Re: Weights of items on GL

[FloridaAKM]

Re: Weights of items on GL

Funny thing (not really) happened on the way to work today. I went by the GL office (60 miles one way) to pick up 6 items that were listed @ 150# each, so a small single axle (50" x 96") trailer is what I took for the load out. When the items were being loaded, the gross weight of each item was stamped as 518#. Needless to say, I have to go back Friday to get the remainder of the load. My truck did the work, but it was a situation that I do not want to repeat. Do any of you guys have experience with GL's weight guessing?

The scale guys who do the scale certs & testing there, are the same guys that do my companies scales......so I know the condition of their scales. The crates are marked, so guessing is out of the question?????????????????

 

[Al Harvey]

I do believe it is all location dependent if they actually weigh it or just guess.

 

[tommys2patrick]

I have had similar experiences with bad weight estimates on GL. With a little research you might be able to find an items true weight. I have done similarly and called the GL rep with my research info. They were very open to my info and adjusted the weight for shipping purposes. This helped considerable to cut down shipping costs as the shippers go by the GL estimate of weight. Some times they can be off by a factor of ten or more. They always say that they will adjust your shipping cost by actual weight. However, I find that it is not often that individual items are actually weighed on a scale. Larger and heavier items get closer attention but not always.

 

[rhurey]

The scrap loads I've bought have been dead on.

And the scrap scale got my weight right when I stepped off it to sign paperwork.

It's hit and miss for the other stuff. I've had some be off 2% and one off about 400 lbs, of 1K lbs.

The scale I know about at JBLM is a block away. Maybe location is a factor?

 

[m16ty]

From my experience, at the sites I've been to, they actually weight pallets of stuff. On the larger stuff they often just go by what the data plate says.

 

[paradeduty]

Picked up some parts kits from GL the other day. Description had them at 150 lb each. They ended up tipping the scales at 1050 lb each. OOPS!

 

[gringeltaube]

I do believe it is all location dependent if they actually weigh it or just guess.

And usually when they guess it's more then the real weight, not less!


G.

 

[Castle Bravo]

One time I purchased 4 air conditioners from GL that were sold to me as in 4 cardboard boxes on a pallet. It turns out they were in 4 separate wooden crates. I had a 3rd party go pick them up and it was not an issue as they had room and the weight didn't matter, but if it had been a LTL carrier, it would've been a problem...

 

[tie6044]

I think "150 lbs" is their standard guess for many things. I bought some items all on one pallet last month that was listed at 150 lbs, I got a quote from a logistics company that they based off of that guess and quoted me as such. A week after I received it they tried to charge me $120 more because the actual weight was 485 lbs! They all have their fine print which basically states "we are not sure so this is just a guess".

 

[Warthog]

While not dealing with weight I have a funny GL pickup story.

Years ago I won some window glass from the local GL yard. Called to make arrangements for pickup and asked how many pallets. The girls said 6. So I took a box van I had at the time.

Showed up and the loader asked where are the other trucks? ?????

Seems that there where 70 oversized pallets. Luckily I had connections with a trucking company. Three 53' semis trailers later all the glass was recovered.

Oh by the way does anyone need a left rear quarter glass for a M1009?

 

[Floridianson]

 

[Al Harvey]

Oh by the way does anyone need a left rear quarter glass for a M1009?

Well if only it'd been pallets of right rear windows.

 

[Piper Cub]

I bought a lot of HMMWV troop seats, MK23 troops seats, and M105 sides out of Barstow that was listed as 1700lbs. I think it was really closer to 10K based on the scrap tickets from where about 75% of them ended up. Luckily the trailer was heavy duty enough that it didn't really matter either way.

 

[98G]

I bought "7,000lbs" of ammo cans that tipped the scale at 17,000lbs.

 

[Interceptor]

I picked up a machine that was listed at 4500#, the actual weight was over 8000#. I couldn't understand why the trailer was handling so poorly on the way home. Figured it out when my forklift wouldn't lift it off the trailer.