I recently bought a new mattress from Tuft & Needle, a very cool company that I was happy to support. But the real reason I ended up with Tuft & Needle (outside of a well-timed post by a friend on Facebook), was that I was dreading the entire process of finding a mattress and getting it to my bedroom in one piece.
See, I don't drive a pickup truck, nor do I know anyone with quick and easy access to a pickup truck, so I couldn't just go to the furniture store and pick it up. I suppose I could have rented a u-haul or something, but thats a huge pain and expensive.
I couldn't just use the post office to ship it. Could they deliver? Maybe, but I'm sure there were additional charges for that as well, not to mention I would have to take off work and sit around my apartment waiting on delivery guys, which is almost as bad as waiting on the plumber and cable guy (sorry plumbers and cable guys, I'm just kidding!).
25 Genius Tips for Saving Money on Your Shipping Costs
So why Tuft & Needle? THEY DELIVER. What?!? It's true. They deliver through Amazon.com, and one Wednesday afternoon you will come home to find a giant cardboard box on your porch and inside this giant box there will be an entire mattress rolled up. Boom! Bam! Done! Convenience is everything when it comes to mattress shipping.
How To Ship A Mattress And Bed
Anyway, contrary to where we are so far in this post, this is not a testimonial for Tuft & Needle mattresses (though they are great). No, considering that I work and breath freight and shipping, this entire situation got me thinking about what a giant pain in the butt mattress shipping can be.
Even though I know more than your average shipper about the logistics of shipping, the idea of how to ship a mattress caught my attention. So I wanted to go over a few simple steps to help you cut down on some of the headaches that can come with mattress shipping. This is how to ship a mattress or how to ship a bed.
Package A Mattress And Bed
I don't mean together, because that would probably be a disaster and at FreightPros we are about avoiding disasters! Also, you probably won't need a standard pallet when you're looking for how to ship a mattress. So you'll want to package your pieces separately.
You can find a mattress storage/moving case in lots of places, and you might want to get two if you'll be shipping a box spring as well as a mattress. Of course, if it's an old mattress that you don't need anymore or you're shipping it to be recycled, then you can probably skip the case. Step one in how to ship a bed.
Wrap Your Headboards And Tie Bed Frames
As these are the most fragile part of your shipment, you'll need to be careful in how you package and keep your headboard and frames safe and secure. This is a major part of how to ship a bed. Personally I would go with massive amounts of bubble wrap (because it's awesome to play with and it actually works) and duct tape.
Blankets work as well. Remember, this is not a beauty contest. This is mattress shipping. Our number one priority is the safe transfer of your headboard that might or might not be hand-made from reclaimed wood. It might even cost more than your mattress and everything else combined. Just sayin'.
For The Love Of Everything Holy, Get Insurance. Please.
This is a big one. Seriously. GET INSURANCE IF YOU'RE WONDERING HOW TO SHIP A MATTRESS OR HOW TO SHIP A BED. Especially if you're shipping these things LTL rather than a moving truck. Things get damaged in transit and third party freight insurance will soften the blow if your two bed frames somehow turn into eight bed frames during transit.
Contact FreightPros. Make New Friends.
This part's very easy. You can even look into expedited shipping for it. Let us handle your mattress shipping. Make new friends. Find your shipping zone. Don't lose sleep on your sweet new mattress. That's how to ship a mattress.