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Archive for August, 2013

Comments Off on Blocking and Enclosing an Area – The Frugal Guide

Blocking and Enclosing an Area – The Frugal Guide

Friday, August 30, 2013 By: admin

donotenterYou are in charge of finding the most economical way to enclose or completely block off a given area.  How do you approach this?  Well, first order of business is finding out the distance that needs to be covered as well as how durable the products need to be.

Figuring out the distance that needs to be covered is just a matter of going out to the area with a tape measure.  But knowing how durable the products need to be means you need to know what you are blocking the public from.  Is it a giant hole in the sidewalk?  You are going to want to use Jersey Barriers or barricades that are hard to move, to prevent a car or person from falling in.  How about electric wires dangling near a sidewalk?  I would again recommend hard to move barricades, as well as a sign warning of the wires.

It really comes down to the level of danger.  If it’s just a bump in the sidewalk or a pothole you can use delineators with caution tape looped through them.  These can be called ‘Ringtop’ or ‘Looper’ Tubes and allow caution tape to be inserted through the loops or rings on top.

dangerFor the high danger areas traffic barriers filled with water or sand (to make them hard to move) linked together with high intensity barricade lights blinking on top will give adequate enclosure.

For medium danger blocking, try parade barricades back to back closing off the whole area.  Mounting a barricade light on top will help the barricades be seen at night.

And really as mentioned above for the low danger areas all you need is a delineator with a hole on top so caution tape or rope can be looped through.  The weight of the base is going to add on to your shipping cost so go as light as possible.  10lbs will usually do the trick unless you are in a high wind area.  Also there is most likely no need for reflective tape on the delineators unless this is being used on a road.

553Now some tips to get your costs down – choose the lowest weight (when empty) traffic barrier because when it’s filled with water even the lightest barrier will be almost impossible to move from an impact.

With the parade barricades you don’t need sheeting on both sides as each barricade will serve the purpose of just warning those on the outside of the enclosure – not the inside.

 

 

Comments Off on The Most Bang For Your Buck – Traffic Safety Products

The Most Bang For Your Buck – Traffic Safety Products

Wednesday, August 28, 2013 By: admin

frugal-moneyWhen it comes to traffic safety, most are looking for a high quality product with a great price.  In fact price is very important, some would even say ‘price is king’ in this industry.  In this post I will give you some tips on how/where to find the best price for a quality traffic safety product.

The first step is to find a brand or manufacturer that makes a product to the standards you expect.  This way you don’t end up with a product that only lasts a few months, then you have to replace it costing you more money in the long run.

Once you find that brand you are satisfied with it’s time to do some searches online.  The internet is really a buyer’s market – meaning it’s a great place to buy but not necessarily sell since competition is high.  If you are looking for traffic cones, traffic signs or any product that is considered one of the more popular traffic safety items, check out Amazon and eBay first.  This is especially true if you only need a few units.

amazonNow compare the prices to companies you find by ‘Googling’ the product name.  It’s important to note that most companies will not give you a shipping quote up front because they are custom quotes, so don’t be afraid to call up and ask for a full quote including tax, shipping etc.  If your product can’t be found on Amazon or eBay (read: airport barricades) get 4 or 5 different quotes from the top results you find from simply ‘Googling’.

For example, you want a Guardian brand Jersey Barrier.  Searching ‘guardian jersey barrier’ will give you a bunch of different online retailers.  Contact them for a full quote including shipping, tax and lead time.

It’s important for the larger items such as barricades to get a supplier that is relatively close to you.  If you live in New Jersey shipping 10 jersey barriers from the west coast is going to cost an arm and a leg.  Try to find a supplier that ships their product from the east coast.  This will also help cut down the lead time because shipping across the US can easily take 7 business days.

localNow if you notice shipping is 20% or more of the total price of the products you are buying, it’s time to look locally.  You should be able to find a brick and mortar traffic safety supplier within 45 minutes of you.  Do some local searches by typing in ‘guardian jersey barrier (your city)’ and see what you find.  Lots of times these brick and mortar stores charge an arm and a leg compared to the online retailers, but it’s worth a shot.

So a quick recap – start with Amazon and eBay for the small popular stuff.  Move on to Google but be specific with the brand you want – get 4 or 5 full quotes from there.  Then search on Google for a brick and mortar store that’s driving distance.  Evaluate all your prices and pick the lowest one!

Comments Off on Traffic Barriers from Pennsylvania – How to Estimate Shipping

Traffic Barriers from Pennsylvania – How to Estimate Shipping

Wednesday, August 21, 2013 By: admin

GuardsafeThis other version of Jersey Barrier comes from PA.  This is a good option if you are on the East Coast or around PA as shipping can be a killer if you are too far away from the warehouse.  We have them in 100lbs, 130lbs and 170lbs.  Check them out here.

Some water is still going to be in the barrier (as they water test them) and it usually adds 3lbs.  So if a barrier is 100lbs use 103lbs when calculating the weight of your shipment.  Also this supplier doesn’t ship on pallets, so no need to calculate the weight of the pallet.

We don’t have a lot of info on this particular barrier because we haven’t sold a lot of them yet, but we do have shipping rates for East Coast shipments.  I will be sure to update this post as new quotes come in.

East Coast

400lbs for $318 to NY = 80 cents a pound

1330lbs for $662 to MD = 50 cents a pound

618lbs for $271 to PA = 44 cents a pound

2781lbs for $718 to NY = 26 cents a pound

 

West Coast

no data yet on this one.  Will update.

 

South

1236lbs for $940 to TX = 76 cents a pound

45320lbs for $12,750 to FL = 28 cents a pound

 

Midwest

no data yet on this one.  Will update.

 

Need help calculating your shipping still?  Or need an exact quote?  Give me a call (413) 281-6393.

Comments Off on Estimating Shipments – Indiana Traffic Barriers

Estimating Shipments – Indiana Traffic Barriers

Friday, August 16, 2013 By: admin

BarrierIn this post I am showing the cost of the items we ship out of Indiana.  We ship out the 42 x 72 Jersey Barrier and the 42 x 96 Barrier from there.  We don’t have too much data on these but it can still serve a purpose of giving you an idea of shipping costs to your region.  We are showing the cost per pound as different versions of these barriers have different weights so we have a lot more data per pound.

 

West Coast

$3700 for 9200lbs going to CA =  40 cents per lb

$4807 for 6000lbs going to CA = 80 cents per lb

Average cost: = 55 cents per lb

 

East Coast

$800 for 440lbs going to NY = $1.82 per lb

$41,400 for 342,000lbs going to MD = 12 cents per lb

$14,250 for 52,800lbs going to FL = 26 cents per lb

$2900 for 7200lbs going to NJ = 40 cents per lb

Average cost = 15 cents per lb

 

South

$1650 for 1500lbs going to TX = $1.10 per lb

$209 for 300lbs going to LA = 70 cents per lb

$890 for 2400lbs going to GA = 37 cents per lb

Average cost = 56 cents per lb

 

Midwest

$265 for 1000lbs going to OH = 26 cents per lb

$190 for 500lbs going to MI = 39 cents per lb

Average cost = 30 cents per lb

 

As you can see the prices vary a lot based on the weight of the shipments.  The lower the weight the less of a deal you are going to get on shipping.  If you need help comparing this to your current shipment, give us a call or email!

Comments Off on More Shipping Estimating – Jersey and Airport Barriers

More Shipping Estimating – Jersey and Airport Barriers

Tuesday, August 13, 2013 By: admin

jersey barrierThis post is dedicated to estimating shipping costs on barriers which include jersey barriers, water fill able barricades and airport barricades as they all ship in the same class (class 250 – different classes have different costs).  In other posts I focused on cost per unit when determining average cost to ship to a particular region.

Because unit weights vary across barrier products (19lb airport barricade versus 130lb jersey barrier) I think it will make more sense to calculate cost based on price per pound.  I will also separate it out based on where they are shipping from.  This first post will be about barriers I have that ship out of Utah.

Airport BarricadeSo first off here are the products I have that ship out of Utah: LCD Jersey Barrier, 10 x 96 Airport Barricade and the 24 x 96 Airport Barricade.  Below are the averages I have found going back to the beginning of 2012.  As you can see the prices can vary a lot and this seems to be due to volume.  You are going to get a much better rate per pound shipping 13,000 lbs versus 200 lbs.

 

West Coast

$645 for 1,381 lbs to WA = 46 cents per lb

$167 for 267lbs going to AZ = 62 cents per lb

$253 for 384lbs going to MT = 65 cents per lb

$2180 for 4710lbs going to MT = 46 cents per lb

Average: 54 cents per lb

 

East Coast

$8244 for 13,200 lbs to NY = 62 cents per lb

$418 for 420 lbs going to NY = 99 cents per lb

$1016 for 1300lbs going to MD = 78 cents per lb

$245 for 203lbs going to ME = $1.20 per lb

Average: 90 cents per lb

 

South

$1020 for 1500lbs going to LA = 60 cents per lb

$1000 for 1500lbs gong to LA = 66 cents per lb

$310 for 500lbs going to AR = 62 cents per lb

$725 for 1100 lbs going to GA = 65 cents per lb

Average: 63 cents per lb

 

Midwest

$437 for 1048lbs going to NE = 42 cents per lb

$945 for 1376lbs going to MI = 68 cents per lb

$1600 for 1954lbs going to MI = 81 cents per lb

Average: 63 cents per lb

 

If you need any help finding out how many pounds your shipment is or understanding this mini guide give Brandon a call at (413) 281-6393.