Shipping art is a very delicate and responsible sphere of activity, as each object of art represents a piece of unique cultural heritage. Damage or permanent loss can hardly be evaluated in monetary terms. Therefore, professional artwork shipping companies develop a rigorous safety protocol that minimizes risks at all transportation stages and ensures the safety of the shipped items. Here is a breakdown of the main precautions you may expect from your shipping service provider.
How Do Artwork Shipping Companies Keep Your Art Safe?
Many people falsely believe that safety is key only at the transportation stage. Yet, your art object starts its trip as soon as it’s removed from the place where it was standing or hanging. Therefore, the pre-transportation stage is also important. Trained art handlers should evaluate the condition of the artwork, choose a suitable packaging solution for it, plan the route and logistics of transportation with all potential risks in mind, and suggest an optimal insurance plan for the transportation procedure.
Once the artwork has been comprehensively and safely packaged, it needs to be loaded into the art shuttle. Professional art handlers may move the art object manually if its dimensions and weight match the convenient range for manual handling. If the artwork is extra-large or heavy, it requires specialized equipment, like a padded dolly, hoist, or forklift, to avoid direct physical contact or risk of fall.
Next comes the secure process of art transportation, which includes a safely locked and climate-controlled art shuttle operated by careful, experienced drivers. Once the artwork gets delivered to its destination, it is carefully unpacked for its post-delivery inspection. At this stage, you need to make sure that the artwork has arrived intact, which is done by comparing the original condition report with the artwork’s current condition.
Work Only with Professional Art Shippers to Get Full Security Guarantees
If you want to be confident in your artwork’s safety and integrity throughout the whole transportation process, it’s important to hire only licensed, experienced artwork shipping companies. We at Fine Art Shippers have been providing fine art handling, packaging, and transportation services for almost three decades, and we hone our skills and expertise with every new project. Thus, you can count on end-to-end safety for your precious art objects as soon as they get into the hands of our trained art handlers.