The logistics of safely moving stained glass from studio to installation site is one of the least glamorous facets of a commission. Although stained glass is most vulnerable during this transition, stained glass professionals are often myopic regarding its packing and shipping. This is only natural. Stained glass artists' expertise is in the aesthetic and technical aspects of the medium, not in packaging design or commercial shipping. During the flush of excitement that accompanies the negotiation and landing of a commission, this critical phase is usually reduced to a cost per square foot allowance with a little extra added on for travel if the job site is far away. Details of shipping the completed work can easily be relegated to the back-burner until the more exciting design and fabrication phases are complete. My studio has had the good fortune to successfully ship stained glass from Texas to sites throughout the United States including Alaska and Hawaii as well as Germany, Norway and Saudi Arabia. A protocol for packing and shipping has gradually evolved. What follows are some of the obvious and maybe not so obvious tidbits that have been gleaned from twenty years of involvement with this special (and fragile!) medium. The key to a successful mobilization to a job site is to ask the right questions -- to visualize the sequence of events that will enable you to get from point A to point B safely and efficiently. There is no single "right" approach. Every commission will dictate its own unique logistical requirements. In the medium of stained glass, a creative episode is not truly complete until all panels are safely installed. The careful design of the shipping strategy is as essential to a successful commission as is the stained glass design itself. As a student at Louisiana State University during the mid-70's, "packing and shipping" autonomous panels meant wrapping them in brown paper and carrying them under an arm or in the back seat of a car. This usually worked fine and with minor revisions even worked for smaller local projects. As larger projects came along and a higher level of professionalism was desired, other avenues for packing and shipping had to be considered. Packing options are dictated by the method of transport. If you have the ability and inclination, always deliver your commission to the job site yourself with your own personnel -- you know the material and how to handle it. Ground-based truck lines seem go out of their way to discover novel ways to damage crates marked "GLASS: HANDLE WITH CARE". There is also less handling involved if you do the driving. Crates can be loaded and unloaded directly into and out of your vehicle one panel at a time. Be sure to estimate the total weight of your load to make sure you have enough cargo capacity. Rent an adequately sized vehicle if you need to. Because stained glass panels are not inherently as rigid or stackable as plate glass, we usually do not use the truck mounted "A" frame rack of the commercial glazer. In addition to maintaining stained glass in a vertical position, any stained glass transporting system must also prevent the plane of the panels from warping and torquing as the transport vehicle negotiates bumps, turns and uneven roadways. The best way to accomplish this is with a sturdy crate that will support panels from all sides. If you are delivering stained glass in your own vehicle, the same glass crates in which the sheet glass arrived can be retrofitted for the outbound finished product. Crates must first be secured into the truck or van bed. You can't overbrace crates. Make sure that they are locked into the framework of the vehicle so that they can't move in any direction. A few strategically placed 1x4's make great stabilizers. Extend the 1x4's from the bottom of the crate's sides to a snug fit against the vehicle's sides, front and rear. In a covered vehicle use vertical 1x4's to brace crate against structural points along the roof to eliminate bounce. The unavoidable movements and jolts the crate will encounter on the road will only be magnified if the crate is the tiniest bit loose. Thanks to Bungee-Man (aka Alan Webb) we use a veritable "webb" of industrial strength bungees as the final line of defense against shifting crates. Once the crates are secure, it is a simple matter to deal the stained glass panels into the crate, one at a time. First, line the bottom of crates with a 2" cushion of high-density foam ("PolyLam"® or 1.7 pound density polyethylene foam). Alternate panels with sheets of flat packing such as double-faced corrugated cardboard or rigid foam (1/2" expanded polystyrene foam). Cutouts in these precut sheets can accommodate plating, lamination, lenses or other uneven applications on or within a panel. Loose or uneven packing such as excelsior, straw or the dreaded peanut can become uneven or settle, creating stress points that can lead to breakage. Weatherproof with heavy duty tarps if needed. Time and distance often conspire to make self-delivery impossible. In such cases we use a professional crater and air freight carrier to get our work to the job-site. Ground based truck lines are probably too risky for finished stained glass. Air freight is definitely more expensive, but at this point anything less is false economy. Work closely with your crater. Visit them in person well ahead of time to discuss your project. Make sure they are aware that this is a delicate crating job. Look elsewhere if they are uneasy or inexperienced with crating of this kind. Later, when you deliver your glass to the crater, ask to meet the workers who will be doing the actual crating. Show them how to handle the prepacked panels. They'll probably do a more careful job if your enthusiasm gets their attention. Before delivering stained glass to the crater, make a protective envelope for each panel. Typically these envelopes are about four inches wider and taller than the panel(s) they hold. If panels that comprise the commission are of different sizes, group them so that similar sizes can be placed in each crate. Make the protective envelopes for each crate the same overall size. On a work bench build the envelopes around each panel by centering the panel on one of the corrugated cardboard sides. Next, glue two inch wide, double-thick corrugated spacers along what will become the envelope's bottom and sides. Spacers should not be tight against the panels, but slightly loose (1/16") to allow for easy removal at the job site. The second side is then glued into place. At the job site the envelopes can be inverted and slid off of the panel. This process gives craters a place to handle the panels and adds some support. Specify a crate made of half inch plywood and 1 x 4 construction grade lumber. The crate should have an integral pallet and be flared at the base to minimize possible tipping. Be prepared to supply the crater with the weight and dimensions (LxWxH) of the contents for each crate. The overall crate size should be adequate to "float" the stained glass in four inches of foam (all sides, top and bottom). Specify four inches of high density foam ("PolyLam"®) on the bottom with four inches of medium density foam on all four sides and the top of crate. Also request that at least one side of the crate be screw attached for easier unpacking. Crates should be clearly labeled with "FRAGILE: GLASS", "THIS SIDE UP" or "TOP", "DO NOT LAY FLAT", "DO NOT DROP, etc. Also request that each crate have its own shock and tipping indicators attached (i.e: "ShockWatch"® or "Tip-N-Tell"®). These devises will register mishandling. If they are set off during transit, unscrupulous shippers may remove them, so notify the party who will receive the shipment about these devices in advance. If they are missing or have been triggered upon delivery, so note on delivery receipt when accepting shipment and notify shipper immediately of any damage. Choose your air-freight carrier carefully. Price should not be the only consideration. Find out exactly how your crates will be routed, how many times it will be handled, what kind of expertise each particular freight line has with fragile materials, and how precisely they can schedule delivery at the job site. Once you have selected an air freight company, try to determine names and phone numbers of the carrier's representatives at each segment of the journey. This allows you to make sure your crates are met with extra attention at each handling point. Use your people skills and make this a team effort -- you'll lose less sleep that way! No matter how thorough you are with planning and preparations, damage can happen. As mentioned above, stained glass is more vulnerable during transit from studio to installation than at any other time. Minimal breakage should be planned for. (The act of taking full palette of replacement glass, lead and repair tools seems to ward off most breakage in transit.) Of course, your actual risk is much greater.. Other types of insurance coverages aside, you should have your stained glass fully insured not only while on your premises, but during transit to the job site as well as during and after its installation prior to being accepted by your client. Air freight companies will usually provide coverage during shipping for an additional fee. However, you may have difficulty collecting any claim unless the loss is so undeniable that their adjustors (who make their living denying claims) can't dispute it. Typically, commercial contents underwriters are unable to provide this extended coverage either.. The best, most comprehensive approach are fine arts underwriters who specialize in covering this sort of exposure. You can find their ads in art journals such as "Art in America". And, of course, don't wait until the last minute to arrange for coverage. The preceding considerations have helped Architectural Stained Glass to plan efficient delivery of work to installations many times. This is an evolving process and we learn new tricks each time we go through it. Hopefully this article has given you a new perspective or two about the often overlooked, but always important need to get your stained glass from here to there in one piece.