>Good points made by folks. I was also wondering about security and climate
>control. Is it a refrigerated van?

Yes, it is, and it's easy to tell just by looking at it.

I should point out that moving vans are the *preferred* method of shipping
museum objects.  McCollisters, the company moving the Romanoff collection,
is one of the best in the business, and are highly respected by the museum
community, especially the Registrars (and us former Registrars).
McCollisters is a constant presence at AAM meetings and are corporate
supporters of the Registrars Committee.  You may have noticed that there
were two drivers, a husband and wife team (btw, those drivers own that
truck, not United).  That's a standard practice.  Two drivers are often
used on long-haul museum shipments.  Many are also equipped with special
radios which can access police frequencies if there's trouble.  I know the
two drivers on the Romanoff shipment, and they are competent and sensitive
people.  They know their jobs and have been moving museum shipments for
years.  You also may have noticed that the cab is a double sleeper.  That's
usually the case with high value shipments, so the drivers can stay with
the truck at all times, and that one driver can sleep while the other
drives.  That cuts down on time on the road.  From DC, that van would have
been in Houston in about 1 1/2 - 2 days, allowing for meals.  The van was
contracted as "exclusive use" which means that only the Romanoff collection
is allowed on that truck during transit.  That eliminates intermediate
stops and unnecessary unloading.

Notice that I didn't mention cost as a reason to use vans.  That's because
moving vans are NOT necessarily a cost saving factor in museum shipping.
The exclusive use, climate controlled van with high value insurance
probably cost $10,000 or more per trip, and there are three or four venues
on this particular tour.  Museum shipping is not cheap.  The shipping costs
are over and above the costs to rent the exhibit, in this case about
$150,000.  Shipping costs that high are usually pro-rated, which means
everyone on the tour pays an equal share of the total shipping bill.  When
you consider shipping, insurance, rental, marketing, publicity, catalogs,
extra security if necessary, and staff time, you can see that museums sink
a lot of money into traveling exhibits.  Before it's over, each venue
probably invested over a quarter of a million in the Romanoff exhibit.

Many moving companies have whole divisions devoted to museum shipping.
United, which McCollister's is an agent for, is one of the best.  Also
North American's "Electronics and Exhibits" division is very good too.  You
may have seen those words on the side of their vans.  They also haul
computers.  Some companies move old worn out currency to government
incenerators because, again, with as many moving vans on the road,
individual trucks attract little attention, and drivers usually don't know
what they're moving, and are often told that it's paper to be recycled, or
something like that.

>And now everyone knows what that van
>looks like.

Knowing what that van looks like is not a big deal, because there are so
many of them on the road, picking out that one wouldn't be easy.

If it ever gets on the road again...wow, what a large target!

Well, the chances are better of a thief hitting that van when it's carrying
someone's household goods than museum objects.  Shipping schedules and
manifests are always closely guarded by companies and registrars.  In my
nine years as a Registrar (1986-1995) I never lost a truck, nor have ever
encountered an attempted theft.  The greatest mishap I had was a van
containing Mayan gold and jade getting held up in Montana en route to
Milwaukee due to a heavy snow storm.  It only put us a day behind schedule
in condition reporting and installation, so it wasn't a big problem.

>Tell me, do they move the jewels in a van too? I'm shocked if that's true.

Not so shocking.  It truly is the best and safest way to move the
collection.  Vans attract so little attention on the road, that they could
slip in and out w/o much notice.  Of course they were flown over here from
Russia, and I suspect couriers from the US and Russia accompanied the
shipment.  Ground transport is really the best way to go on domestic
shippments.

I hope I've enlightened you to some of the ins and outs of museum shipping.
That was my specialty as a Registrar, and I didn't even get into tariffs
as related to fee schedules, government licensing, and inland marine
insurance (that's insurance of goods in transit).

It's an interesting business, and even as a former Registrar, some of my
favorite colleagues still are the shipping agents, customs brokers, and
freight forwarders.  They are all very good at what they do, and museums
often don't give them enough credit.

I'm glad I haven't forgotten all this stuff.  :-)

Cheers,
HBC
(Hope to see some of you in Hot-lanna!)

*****************************************
Henry B. Crawford        Curator of History
[log in to unmask]     Museum of Texas Tech University
806/742-2442           Box 43191
FAX 742-1136             Lubbock, TX  79409-3191
*******   Life is a trip. Enjoy the ride!   ***********