A cylinder of spiral-wound cardboard resists crushing better than almost any flat box, and it carries rolled paper for less than you'd guess. We priced two real tubes through live carrier rates to show the range.
Both tube quotes below came straight out of the calculator on 2026-07-27 and appear exactly as returned.
Both shipments ran Newark, NJ 07102 to Atlanta, GA 30303. The first is a 24 by 36 poster rolled into a 25.6-inch tube at 1.1 lb; the second is a 35.4-inch tube holding unstretched canvas at 1.5 lb. The tube travels as-is, capped and taped, with no box around it. Totals include SMKlog's charge, so checkout matches the table.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | Ground | $11.07 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $12.72 | about 4 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $16.37 | 3-4 business days |
| FedEx | Express Saver | $19.09 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $19.93 | 2-3 business days |
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | Ground | $11.07 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $16.37 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $16.72 | about 4 business days |
| FedEx | Express Saver | $19.09 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $21.05 | 2-3 business days |
Worth noticing: UPS Ground returned an identical $11.07 for both tubes even though the second is ten inches longer. Light cylinders live at the bottom of the rate chart, where an extra bit of length often changes nothing. The pattern flips once a tube gets long enough to trip length rules, so a quote beats an assumption every time. Cost is only half the story on posters; the poster shipping guide digs into that side properly.
Leave a couple of inches of air past each end of the roll and stuff that space with crumpled kraft paper before capping. End impacts are how rolled art dies; the paper plug is the crumple zone. For a standard poster a 3-inch diameter is comfortable, and heavy stock prefers 4 inches so the curl stays gentle.
Plastic end caps back out during handling unless taped in a cross pattern over the cap and around the barrel. Tape is cheap. A tube that arrives empty because one cap walked off is the classic tube failure, and it is entirely preventable.
FedEx sells a One Rate tube, 6 x 6 x 38 inches, from $42.75 with packaging included, per fedex.com, checked 2026-07-27. That flat price can suit long cross-country express runs, though both of our quoted tubes came in far under it on this lane. Compare against a live quote before paying for the program.
Our 25.6-inch poster tube drew quotes from $11.07 to $19.93 on the Newark-to-Atlanta lane on 2026-07-27, and a longer 35.4-inch art tube started at the same $11.07 with UPS Ground. Tube length, diameter, weight and ZIP pair set your exact figure, so run a live quote before buying postage.
Any time the contents can be rolled without harm: posters, prints, blueprints, maps, banners, unstretched canvas. A tube is stiffer than flat cardboard along its length, weighs less than a panel-sized box, and skips the oversize trouble a wide flat carton invites.
Pick a tube 2 to 4 inches longer than the rolled sheet so the ends get crumpled-paper cushions, with a diameter of about 3 inches for standard posters. Rolling loosely into a wider tube stresses the paper less than forcing a tight curl into a narrow one.
Every price in our tables is the checkout total for that exact tube, so anything the carrier applies to round packaging is already baked in. If you want certainty for a different tube, quote it live; the figure you see is the figure you pay.