A rifle isn't exactly what I'd call a delicate item. To have one broken during shipping seems like poor business practice to me. One shouldn't have to build a friggin' crate to ship a rifle.
I agree. The manufacturers don't build 2x4 crates to send rifles. And even if they have styrofoam end to end they still go out in cardboard boxes. You can't tell me styrofoam has any structural support for the scenario Joe describes "standing on it between two chairs".
Alot of manufacturers just have two or three styrofoam inserts to support the rifle inside a cardboard box. And the rifles arrive fine. How? What's the difference? When was the last time anyone bought a new rifle and when they got the box from the back room it was bent or demolished? I've never seen one, but I don't buy new rifles anymore so maybe it happens. It sure as hell happens with used guns by the boatload, every day. There's a difference in the shipping somehow to explain this, but I don't know what it is.
I think we should be able to have a reasonable expectation that our package, no matter what it is, does not end up under an engine block. That's just ridiculous to think the weight of a package doesn't play into where it goes in the load.
I'm going to go back to the start and say I believe the gorillas have the responsibility to handle packages with reasonable care. If I'm hired to do a job my job is to, DO THAT JOB. And I don't get paid if I don't do it right!!!
Clearly money and time are the #1 priorities to the shippers and collateral damage is secondary. That being said, it is what it is and it isn't going to change, so I guess we adapt or die.
