Ive been in the shipping and trucking business for 18 yrs. This isnt a bad price. First of all they cannot stack freight on top of the block or transmission. They wont risk stakin it on top of other freight because of fear of leaking oil or transmission fluid. The block/transmission will need to be strapped or bolted to the skid. Your shipper must know this. The weight should be more around 575lbs. So have your shipper put that weight on the bill of lading. The freightline will weight it anyway most of the time. If they find it weighs more they will charge you. If they find it weighs less than your 800lbs they will say nothing and charge you for what your shipper wrote down.

Now it should be known that this is what we call ugly freight. Noone wants to particularly haul it. Its more of pain in the rear than anything.

Now if you want to save money, the best option for you is ((if)) you have any friends who work for a company who ships regularly with freight lines have them call and get a quote as they will have substancially more discount pricing than you are receiving. Tell him to get a quote and a quote number showing the costs and you will prepay their costs by check. That way they will not be out anything. And as said previously California to Michigan is a long way. Unless your getting a great deal. Freight costs and eat up what value your getting in the engine/transmission. Couldnt you find something within 200 miles where you could go and pick it for for $70 or less. That would be my first option. Finally, IF you do go with getting this from California, get a quote number from the freightline, so you dont get billed higher charges at a later date. The freight should be classified as "used auto parts"