POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Bicycle Shipping Containers

Cardboard Boxes • Reusable Shipping Containers

All bicycles must be properly disassembled and boxed in an appropriate shipping container to be shipped (including all shipping carriers and almost all long distance public transportation carriers).

When getting a bicycle shipping container, you should pay particular attention to its dimensions and how they compare to the standard and oversize shipping dimensions and charges of the different shipping carriers.

If you will be using the same shipping container to ship your bicycle to and from the same location before and after the event, we recommend leaving your return shipping documents inside it so they do not get lost or destroyed during the event.

Please note that your shipping container may be scuffed up or damaged in transit due to normal wear and tear.

Due to logistic constraints we cannot accept any type of bicycle shipping container other than a cardboard box that folds flat for our RAGBRAI Transportation Service.

• Click Here for more information about shipping carriers.
• Click Here for more information about long distance public transportation carriers.

Cardboard Boxes
Cardboard boxes are always better than a reusable shipping container to ship your bike in every single possible situation. If you plan on shipping your bicycle to one location before the start of the event and from a different location after the end of the event (such as point to point, one way events) we STRONGLY prefer you use a disposable cardboard bicycle box as your shipping container. They are very inexpensive, easily available at any local bike shop, and can easily be discarded, recycled, or folded up, stored, and reused after you are done using it. Most bike shops usually provide one for free anyways as part of the disassembly and boxing service fee. Because of this and because they are so big and bulky and will fall apart as they get handled multiple times, we will not transport any cardboard bicycle boxes during our events.

If you use a cardboard box as your shipping container we recommend cutting some slots in it so handlers can easily grab it to move it. Boxes often get torn open for lack of a place to grab.

Reusable Shipping Containers
If you absolutely must use a reusable shipping container, we STRONGLY prefer that you plan on leaving it with friends and family, at a supported hotel, or other location if at all possible during the event. We and our mechanic STRONGLY prefer not to store or transport your reusable shipping container during the event because they are so big and bulky and take up way too much very limited storage space. In addition, if we will be using a charter coach bus for transportation the maximum allowable allowable size for each participant's baggage is 5 square feet. Since the volume of all reusable shipping containers greatly exceeds 5 square feet we cannot transport it in the baggage compartment under the bus.

If you are absolutely unable to leave your reusable shipping container anywhere else during the event or must take it with you, such as if you plan on shipping your bicycle to one location before the start of the event and from a different location after the end of the event, we will allow you to transport your reusable shipping container on our baggage truck as an absolute last resort. However it will be your one and only allowable piece of baggage and you must keep all your personal items inside it and cannot have any additional separate baggage item. In addition, it will be handled as part of our normal baggage delivery service and dropped off and picked up directly at the event ending location, main lodging site, or supported hotel as appropriate and will not be left on any of our vehicles at night.

• Click Here for more information about baggage transportation during our events.
• Click Here for more information about in town transportation.
• Click Here for more information about bagagge transportation on charter coach busses.
• Click Here for more information about bicycle shipping for our RAGBRAI Transportation Service.