For palletized freight, I've used FreightQuote (a broker) a few times to ship larger
computer purchases. Since I live on a rough, unpaved rural road, I specified that I'd
pick up from the local terminal of whatever shipper I selected (based on price). I live
fairly close to Ontario, CA, which is a major shipping hub, so I get lots of competitive
quotes instead of being stuck with one trucking company with a local terminal. Very
roughly, I've generally spent around $300 to move a pallet across the country.
I haven't tried any "white glove" or "padded van" shippers yet. I
learned of their existence back when I was contemplating getting a VAX-11/780. I ended up
getting a nice, fits-on-two-pallets 11/730 system instead. :)
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/