Which is the best service for shipping art?
Have you ever wanted to move art and not known who to use?
What's the difference between generic shipping services and specialists in transporting fine art?

Lists of Fine Art Transport Services, Art Movers and Couriers in the USA
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This page covers
  • ​Specialist Fine Art Shipping Services in the USA
  • International Art Shippers
  • Generic Shipping Services in the USA

IN FUTURE: This page will develop over time to highlight recommendations about services artists value (see below)
This page currently lists what are believed to be reputable services that can transport, ship and generally move art around the USA and to other countries
  • By reputable I mean they've been around for quite some time and keep getting business.
  • However some of the more generic ones have variable reputations when it comes to shipping artwork
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Are you an artist who has transported artwork? 
Can you recommend a carrier?
​Have you had difficulties with a carrier?

I'm aiming to develop links to online accounts of practical experiences of different couriers, shippers and postal services. If you have practical experience of using different couriers or specialist art movers and can recommend a firm I'd be delighted to hear from you. Alternatively if you have had a bad experience and have written about this I'd also like to hear from you.

If you can help your fellow artist or art collector please use the form at the bottom of the page.
ALSO CHECK OUT:

Important Notice

This page is NOT a transport service and does NOT provide quotations for the transport of art.

If you want a service and need a quote YOU need to contact an art mover, courier or shipper direct
Any queries received by this website - asking for quotes - will be IGNORED.

I'm always happy to receive recommendations re. transporters from verified CUSTOMERS of services moving art.
See the form at the end for recommendations.
All Listings of courier services are offered without liability.
I have not used them and the summarised information is derived from their websites or via correspondence.
You should satisfy yourself whether they provide the service you require
based on your needs, your query and the response it gets
Banner Image: Joshua Newton
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Fine Art Transport Services (USA)
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A specialist fine art transport service is one which is
  • capable of handling museum quality artwork
  • AND has appropriate storage and insurance
  • AND is expert at clearing customs with all appropriate paperwork - for those shipping internationally
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Members of International Convention of Exhibition and Fine Art Transporters (ICEFAT)

ICEFAT website: http://icefat.org/ - plus how to find members http://icefat.org/our-members/

HQ Based EAST Coast

Art Shipping International Ltd. 
P.O.Box 504, E. Boston, MA 02128
Fine art handling and transportation solutions for museums, galleries, auction houses, dealers, private collectors, foundations, universities and corporations. Member the International Convention of Exhibition and Fine Art Transporters, American Associations of Museums and New England Museum Association. 

Atelier 4, Inc. (Twitter)
35-00 47th Avenue, Long Island City NY 11101-2434
Offers art handling, transportation and project management: custom crafted art crates; installation; supervised air freight forwarding; certified cargo screening; customs import brokerage; climate control storage; using in-house staff and their own specialised equipment and vehicles. Boots-on-the-ground in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Charlotte NC
Dietl International Services 
207 West 25th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001 
A full-service, international fine-art shipping company. Since 1991, DIS has been an industry-leading firm serving the shipping and transport requirements for the entire spectrum of art world business. Based in New York City with regional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Washington DC, and Dallas.

Gander & White Shipping Inc. 
45 -11 33rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101
​Gander & White has been safely shipping and storing antiques and works of art since 1933. Complete range of services offered internationally.

RBA - Racine Berkow Associates, Inc 
34-24 Hunters Point Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 
Founded in 1987. Operates as a fine art shipping specialists: licensed freight forwarder and licensed customs broker specialising in fine arts, antiques, and museum exhibitions.  Based in New York City with sub-branch in Washington. RBA provides museum-quality fine art transport and handling services for museums, galleries, institutions and the discerning collector. 

U.S. Art Company 
66 Pacella Park Drive, Randolph, MA 02368 USA
Operating for over 60 years. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. One of the world’s largest fine art handling company; offices and affiliates around the globe. Claims to be the largest fine art handler in the United States. Provides comprehensive, museum-quality art handling services. ​

Atthowe Fine Art Services USA


SRI Fine Art Services USA
TCI-Transport Consultants International, Inc. USA
HQ Based WEST Coast

​Cooke’s Crating and Fine Arts Transportation  
3124 E. Eleventh Street, Los Angeles, CA 90023
​Serving Collectors, Museums and Galleries for more than 40 years. Highly skilled art handling, climate controlled storage, and fine art shipping. 30 year member of the “International Convention of Exhibition and Fine Art Transporters.

​​L.A. Packing, Crating & Transport, Inc. USA

Ship Art International 1333 Lowrie Avenue, South San Francisco CA 94080-1966
Trained Professionals providing Fine Art Storage, Fine Art Shipping, Fine Art Transportation, fine art packing, fine art crating, rigging of fine art, artifacts, and antiques in San Francisco CA California, and Denver, CO Colorado and Aspen Colorado. Specialises in providing climate-controlled, air-ride Express Fine Art Shuttles to New York, Denver and Los Angeles. 

Other NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL - with regional offices

Typically these firms have offices on the east and west coasts and places inbetween (which vary)
  • ​Artemis Fine Arts Services - Fine Art Services | Museum Services | White Glove Services We serve Museums and Fine Art Institutions regionally and nationally We serve the collecting families and distinguished households of Dallas, Fort Worth and throughout Texas
  • Artemis Fine Arts Services  - Regular national art shuttle services - see dates and schedules
  • ARTEX Fine Art Services - Art Shipping and Transportation ARTEX Fine Art Services is the largest national fine art carrier, shuttle and transportation system in the United States. The ARTEX shuttle system provides a safe and inexpensive method of transporting all manner of artwork and antiques. ARTEX trucks travel around the United States on scheduled routes on a regular basis making pick ups and drop offs along the way​
NORTHEAST
  • ​Crozier Fine Arts, Inc. - Served the needs of New York's discerning fine art community since 1976 by providing museum-quality storage, transportation and fine art engineering services. Offices in Chelsea, Hamptons, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware​​
  • Fine Art Shippers - a family-owned company that dates back to 1995 focusing on high-quality but budget-friendly artwork transport services. Offer same-day gallery and auction shipping options within the New York metropolitan area. List their clients on their website. Provide free quotes.
WEST
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CALIFORNIA
  • ​Art Pack Los Angeles - With over 25 years in business Art Pack is a highly respected company offering custom packing, crating, shipping, professional storage and installation. 
  • Artworks San Diego - Fine Art Storage, Installation, Shipping - ArtWorks San Diego provides museum-quality Fine Art Storage, Installation and Shipping Services. Service area includes San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, Del Mar, Orange County, Hollywood, Malibu, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage
  • Atthowe Fine Art Services - ​dedicated to the safe handling of fine art and fragile objects. We are a third-generation business, started in 1928. Our services include transportation, packing, crating, installation, storage, and freight forwarding.
  • Connect Art International - Connect Art International, museum-quality art storage and transportation. Based in San Francisco
  • Fine Art Shipping Fine Art Shipping is who we are and what we do. We store, ship, pack, crate and install fine art and antiques. Located minutes from Los Angeles International airport (LAX), our customer base includes museums, galleries, institutions, collectors and artists worldwide.
  • L.A. Packing and Crating and Transport - expert fine art shippers, skilled in the aspects of handling fine art we specialize in packing and crating, shipping, transportation of all types and sizes of artwork, including climate controlled self storage la and worldwide shipping.
  • Lawrence Fine Arts - Expert Fine Art & Antique Handling Since 1984 (Based in San Francisco)
  • Norton Fine Art - for all your shipping and installation needs. Norton was started in Marin in 2004 to meet the transportation and installation needs of the Bay Area Art Community.
  • Ship Art | Home - Based in San Francisco and Denver. Trained Professionals providing Fine Art Storage, Fine Art Shipping, Fine Art Transportation, fine art packing, fine art crating, rigging of fine art, artifacts, and antiques in San Francisco CA California, and Denver, CO Colorado and Aspen Colorado.

WASHINGTON STATE
  • Artech Fine Art Services Artech is recognized globally as the Northwest's reliable resource for safe art handling. ARTECH has provided unmatched depth of experience and a breadth of fine art solutions for over 30 years. We offer artwork logistics, long term fine art care, collection management, and consulting services for exacting museums and galleries, private, public and corporate art collectors. 
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International Art Shippers
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What you need to know before shipping art to or from the USA

If shipping art internationally - to or from the USA - you need to have a good understanding of Customs.

See also my dedicated page 
​How to Ship Art Internationally
REFERENCE - CUSTOMS AND TRADE TARIFFS

The following are links to the information provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service

International art shippers - the specialists

U.S. Art - ships fine art internationally and works with museums and galleries Describes itself as "the largest fine art handler domestically and throughout the world" and has been in business for 60 years.  Services include packing, crating, transportation, storage, installation and rigging of artwork in any medium.

Crown Fine Art - specialises in exhibition logistics. Clients museums, art galleries, auction houses and private collectors

International shippers - generic services

The UPS Store - Describes itself as providing a a professional packing and shipping resource. It has a category for shipping art
Shipsmart - Focuses on providing a door to door service. ships to any destination over 300 miles and to almost every country spanning the globe. Offers a service for shipping art and has sections on shipping painting and shipping sculptures. Been in business for 18 years

Generic Shipping Services (USA)

​Generic shipping services have problems providing satisfactory insurance cover due to valuation problems.

Effectively Fedex, UPS and DHL do NOT insure fine art - it's EXCLUDED in their policies. ​ If you are concerned about the value of your art and it arriving in one piece, you might want to explore the specialist fine art shipping services below.
DHL - USA
Information about shipping using DHL, DHL has a specialist ecommerce service and full social media companion sites. It says NOTHING about shipping art

FedEx - USA
The service which consistently does well across all the surveys is FedEx. 
  • In general, the view is that FedEx is always expensive but can be worth it. 
  • Unfortunately for FedEx in 2011, one of its employees generated the worst type of negative PR - 9.7 million people have watched this video. 

USPS - The United States Postal Service (U.S. Postal Service) 
Shipping solutions for small businesses ​- they also offer International Shipping

USHIP
A matchmaking services for those who want to transport stuff and those who provide transport services, especially those who have empty space in their truck that they want to fill - but it's not geared specifically to art and these are not expert art handlers. Free quotes
UPS - USA 
Information about shipping options. I've heard more than a few criticisms of UPS - including from artists who have shipped work to an exhibition appropriately packaged only for it to arrive with the glass smashed
I monitor reports about shipping art in the art business group on Linked In - which typically involves people who are professional artists.
Rather too many artists have reported: 
  • UPS does NOT insure fine art under glass; 
  • UPS forklifts shredding their shipping boxes - including proper airfloat boxes - and refusing to reimburse after destroying the boxes; 
  • UPS on occasion provides the wrong information; 
  • UPS took an extra fee from an artist for providing extra protection - and then refused to payout when things went wrong and said the limit of protection was a LOT lower than previously indicated. 
​Other artists have had a positive experience. It's possible that problems are geographically biased. ​
REFERENCE - CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES

Customer experiences are invaluable. I've listed below some of the posts published online about the experience of artists shipping art within the USA
REFERENCE - SHIPPING ART FROM CANADA

Have you transported artwork? ​Can you recommend a carrier?

 Please use this form if you are an artist or an art collector who has used a courier, carrier or shipper to move art within the UK or internationally - and you want to:
  • EITHER recommend the carrier
  • OR highlight unsatisfactory practices

It helps if you say:
  • what your reason was for moving art
  • whether this was within the UK or between the UK and another country
  • why you recommend the firm you identify
  • OR what the specific unsatisfactory practices of a specific firm were - and what their response was when you complained

Please use the form below

    RECOMMEND a fine art transport service based in the USA