Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:06:14 -0500
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Re: Parts source recommendations?
In-Reply-To: <3E7E3DAC.CF3FEF61@adelphia.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Ron Salmon at The Bus Depot is also on the list and often has
> better prices on certain things than most other vendors.
>
> They also offer a discount for internet orders (or is that
> Vanagon list members?).
Actually, it's just for list members. 5% off orders over $50, excluding
sale items, special order/made-to-order items, gift certificates, tax,
shipping, etc. You must ask for it at time of order (in the "comments"
section of the web order form if ordering online).
> They're great at reducing stuff that goes into the waste
> stream, but sometimes I've wished that things were
> packed just a bit better.
Actually, this is less of an issue than it once was.
We've always tried to be environmentally friendly, and for many years
collected once-used ones from local merchants etc. and re-used them
rather than bringing new boxes into the waste stream. Similarly, we
shredded paper and used other discarded household products for packing.
This worked great, when we could get enough. But limited supply on some
occasions encouraged the shipping guys to cut corners on packing
material, or use a box that was too small or somewhat worn out already.
In the end, even with the best intentions, we knew we needed to bite the
bullet and find a more effective solution.
So we have made two changes. We now buy "factory second" new boxes from
a manufacturer. This allows us a better choice of sizes and crush
weights so we can better pack the order. (On the other hand it keeps our
costs down vs. the cost of 1st run boxes, and makes use of perfectly
good boxes that would otherwise be discarded as "defective.") We've
also made arrangements with the the local municipal recycling center,
which supplies us with newspaper for packing - as much as we need -
rather than just relying on individual local neighbors and businesses.
This means that there's no shortage of packing material anymore, so it
can be used more liberally as needed. We also bit the bullet and started
using some bubble wrap, but just for particularly fragile parts that
simply need a bit more than newspaper and shredded paper.
So we have made improvements without giving up our environmentally
friendly approach. A happy medium, in other words.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
