Having tools delivered by freight truck?

[Travis Conner]

The neighbors have a forklift, but I hate having to ask them since a lot of people do. If I pay the 50 dollar lift gate fee does that mean they're going to just drop it off in front of the shop or can I at least get the guy to roll it just inside the door of the shop? I know a lot of those third party LTL delivery companies say curbside delivery, but I mean really?

Are they pretty strict on that or is the driver pretty cool about putting it in the shop? It's really just a storage unit, so if he just drops it off the truck it's going to be out in the roadway where someone will hit it.

[Phillip Mitchell]

You should take that $50 and spend a portion of it on a 12 pack of good beer / some doughnuts / anything your neighbors will appreciate and value and develop a relationship with them (and their forklift.)

A forklift is a terrible thing to waste.

[Travis Conner]

Everyone tries to flip the guy $20 but he doesn't ever take it. The donut idea may not be a bad idea. At the same time it's kind of like conning him into continuing his good graces. I'm probably over thinking it.

[David Buchhauser]

Maybe offer the delivery driver a cash tip to help you move it into your building. How much does it weigh? Perhaps he carries a pallet jack on his truck to move the large items around inside the truck.
My pallet jack is rated at 5000 lbs. and makes it real easy to move large heavy bulky items around the shop.
David

Crown Pallet Jack.jpg

[Travis Conner]

60 gallon air compressor so like 600 pounds. I believe they do have pallet jacks it's how they move the items from the front of the truck to the back to be unloaded in the first place. I just don't want them to dump it off in front of the door and I'm SOL. Atleast stick it inside the door and I can uncrate it and have some people help me later on at their convenience put it in place.

[Jacob Reverb]

60 gallon air compressor so like 600 pounds.

You sure about that? My 80-gallon model couldn't have been 300#, I don't think. At any rate, me and another guy moved it as far as we needed to on its pallet...

[Travis Conner]

But if they just dump it off then I'm going to reject the load.

[David Buchhauser]

Step up to the plate!! Offer him a few bucks to help you out!! Or call the vendor to see what services are offered. I really don't think this is a major problem.
David

[David Buchhauser]

Or have him back the truck up to your building. I've had many dealings with delivery truck drivers and they are usually most accommodating.
David

[Bruce Lowekamp]

I’ve never had a driver not willing to wheel the pallet into my garage. Carry things upstairs, yeah that’s more. But once they have the lift gate, pushing the pallet jack a few feet isn’t a problem.

Bruce

[Pete Staehling]

In my experience they always put it on a pallet jack, drop the lift gate, and wheel it up the driveway. I always have wanted to assemble out in front of the roll up door where there is more space and then move it inside so I never asked them to move it inside, but I am sure rolling it 10 more feet wouldn't have been a problem.

Other companies may vary, but I am sure the guys who have delivered my machines would have had no problem wheeling it into my shop as long as it was just a matter of wheeling it in on the pallet jack. It was on the pallet jack already and on the driveway. If your situation is different, unpaved driveway, stairs, a steep ramp, etc. may complicate the situation.

[Mark Bolton]

But if they just dump it off then I'm going to reject the load.

If I paid for lift gate service they would be crediting back more than just the $50 charge I paid them.

Gadzukes man.. I hope your never one of my customers. Yeesh. Liftgate curbside is the standard of the industry. The driver helps you get it in your building and trips, slips, twists his ankle, whatever, inside your home/property/facility, the companies comp is probably going to say "sorry for your luck your not covered". Do drivers still do it? Of course. The tractor and trailer deliveries I get the drivers bend over backwards to be helpful but I never have expected a single one to help me move a piece of equipment. The lip of the lift gate (rarely have lift gate) or the a$$ end of the truck is where I want their responsibility to end.. for their sake. Thats their job. They are not riggers, movers, machinery movers.

Look at Amazon for "professional setup" of a coffee maker, its like 150 bucks often times. Time, liability, and so on.

Deal with your purchase and dont expect the $50 lift gate fee to involve moving your load. The lift gate fee is there because its slower and the trucking company knows they are probably dealing with a poorly equipped delivery.

Your best advice is to call the shipper and have them hold it at the dock and go get it on a low trailer or some way you can deal with it at your leisure.

I could walk a 60 gallon compressor 20' rocking it from corner to corner across the street if I had to and Im 53. Heck I moved a quincy QT75MAX alone off a trailer.

Suck it up skippy.

[roger wiegand]

Deal with your purchase and dont expect the $50 lift gate fee to involve moving your load. The lift gate fee is there because its slower and the trucking company knows they are probably dealing with a poorly equipped delivery.

So I'm curious about what the industry expectation is for what you should get for a $400 "inside delivery" upcharge? (This is on top of the $150 lift gate fee.) (Who gets charged only $50 for a lift gate? Every time I've had it done it was either $100 or $150.)

The only really bad experience I've had with a delivery was the one where I paid for inside delivery-- my machine ended up out in the rain storm.

The freight industry seems like another one ripe for an Uber or Amazon style intruder to upend things and provide much better service and steal market share from the established players. I'd use truck freight much more often if it weren't such a hassle with both pricing and service options either unavailable or shrouded in mystery. I suspect I'm not alone.

[Mark Bolton]

So I'm curious about what the industry expectation is for what you should get for a $400 "inside delivery" upcharge? (This is on top of the $150 lift gate fee.) (Who gets charged only $50 for a lift gate? Every time I've had it done it was either $100 or $150.)

The only really bad experience I've had with a delivery was the one where I paid for inside delivery-- my machine ended up out in the rain storm.

The freight industry seems like another one ripe for an Uber or Amazon style intruder to upend things and provide much better service and steal market share from the established players. I'd use truck freight much more often if it weren't such a hassle with both pricing and service options either unavailable or shrouded in mystery. I suspect I'm not alone.

No idea what the 400 would include. That would be a conversation to have with the person cashing your $400 check.

There is no need for an Uber takeover I guess other than a low budget option. It already exists. Its called a rigging company. Would be spendy to pay a rigging company to come all the way to your shop to move in a thousand pound piece of equipment but I guess the point is still the same. If your $400 from your vendor says they will land the crated machine inside your space (without question) its on them. They have no idea if your driveway is mud, stone, concrete, asphalt, wafer thin, 8" thick to withstand a crane, I guess its on them.

The point is to be realistic. Lift gate delivery, and you have a 150' gravel driveway, is pretty unrealistic. Liftgate and your expecting the driver to help you get your machine as close to its final resting place is pretty unrealistic. Lift gate is lift gate.

Your "inside delivery" is a conversation and contract that you have with that specific individual and I would more than likely assume "they" have some sort of verbiage with regards to what a reasonable "inside delivery" is. But Im sure some dip-wad in downtown manhattan has hoo-doo'd them on the notion that "inside delivery" should mean 13th floor up a freight elevator, down 3 miles of corridor, and into some loft workshop space.....

The bottom line is its all about being reasonable.

P.S., MAJOR Bloom County fan here... ;-)

[Jim Becker]

"Inside Delivery/White Glove Delivery/Etc" are services beyond lift-gate for sure. I would think that they would sometimes entail different personnel from "regular truck drivers" in many cases and yea, the cost structure is going to be different. Regardless, it's a best practice to directly ask the carrier who has the delivery what the service includes and their expectations of the individual or business receiving the delivery. Asking the question insures there are no surprises.

BTW, for folks hiring a roll-back like I did for my CNC machine, be sure to understand that not all towing companies will do this kind of work because it requires special insurance beyond what they typically need for their vehicle hauling work. Some will do it and some will not for that reason. I had to call around until I eventually found a resource who, as it turns out, was one of the few in the area who regularly takes non-vehicle work. He loves that because he's making good change and enjoys it, too.