I'd suggest having a crate made for it no matter how its shipped.
I had that done a couple of years ago, and it was quite reasonable.
The crate was custom built, and lined with hard styrofoam.
Expect ANY shipper to drop it from 5-10'. Unfortuantly thats
the way things are treated. I have shipped heavy, bulky items via
Greyhound before with no problems.

Steve