A few weeks into liquidless travel, veteran road warriors are settling into new patterns that get them where they need to be with a minimum of hassle.

One way some business travelers are coping with the new restrictions is by shipping luggage containing banned carry-on items ahead of them.

"Where possible, I send certain stuff ahead, shaving cream and the like, and expense it, then ship it back home,'' writes Bruce Kane, a professional services consultant in Charlotte, N.C..

Nick Colucci, co-owner of Luggage Concierge, a door-to-door delivery service that adds in $1,500 insurance on the contents of shipments, said business has jumped since the restrictions were announced.

He said a 40-pound bag going from New York to Florida would cost around $85. There are advantages to a shipping service over a general shipper, like UPS or Fedex; the biggest one is that a service can pick up anywhere. "We're a couple bucks more than UPS, but if you're in a rural area, you'd have to drive it to a distribution center,'' said Colucci. A luggage shipping service can help with delivery snafus on the destination side as well. If a hotel allows it, Colucci said, Luggage Concierge will have the bag delivered directly to the room.

Then there's the extra coverage in case of trouble. Though the company does not make a practice of it, it has gone to great lengths to reduce the pain of lost or delayed luggage. "We had some skiers in Colorado and their luggage was delayed. They sent us a bill for $1,200 or $1,300 dollars for ski equipment. We covered it,'' he said.

For now, companies are generally paying shipping expenses claimed by employees, said Caleb Tiller, spokesman for the National Business Travel Association, whose members are corporate travel managers. But if the ban continues, they'll begin looking at other alternatives.

Some companies are thinking about installing storage facilities at corporate headquarters that employees travel to constantly, said Tiller.

What some road warriors would really like to see is hotels stepping up to the plate and allowing loyal guests to keep some personal items on the premises. Some already do. "If you stay repeatedly at the same hotel, oftentimes you can leave items with the bell captain or front desk staff,'' said Tom Conway, an IT architect with IBM. "You can purchase what you need locally, and have the hotel hold onto it for you for when you return.''

What are you doing to make like on the road easier these days? Write to: Barbara Correa at bboydstoncorrea@yahoo.com