grates looked more like graffiti than shipping instructions. I'm surprised Van doesn't use a little more official warning notices considering the value of the shipments.
 
No problems with ABF

I am within a couple of months of the first flight for RV-7A #70362. All kits were shipped to Evansville Indiana by ABF and I had absolutely no shipping problems. I did pick everything up at the freight terminal rather than have it delivered to my house or hangar.

I have seen other posts about ABF but my experiences (and my hangar mate, RV-7) have been without problem.
 
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whew, i dont want to jump on a band wagon but ABF caused my left spar, longerons and several other parts to be damaged or lost.boxes stacked as shown above and man do they get testy when you take pics and make them sign the bill for possible damaged or missing parts due to the busted open box with foot prints and fork holes in it.:eek: i never got anything from abf that didnt show signs of abuse, even the replacement parts. still their record is less than 3% for damaged or missing goods.:confused: mine cost them 15-1700$. got a little news flash for ya, they will only pay so many pennys per pound for a damaged shipment. i wonder what i would have done if both spars were damaged.:confused:
the second spar i picked up at the terminal, it was broken into with a fork hole as well. no damage though.
 
This was my third shipment with ABF. The empennage arrived fine. The second was the fuselage kit and the longerons were in a piece of PVC pipe with the ends capped. It was bent like a pretzel and had to be replaced. I bought my wings second hand and did not get the longerons with them. I picked up all three shipments at the terminal and the people were very accommodating and eager to help in any way they could. To be honest none of the problems were the fault of our local terminal. Everything that was mishandled or damaged came to them that way. It's too bad all of ABF's terminals aren't as good at their job as the Harrison, Arkansas terminal.
 
This seems common, my shipment arrived from ABF same way as yours, put on the truck with no regard for the markings on the crate. Why does Vans keep using them???
 
I used ABF for shipment to Jackson, TN. I picked up at terminal with no problems.
 
To be fair, Vans give's you your choice of I think three truck lines and you can specify your own if you want. They use ABF because their rates are very competitive. They are just trying to save the buyer a little money and I'm not sure the others are any better except for Tony Partain.
 
Since I can't get anyone from Partain to answer emails - do they only ship QB kits, or will Partain ship my Slow-Build fuselage kit for me? Are the prices comparable to those of ABF/Yellow/Etc?
 
I received my fuselage, finishing kits and a third crate with a canopy for a neighbor via ABF and picked them up at the ABF terminal in Atlanta. I was amazed when I found no damage or blemishes. The personel that took the payment were easy to deal with and the fork lift driver helped anyway he could to assist us. I was extremely pleased with their service.

Ross Scroggs
Locust Grove, GA
RV-4 #3911 Fuselage finally!
770-305-9904
 
ABF

I have used ABF for both the fuselage and the wings. The wing boxes had very little to no damage on the outside, (typical scuff marks) and delivered to the house. I picked up the fuselage box at the Belmont, NC location, (saved $65). The box had a forktruck hole in the side and the price was higher than I was originally quoted. I complained about the hole and the price - "Sorry" was the response. The hole in the side of the box wasn't large enough for the fork to have penetrated more than an inch (based on the width of the hole) so I took a chance and received the box as is.

No damage to any of the parts and I received a check in the mail from ABF refunding me the difference I was charged. I have mixed feelings about ABF and I will look for alternate methods of shipping for the finishing and FWF kits.
 
ABF and Partains

If you are not getting your emails thru to Partains then something is a bit amiss. I've emailed Tony a lot over the last 4 months and usually get an answer in half a day and some times even in minutes. I've used ABF for other things and they did well but used Partains for my -10.
They really take care of your stuff. Not to mention that they are a bit cheaper than the regular freight companies. AND they help you unload!!
The neighbors were a bit nonplussed with the 48 foot trailer parked in front of several homes. It got their attention and they came over to help unload!
 
I used ABF for my wings, and had no problems... They even wrapped the crates in plastic because it was raining outside. Are Partain's rates around the same as ABF? Or is it more expensive for the personalized service? I'll have to order the SB Fuse someday...

-Daniel
 
ABF

In the 80s when I had my custom race car trailer manufacturing business, I ordered coil coated aluminum sheet from a supplier tht was custom cut to size/ready to install. ABF damaged the shipment, then sent some guy out to try to get me to "salvage" the sheets by cutting them into some other Non-usable size. It took over four months to colllect from them!

I used to put "Anybody but ABF" under preferred shipper on purchasing orders.

"ABF" is an acronym for "Arkansas Best Freight." I can't believe they're still in business. On the James Aircraft website it says they ship their cowls on
ABF. That scared me off.


Larry Tompkins
 
Thanks Tony

I called Tony yesterday... he savd me a little on my finish kit shipped to MS.

PAUL
 
Are Partain's rates around the same as ABF? Or is it more expensive for the personalized service?
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On Quickbuilds and finish kits we are less expensive than shipping crated. RV 7,8,9 I can save you about $250 over shipping crated and RV10 is a $500 savings.

One other thing is that fuel prices have come down significantly and the freight rates are following. The rates on quick builds are down several hundred dollars from this summer. So if you?re on the fence and want to beat Van's price increase now may be the time to buy.
 
Tony Partain said:
On Quickbuilds and finish kits we are less expensive than shipping crated. RV 7,8,9 I can save you about $250 over shipping crated and RV10 is a $500 savings.

One other thing is that fuel prices have come down significantly and the freight rates are following. The rates on quick builds are down several hundred dollars from this summer. So if you?re on the fence and want to beat Van's price increase now may be the time to buy.
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What about non-QB fuse kits? Is there any savings realized when using you for that?
 
You hit the Partain problem on the head. I used them to ship my Lancair kit back in January. I did arrive in fine shape without any special crating, right to the hangar door and the driver willingly helped us unload it.

Tony, however, was virtually impossible to contact by phone or e-mail, did not have any handle on his schedule (I believe he uses all sub contract drivers), and could not give a date or date range for delivery. My kit arrived almost 6 weeks after the first "promised" date for all kinds of reasons. His lack of scheduling required me to scramble to change my business schedule to accomodate him once it finally rolled.

Caring, cost effective, lousy to non existent communication, not timely. May be the lesser of 2 evils, though.

I think he has a great niche business that could be run a lot better. Maybe an opportunity?????????????

Gordon

ES N144GP
 
Counterpoint

Gordon, I have found Partain's trucks to be on time, and I can usually get him on the phone, if not, he has always called back.

Sorry 'bout your experience, but mine have been good.
 
Tony is a builder , his equipment is setup for transporting aircraft, his drivers are skilled in handling aircraft parts . My QB wings and fuse were delivered to my house and into the shop . The finish kit was delivered to me on a Sunday after church in the church parking lot. You won't get that service from any LTL carrier. Tony saved me money and I had 0 damage . To be honest I would use his service even if his cost were more.
 
did not have any handle on his schedule
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You can't keep everyone happy all of the time.

Gordon's kit was delivered in good condition and later than he wanted and the reasons were the weather, the holidays and we were swamped beyond belief. The last three years Vans price increase has caused us to be very busy during that time.

That time of year it's very hard to keep schedules. The Northwest had record snowfall and we paid the price for it. We deliver them as soon as we can safely do so, I will not risk a drivers life by sending him into a bad storm. It’s no different than flying a SEL plane into icing conditions. It's not going to happen here. I’ll take a customer complaint over wrecked truck any day.

Don't get me wrong Gordon I wish we could have delivered your plane sooner. The last thing I want to do is explain why customer is not happy.

On the flip side I get emails every week of builders that are very happy with our service. That is the reason that we keep doing this everyday. I've said it before and I'll say it again RV builders are a different breed, just take a look at what they did for Doug Reeves. And take a look at what Doug has done for us. Enough said.
 
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DaX said:
What about non-QB fuse kits? Is there any savings realized when using you for that?
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Has NOBODY had Partain ship a slow-build fuselage kit? I swear, NOBODY is answering my question! :confused:
 
Tony is cheaper almost all the time from what I can see. Not sure he ships SB fuse only kits but give him a call and see for sure.

DaX said:
Has NOBODY had Partain ship a slow-build fuselage kit? I swear, NOBODY is answering my question! :confused:
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Dax
We have shipped a few standard build kits. Our business model hasn't allowed for us to ship them efficiently. If you have a finish kit to go with the rest of a standard build kit we can help you out. Otherwise it's cheaper to use one of the freight companies.
 
Thanks for the response guys - just what I needed to know. I doubt I'll be able to buy the finish kit at the same time I buy the fuse.
 
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