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You may have done a truck in the past you know the nitty gritty stuff (like setting up a website and a bank account) and have a group that will fill a container...and have and idea of what size you will need but read this whole thing anyway…there might be a tip or two you could tell me about in an email to: cmervis(at)sealspace(dot)org Use document as a guide, we are not responsible for any of your actions. Also please do not post or forward this document, we will be happy to send someone a copy, we want to add updates and answers to questions that come up.

Definitions
“Participant”- person shipping something from your home town to the playa and back
“Home” your location when starting this shipment
“Shipper” company you are using to expedite the shipment
“Playa” BRC
“Organizer”- person who is taking this responsibility on.
“Container” the huge steel box that will carry all your belongings over road and rail and playa to you and your community.
“escort”- the person responsible to notify the gate at BRC that this container is expected in Gerlach on this day at this hour. Escort is to notify Burning Man Gate Staff of the container and Escort is the one to meet container in Gerlach and direct driver to “drop” location.
“cut off date” date that you will be sure to publicize that you will try and stick to for making this project happen(“cut off date” for final payment)
*“intermodal transport”, i.e the total movement from the origin to the destination, using different modes enroute like roadways, railways, shipping, airlines etc. It could be either a combination of several or even just two of these modes.
*“F.A.K” Freight of all kinds- not household goods- do not at anytime say “household goods” this will put you in a different class of shipping and it will cost you a fortune.
*“Reefer” a Refrigerated container
*“Chassis”- A chassis is a framework equipped with wheels, which, when loaded with a container, results in something very similar to a normal highway trailer.
*“Land Bridge”- a train that carries containers between North American east and west coast ports.
“drop location”- the designated place that driver will unhitch from container and chassis

* Industry Terminology

Section 1
How many people have we got?
Finding out if your region has enough people to do a big shipment to the playa and back.

1. Have a sign up sheet- collect information at regional gatherings or on the website about what amounts of stuff people have to send out to the playa and back.
2. Go to the regionals section of the www.burningman.com website under eplaya and make an announcement to your region about signing up to find out more information about container.
3. Announce on your local burningman list serve about the container and see what kind of response you get.
4. Enlist the regional for your region to help get the word out and help with this important community project.
5. Create a website - find some one who can make a page on a website that will allow you to get information out to the community about your project and gauge the interest.

Make sure you state over and over that signing up doesn’t guarantee you any space in the container- The only guarantee is if “participant” has payment in full on assigned date.

Amount of payment is determined by how full the container is - so you really can’t start guessing how much it is going to cost unless you know how many people are signed up and how big a container you will be using.

Section 2
How much is it going to cost?
• Once you announce this undertaking to the “participants” in your community their first question will be “how much”?
• Suggest that someone in the community help subsidize the container price by having an event - that way everyone gets a better deal and there is more publicity for the container going…
• The amount of payment is determined by how full the container is and how big it is - so you really can’t start guessing how much it is going to cost unless you have an idea of how many people are signed up.
• Ask everyone to sign up who has any desire to send stuff
• Leave room for making packing easier. When people are repacking on the playa they usually don’t pack it out as well as they packed it in. Leave room to make packing at home and repacking on the playa easier.
• PAYPAL incurs a fee - make sure to include this in your cost calculations

*** Packing the container- OK so this is hard to explain- there is a fine line you will be treading with this selling of space on the container. On one hand you want to make sure you sell enough stuff to hit your target mark in price- on the other hand you don’t want to over book it too much because it will make packing the container very difficult before the playa, and on the playa.

Section 3
Make a calendar
Help people figure out when to get their payment together and their packing done. You will need all the money up front for most shipping companies. This may change in the second year of using the same company.
• Date for sign up begins
• Sign up ends
• Prices announced
• Signup and pay (only full payments in are reserved spaces)
• Payment due end date
• Container load in
• Container load out

-Date for sign up-
Helps to gage how many people are going to make this possible and how big the shipment container will need to be

-Sign up ends-
Give a sign up end date so that will get people to sign up- any thing open ended will never get people to act now

-Prices announced-
Prices depend on the number of participant’s distance traveled and your guesswork skills.

Section 4
Packing it up

Containers
They come in lots of different sizes...they go via the road or the rail. They are containers and once you start thinking about this project you will start to recognize them everywhere you go… Containers come in different types and shapes. The most common containers are the 20' and the 40'. But now several shipping lines have started using the 45' container. The width of a container is always 8', and the standard heights are 8' 6" or 9' 6". See links at end of this document for complete breakdown.

Make Packing Easier
Do not allow anything onto the container outside of a box. Unless it is a couch or arrangements have been made with you ahead of time… Nothing like sharp items poking out of piles of stuff as people scramble around in the container loading and unloading it on and off the playa.
Make a strict policy of NO BOX NO GO. Especially Bikes- all bikes must be boxed! Let people know they should use every inch of space they buy, generally the container prices are by container- not by weight, so if they are shipping a bike, the box they put the bike in should be used up entirely – no air pockets…use all the space.

Be sure to announce that people should remember that the container is to be packed with well-labeled boxes, (name, address, phone number- work/home)

Boxes should be painted for easy location, and the brighter/ weirder the box the easier it is to locate in the pile.

Boxes:
• Your box is going to have potentially a couple hundred pounds on it, from any of six directions, then get unpacked and live in a dusty area for a week, then get randomly shoved back into a container with a bunch of other boxes that are probably even in worse shape than yours...the sturdier the better, overkill is your best friend. Think worst-case-scenario and you'll do fine.
• Guess what: tape isn't going to stick at all once the box is dusty. Bring extra cardboard for box repair, plan on damage.
• Big plastic tubs work, but they should be taped securely.
• Pillows/blankets inside garbage bags make good filler for bike boxes, roll/squeeze all the air out to make them as dense as you can.
• Realize that your packing also affects all the boxes around you, not just your own.
• Labels on boxes can come off. Be sure the name is on the actual box; on the sides is better than a flap, which can get torn off.
• Make a list of all your boxes before you pack them in, both ways, then check them off when it unloads.
• Volume costs, weight is cheap: consider building a crate, and use it at BRC for something, then screw it back together and use it again next year.

Load in Load Out
Self Reliance- people store their stuff in their house until it is time to load it on the container- do not offer a storage solution. It’s important that people put the stuff and remove it from the container themselves. Make the load in load out hours short so that you will have a lot of hands to help each other.
Load in: We have had a three-day "load in" on location at “home”- (2 hours a day) usually Friday/Sat/Sunday.
We break it down -late arrivals (go in first), regular date (go in second) and early date (go in third) arrivals on the playa. This helps people to find their stuff when they get to the container on the playa.

Ask someone to be the packing coordinator to help ensure the container is loaded in a balanced way and packed well.
It’s good to get someone to be the packing coordinator for the load in at home, to ensure everything arrives in BRC safely. Keep him or her hydrated and surrounded by people willing to hump boxes on commands so he/she can remain pleasant and competent for the duration.

It's a lot harder to coordinate the whole return thing at BRC. As such, the basic guidelines that the coordinator goes by should be made available and adhered to by all the people loading in at BRC:

-Heavy and solid things go on the bottom, lightest things go on top. Period. PERIOD.

-PACK IT TIGHT. The load is very susceptible to rough handling and things can shift, not to mention the long hours of evolution on rattly train tracks. Be sure all boxes are placed so they can't slide sideways or fall. Especially at the bottom, really make the boxes snug. Fill voids with odd size boxes (foam and rugs are excellent) or try another combination. Move other stuff as necessary. Boxes (if well-filled) can't collapse if there's no place to go. Whatever doesn't fit well, leave aside to pack later. If you see other boxes around that you can pack in correctly, then please do.
-Fill the whole back wall to near the ceiling before you go back so far that it is unreachable. Go up the walls first, and then fill in the middle as you go back. Keep the sides supported. Go high, there's a full container of stuff on the way. Rugs and loose stuff are good on top to just sort of stick it all together.
-Placement of odd objects needs to be thought out. Many containers have nothing to tie off to inside; stuff leaning against the sides can easily fall to the center, and heavy things can just grind nasty paths if you let them.
Unloading: BE CAREFUL. Use lights if possible; the load has potentially shifted. On the home load out, it's especially dangerous, as the packing may not be uniformly well-done.
Have a one-day load out when returning to “home” location. Its important that everyone show up or have a friend show up to get their stuff …do not offer storage or you will become responsible for their stuff…

Packing the Container- Weight distribution
As we mentioned, balancing the container is important, evenly distributed weight will ensure that it is handled easily by the Hysters/ other moving apparatus that will be used to transport your container from your city to BRC and back. Either by train or by rail, your container will be moved by machinery that is not forgiving. Loading the container with the weight dispersed to the bottom and evenly around the container is extremely important.

HAZARDOUS/NON-ALLOWED MATERIALS-
Consider that your container will be traveling over state lines, under changing altitudes, and sitting and baking in the hot sun. Past experience: A Car battery was packed on the container we had two years ago exploded and ate thru three other peoples supplies before hitting a wooden box. Sleeping bags and clothing was ruined… and once out on the playa getting new supplies are difficult to say the least. So please be sure to reiterate over and over no Hazmat- no wet stinky cheese.
No Fireworks: Signal flares, sparklers or other explosives ...
No Flammable Liquids or Solids: Fuel, paints…
No Household Items: Bleach, spray starch, insecticides, drain cleaners and solvents ...
No Pressure Containers: Spray cans, butane, fuel, scuba tanks, propane tanks, CO2 cartridges, self inflating rafts ...
No Weapons: Firearms, Ammunition, gunpowder, mace, tear-gas, or pepper spray ...
No Other Hazardous Materials: Dry ice, gasoline-powered tools, wet-cell batteries, camping equipment with fuel, radioactive materials, poisons, infectious substances ...
No Wet Goods that could possibly open and destroy other peoples property/ stink up the container(stinky cheese)

Protect Yourself
Be sure to start up a LLC or some sort of business account, to handle this project. If you do this as an individual- you will be responsible personally for the container- and what is inside…and what happens to it.
Be sure to have a lawyer in your community draft a document for everyone who is shipping something on the container to sign saying that neither you nor anyone helping with this project is responsible.
Example:

Transit Waiver
I agree that _________ may transport my belongings, is not responsible, and any risk of loss or damage will be borne by me, the customer.

______________
Date
________________________________________________ Customer
(Signature)
________________________________________________
(Print name)
________________________________________________
(Witness)


Self-reliance
Everything is done as a "self reliant" operation.
The "participant" pays up front weeks before the date of load in (signing up does not guarantee a space on the container)
The "participant" packs their own stuff all in boxes (no box -no ship- no kidding)
The "participant" loads it on the container after it is measured and calculated to the correct booked size
The "participant" unloads it on the playa
The "participant" loads it back on the container on the playa (boxed...no box no ship)
The "participant" unloads it from the container once it returns home.

Using a Transportation Expeditor
After months of research of trying to contact the train people, the truckers, the container leasing people, we found it to be impossible- these companies have worked it out so that only they talk to each other… there are a bunch of switches these trains must make and the container needs to come off the train and onto another- if you are a outsider to this process its impossible to get it done…the train people were laughing at us when we said we had just one container to get across the country and back.” Just one container?” they said, “ we suggest you contact an Intermodal shipping company who buys space on the rails in bulk and farms it out”. So that is just what we did…and it took so much more time trying to express what we wanted. (Three days load in Roundtrip-yes round trip- leave the container and chasse on location for a week or more- and then retrieve chasse and container to bring it back to our home location for a one day load out). It took two years to learn the terminology. The first year we used a company that fucked us but good- guess they knew we had no idea what we were doing and figured they would take advantage…not only did they charge us three times the amount, but they were late in getting the container to the playa and picked up after the event…(it’s a long story that sucked hard.)

So this year we started by using the correct terminology and saying exactly what we wanted…every time we saw a container on the roads we wrote down the name and number and started making phone calls.
This document is only a guide for you…you may want to save money and time and do a one day load in- you may want to buy your own container and store it. (We don’t have room for that sort of thing here in NYC)

Burning Man
Using the name Burning Man with any shipping company will not help you. Burning Man will not help your cause in any way and may bring more fees and attention to your shipment. The best explanation is that it’s an art convention. And that the items in the container are “F.A.K.”, which they are… do not mention couches or coffee tables- mention art and “freight of all kinds”.Burning Man will not be responsible for getting your container onto the playa, or off. The Burning Man office is going to be busy enough with their stuff. Give the shippers the zip code of Gerlach and request the container driver be met in Gerlach on a certain day at a certain. Let them know that the container will be dropped off with Chasse about 10 miles North of Gerlach and that you will need to meet the driver in Gerlach to lead him to exact spot for the container. Schedule for a person from your community to meet driver in Gerlach and to alert the burningman gate ahead of time. Same for pick up of container off the playa- meet driver in Gerlach and get container with him.

Society For Experimental Art and Learning
Please, do not use SEAL’s name when dealing with any shipping group, it will not help you, nor will it make it easier for us in the future.

Getting your container into BRC
The best way to guarantee safe delivery of your container to your location in BRC is to be in Gerlach waiting for the driver to escort the truck in and out of the gate to BRC. Without an escort the container and its driver will be turned away. The escort should make sure they are at the gate when the container arrives and explain to the gate shift leader what they are doing. The driver delivering the container should know whom they are waiting for. This is critical. The Gate is too busy to try and match people up. Prior notice to the gate staff that a container is coming (a day or two in advance) in is strongly recommended. The other parties that should be alerted pre-event are the placement team if a camp is mapped. Any registered camp will have an assigned placer. Any group not placed should work directly with the Gate staff.

Step 5
This is a very basic write up for a Shipment:
• We will rent a ____foot container from _____ for the duration of this project.
• __________ will deliver the __ foot container to (place) ___________, on (Date)______ for a three-day load in. We will load in Friday, Saturday and Sunday
• ___________ will pick up the container the following (date)_________ in (place)_______ (AM Time) and transport it to Black Rock City, Nevada (two hours north of Reno Nevada, located 10 miles north of Gerlach NV (89412), the closest small town) by rail.
• On (Date)_______ (AM Time), __________ will drop off container with chasse in Black Rock City for two weeks. We will provide an exact street location within 1 month of delivery. A map of Black Rock City will also be supplied. _______ will send somebody to meet the truck in Gerlach, Nevada to guide the driver to the drop off point in Black Rock City.
• ___________ picks up container in Black Rock City (date)_______, (AM time) and transport it back to (place)_________
• (date)_______(PM time____________ will drop the container off in LIC for 1-day, Saturday load out.
• ____________ picks up the container in (place), (date)_________.

Our biggest concern is that the container arrives on time. We are prepared to load the container well in advance of when it needs to be delivered. In other words, we can give you as much time to transport the container, as you need. All we want is to be sure that it will arrive on time and within a narrow window of time. We’re willing to be flexible and work with you to accomplish this goal.

This container will be carrying FAK. Freight of all kinds.
No hazardous materials will be in container. No fuel, batteries, or anything that is combustible.
We will provide locks for container, and will arrange for parking of the container for both load/unload weekends in (Place)_____. We will pay 50% of the fee before initial delivery of the container in (place)_____ and the rest upon return delivery in (place)______.

Time is of the essence in delivering the container, as its contents are vital to our work and survival in the Black Rock desert. While we understand that cross-country is difficult to schedule with certainty, we believe delivery on time and within a narrow window of time is reasonable and practicable. We will work with you to make this possible.
Please feel free to call me at __________ or to email me at ___________ if you can help us accomplish the above. I look forward to working with you and hope this will be the start of a long relationship.

Links:

Helpful reading
http://www.robl.w1.com/Transport/intermod.htm#Movement_of_Containers

Intermodal Glossary
http://www.uprr.com/customers/intermodal/integlos.shtml

Buy your own container
http://www.addis.co.nz/containers/bargains.html

Things not to do with your container
http://www.addis.co.nz/containers/images/humour/5.jpg

Please email us with any things you found confusing or can add to this document for others.
cmervis(at)sealspace(dot)org