Craters & Freighters

There are not many options out there if you need to ship something large, bulky, fragile, unpackaged, etc. Your basic options:
1. Household movers: They don’t want to deal with small shipments — typically $ 5k minimum.
2. Traditional freight: Goods must be packaged/​palletized and long wait times to drop off private shipments.
3. UPS/​FedEx freight: Goods must be packaged/​palletized and service is hugely expensive.
4. Traditional pack & ship stores: Typically don’t want to touch anything over 75 lbs.
5. UShip: Buyer beware. Quality of service varies greatly person-​to-​person.
Craters and Freighters slots neatly into the gap where you have something valuable to ship that’s too difficult to package safely yourself. Examples: electronics, lab equipment, furniture, etc. C&F will pickup the shipment at your door, take it to their warehouse, build a custom crate for it, and arrange for it to be freighted to its destination.
C&F is a chain but the locations appear to be independently operated and quality can vary quite a bit depending on local management. The Boston location (in Randolph, MA) is under new ownership as of 2013 – 2014. Previous management was a disaster and they were on the verge of losing my business.
Fortunately, there is good news – the new crew is great! Shipments are going out as predicted, the guys doing pickups arrive when they promise, and so far all my shipments have arrived safely.
There’s still a bit of room for improvement — a couple of recommendations for the team:
1. The estimating process is cumbersome and it can take 24 – 48 hours. There should be some quicker options to get a ballpark (say +/​-​20%) estimate within minutes.
2. The service is still pricey, but as stated above, there are not a lot of good alternatives.

Jenna and her team were wonderful. My item was very heavy, fragile with complicated movements and parts. They handled it like true professionals.

I used Craters and Freighters for a cross-​country shipment Boston to Seattle. I worked with Jenna and she was so helpful and accommodating. Not only did Craters and Freighters give me the best quote of any company I considered, but they had the best service. They were timely, came on a weekend morning to work with my schedule, and gave me a discount even when the weight of my shipment was higher than I estimated. The guys who came to pick up my stuff were very efficient and did in 20 minutes what would have taken me two hours. When my shipment arrived, it was carefully wrapped and packed, which I did not expect and was a pleasant surprise. I would absolutely use their services again next time I move!