My goal is to show you how I ship my own Onewheel whether for travel, for repairs, or for whatever reason.
On a recent vacation to Southern California I wanted to see if I would be able to ship my Onewheel XR to my destination. I wanted to see how hard or how difficult it would be. I wanted to see what special arrangements needed to be made and I wanted to see if there would be any unexpected obstacles.
I have heard of stories of people having their Onewheel denied at FedEX and UPS drop off locations. After doing a bit of research, I think I know what happened and how you can prevent that from happening to you.
Why Ship a Onewheel?
Going to Float Life Fest or Race for the Rail and want to have your Onewheel with you? You may find yourself in a situation where you may need to ship your Onewheel. Whether it be because you sold it to someone online or you want to have it with you during a trip.
The Onewheel is one of the best ways to explore. Vacationing and traveling with Onewheels has been so much fun for me and my family. However, flying with the Onewheel XR is not permitted because of the battery size. Even flying with the Onewheel Plus and Pint with their smaller batteries can be difficult and stressful.
Renting a Onewheel at your destination is another option if you are heading to a city like San Diego where they offer Onewheel rentals. If you are not going to a city which offers Onewheel rentals, then consider having a Onewheel rental shipped to your location using SUPrents.com.
One of the main benefits of shipping your board to your location is the ability to ride your board. Keep all your modifications and enjoy riding the Onewheel the way you like to ride it.
Where can I ship the Onewheel?
My experience and research is only with shipping within the Continental United States. I have personally taken my Onewheel Plus to and from Maui on a passenger plane, but my Onewheel XR never flies with me because the battery size is too big to carry on or check in to a flight.
I have never tried shipping outside of the 48 United States so I have no experience there.
From my understanding, air shipping is very difficult and costly. Because of the battery, the Onewheel needs to undergo certain HAZMAT inspection, packaging, and certification. Future Motion and other companies that sell similar devices with large batteries must have this designation because they ship via air all the time.
Everyday people like myself are not capable to do this and thus shipping via air is very difficult from what I understand after speaking to customer service and searching various websites.
For the purpose of this article, my focus will be how to ship the Onewheel within the 48 United States.
How can I ship the Onewheel?
After speaking to the Dangerous Goods departments at UPS and FedEX, I found the following information:
- Shipping via ground is permitted for the Onewheel.
- The Onewheel should be packaged in its original packaging.
- You can have a second box around the Onewheel to prevent damage to the original box and to deter theft.
- The Onewheel should have a charge less than 30%.
- Drop off the Onewheel at any of their official FedEX or UPS locations. Third party stores that offer UPS and FedEX services may turn you away as their facilities may not be equipped to deal with battery issues.
If those rules are followed, you should have no problems shipping your Onewheel. A few other pro tips that you may find helpful:
- Do not package with packing peanuts. They are a pain in the butt! Check out the video above for details.
- Pack your helmet in the box to be shipped with the Onewheel. Helmets are bulky and don’t fit well in suitcases.
- Take the Onewheel charger with you on your luggage. It packs nicely and if someone were to steal your Onewheel you can start searching the internet for a Onewheel for sale without the charger.
- Plan ahead to ensure that your Onewheel will arrive on time. You would not want the Onewheel to get to your destination near the end or after your vacation.