Are There Any Viable Alternatives to Stewart Transport?

[karlos]

Thread title says it all. I'm a couple thousand miles from Factory Five so I'd consider this to be outside the realm of a do-it-yourself project. I'll restrain myself from busting on Stewart but my kit's been done since 06/20, it's still languishing at FFR after two consecutive delays, I can't get so much as an estimated ship date, and it's very, very clear that Stewart needs some competition.

Anybody utilize a long distance shipper other than Stewart?

Thanks.

[Arvin]

You'll probably be waiting up to a month to get it.

[BobCarter]

Really?!
This is not good, my order will be ready soon. I dont like the way this sounds.
What in your opinion is the cause for the delays? What is FFR's response (I assume you have made them aware of this)?

[karlos]

You'll probably be waiting up to a month to get it.

Already been more than two weeks. Based on what I was told today I doubt I'll see it sooner than another two or three.


Really?!
This is not good, my order will be ready soon. I dont like the way this sounds.
What in your opinion is the cause for the delays? What is FFR's response (I assume you have made them aware of this)?

IMO, the delay is caused by being the only game in town. But I know of no other alternatives.
No, I haven't informed FFR. I'm sure they're aware as my kit's sitting there taking up space :(

[karlos]

I'm down to my last small goldmine, as I already paid Stewart the other one :p

You are of course correct - a week or two one way or the other is no big deal. I'm not hung up on any specific date; however, communication has been poor and there's no way to plan stuff like time off from work when I don't know what's going on.

In any event, I recognize that *****ing about it will accomplish nothing. If I can switch to a more motivated shipper I'll go ahead and do it; otherwise I'll grit my teeth and wait it out. Still looking for suggested alternatives. Anyone?

[Jazzman]

Sorry for your frustrations. Here is a friendly list of things to do to help you pass the time:
1. Wash and wax the garage floor - with a toothbrush.
2. Polish and wax all your box wrenches.
3. Count, sort, and catalog your supply of rivets, nuts, bolts, and other fasteners by size, quality, and patina.
4. Change the oil in your post lift.
5. Adjust the sights on your rivet gun.
6. Check the beer fridge for adequate supply, and confirm your beer delivery schedule with your local liquor distributor. (Yes, I know, one more truck-type delivery to worry about, but you don't want to leave anything to chance.)
7. Spend as many hours as you can with your wife/girlfriend. They know they will become a "Cobra widow" as soon as the delivery arrives. Treat them well now while you still have time. They just might be speaking to you when you finish the project two years from now!

In all seriousness, I do hope that your wait is short and not exceptionally painful. Remember when you were still dreaming of placing your order . . . now you have only a few more days before the dream becomes reality. You can do this!

Jazzman

[chopthebass]

I made the mistake of under-sizing my beer fridge!

[Erik W. Treves]

there is a ton of stuff to do before the build if you haven't done it already that can keep you busy... engine and trans assy, clutch, flywheel, front dress... rear end, brakes, get a ton of expendables ready... towels, cleaners.. get tires mounted...I could go on and on...

[68GT500MAN]

There are other options out there, but at a substantial cost. I got a quote through work for a common carrier to pick up the crate and deliver it to California, they quoted me $5350 after the company discounts!
Doug

[6t8dart]

I justs got off the phone with Joline at Stewart. Earlier this morning I spoke with FFR. They are behind, there have been a lot of new orders at FFR, and there are a bunch of kits stacked up at FFR. My kit is up on the third rack, waiting for pickup, it was completed last Friday (Saturday was my original pickup date). Stewart had sent three trucks to FFR to pick up kits, but two of them were involved in accidents, on of them had its top ripped off by a low hanging wire. They expect one to reach FFR today or tomorrow, the other two by the end of the week. They estimated my kit to reach me by end of next week.

I bet yours will be one of the first kits loaded, but depending on where you live, that depends. I work with a trucking company so I know a little about routing, and what you have to realize, the prices Stewart charges are quite good considering they only haul a few kits at a time and make round-robin trips from Phoenix, AZ all the way to MA. They drive across country each and every time they go there. To make it cost effective, they need to plan routes. If they have a delivery in KY, LA, TX, OK, then they load and make the trip in order of distance. They would not stick OR in the middle of that trip between LA and TX. Unfortunately if you are far away, they may have to wait until they get a few deliveries somewhat close to each other. Unfortunately, it means we sometimes have to wait a little longer to get inserted into a route. Me, personally, I am actually still trying to get rid of my donor Mustang from the garage and then I need to clean up the floors the massive fluid hemorrhage that occurred during the death and dismemberment of said pony. I told Stewart that they have my permission if they want to push my delivery back a week or two.

Its true, you can prioritize your kit shipment, but you will pay way more money and a crate charge. Its possible that some small outfit with a race car trailer may be able to pick up an uncrated kit, or you can always fly out, rent a 20ft Uhaul truck, and drive it back. Like the other guys said, just have a little patience, there usually is plenty of prep work you can do before hand.

[Arvin]

Trust me on this.....Jolene will tell you whatever it takes to get you off her back! Just wait it out. Stewart will deliver at THEIR convenience.

[jrcuz]

Most trucking companys other than Stewart will probably require that the kit be crated which would be an added expense also.
JR

[R8er]

This is accurate. Jolene isn't the best source of accurate forthcoming information. I will say this though, the Stewart drivers are top notch and although my delivery was delayed three times, after all I was happy I used them. It just would have been a better experience if Jolene was like "ok, expect delivery at least 3 weeks after your kit is done". Not "we'll give you a call soon after your kit is done".

[BobCarter]

I have realized that the best years of my life may have been in the 60's. 1960's that is.

[PaulW]

I just have to chime in and say that I was extremely pleased with Stewart. I spoke to Jolene a number of times and her information was always accurate and she was very friendly. My kit was ready at FFR on June 6th and Stewart picked it up on the 16th. It was at my house on the 19th. I got calls when it left FFR and another on the day of arrival. More than happy and the new FFR wrap on the trailer was an added bonus. Oh yes, the price was almost cheap when you consider I live in Northern Indiana.

[skullandbones]

karlos,

The relationship between Stewart and FFR is kind of like the one between a cruise line and the land tours that you take when you are at port. If you deal with a non approved cruise line vendor then you take the risk of "missing the boat" if the vendor doesn't get back to the ship in time. If you pay for a land tour that is sponsored by the cruise line, you are guaranteed not to be left behind. I believe I would trust the Stewart/FFR relationship even though it may not be guaranteed more than dealing with another truck line and adding additional variables into the equation. It's been since 2007 when I used Stewart but if I order another FFR, it will be with them again. I can't imagine having a project shipped without a crate with another truck line and getting it to it's destination without incident. Yet Stewart does it all the time. It's not by accident (history and product knowledge).

Good luck,

WEK.

[RRussellTx]

It sounds like the biggest issues are communication and expectations. My 20th Edition MK4 is slated for a Aug 22 completion. About how much of a lead time will I get when Stewart can confirm a date? Do they call you the day of, a couple of day before or a week out? I'll need to schedule time off to be here for the delivery so I'm just wondering how much notice I should be able to give.

I'm in no particular rush as I have plenty of prep to do but I would appreciate a few days heads up so I can coordinate things at work.

[Barrel]

This is a pic of my FFR kit being delivered to our home on Christmas eve 2011. FFR had it ready for shipping around 15th August . It took so long to get here that all my back order parts arrived months before the kit! Hope this helps you feel a little better about your wait.

[bil1024]

Stewart just picked up a kit for me in Oregon, expected delivery on Sunday. 4 days ahead of schedule

[karlos]

Thanks for all the replies, advice, support. Here's what I think I've learned: there is no reasonable alternative, planning won't really be possible until the kit is loaded and on its way, it'll be here when it gets here.

[billjr212]

Thanks for all the replies, advice, support. Here's what I think I've learned: there is no reasonable alternative, planning won't really be possible until the kit is loaded and on its way, it'll be here when it gets here.

That's a pretty fair summary. When I thought I had a reasonably solid pickup date from Stewart, I gave my boss a heads up that I would be out a half day sometime the following week. Then when I got the call that it had been picked up from FFR, I was able to trim it down to sometime during a 2 day window later that week...and then I ended up rushing home in the middle of the day one day because the driver arrived early. Just be ready for being a bit in the dark and don't stress too much.

As others have said, the drivers (I've had 2 different drivers for my 2 cars) are great people, very friendly and very skilled. Take the good with the bad, and just know that you'll be building soon enough and all that stress of the pre-delivery phase will quickly be forgotten.

[6t8dart]

This is a pic of my FFR kit being delivered to our home on Christmas eve 2011. FFR had it ready for shipping around 15th August . It took so long to get here that all my back order parts arrived months before the kit! Hope this helps you feel a little better about your wait.
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q498/NeilHussey/HotRodLands001.jpg (http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/NeilHussey/media/HotRodLands001.jpg.html)

Barrel...thats a beautiful GT40! Too bad my big ol *** would never fit in one...

[bobl]

Looks like I just jumped on the Stewart bandwagon. I was going to pick up my roadster myself, but just discovered my truck is overheating when towing the trailer. So it's not worth the risk of a 4000 miles trip. I called Stewart and scheduled shipping. We'll be driving up there anyway as a vacation and to see the factory. Our kit will be ready to ship 7/25, so we plan on being there on that date. Hopefully get to visit our car. LOL. Knowing my luck, Stewart will be really fast and get here with the car before I get home from the trip.(not likely from reading on here).

Bob

[R Thomas]

When the announcement was made that Factory Five was starting to handle trailers, someone made the comment that a logical result might be putting kits into trailers for pickup and that just might work. I like the idea myself I'm a very long days drive away from them. But if I lived in Arizona minimally your talking 6 or 7 days of driving, loosing a weeks worth of pay, gas for the tow vehicle, food for you and the buddy you suckered into the drive and hotels unless you go the zombie route. Figure that against the Stewart delivery price and they have to look pretty darn good. And that's about before you figure the custom trailer setup to deliver the kits. I can understand the frustration of having to wait, but I think if there were a better alternative to Stewart they would already be doing the runs. This car is a hobby thing and with all the hobbies I've ever been in the support costs outweigh the hobby cost by tons. Every form of racing I ever saw or did the Truck to get me there cost more than what I spent on the race.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

I think Stewart's has the numbers worked out very well in their favor even though they are more expensive than DIY. Trailer rental, gas & lodging from NC & return would have been a very close saving in doing the pickup myself.