Residential Delivery for Pallets

Which LTL carriers to use, and what's the extra costs?

[peterdaly]

I'm considering experimenting with a business that would require receipt of pallets, but not enough (yet) to warrent leasing of a warehouse with a loading dock.

I'm sure other people working out of their homes must get LTL delivery of pallets. How's the process usually work, and what are the extra fees involved?

Here's how I'd like it to work:
1. Driver unloads the pallet on the road in front of my house.
2. Pallet is placed in my garage...25ft flat driveway in-between.

Are there certain LTL carriers that do or don't offer this service?

I'm in the Eastern US, shipment would be between two east coast states.

Thanks for any help, it's obvious that the shipper, who usually works with "real" businesses with shipping departments, is less than interested in figuring out or teaching me the details of how this works.

[jwurunner]

Hello,
R & L Carriers is good for the delivery end. They have liftgates on every truck and deliver to residential with out issue. As for bringing it to the garage, that may be a problem or at least an extra charge. I would get a hand truck to transfer yourself if you can.

[sun818]

> Are there certain LTL carriers that do or don't offer this service?

Coast-to-coast, I'd say $250 to $350. LTL (less than truckload) carriers have always delivered to my residence. I attempt to set up a four hour window on a specific day. Most times, you set aside the whole day waiting for delivery. You may need to provide special instructions to the carrier if your residence has any special instructions. Mine is a dead-end street which requires the driver to reverse in for about 150 feet.

All that you can expect is a pallet on the truck. Trucks without liftgates and an injured driver means you have to offload it yourself one by one. It is possible, but I doubt anyone will drop it in the garage for you. Have a dollie and/or extra person on-hand in case this is the situation. If the driver helps out, I give them a small tip. I know its part of their job, but that's just me... :)

[peterdaly]

Unloading it piece by piece at the road never even crossed my mind as a possibility. I kind of thought that would be considered "rude" and not an accepted practice. That may be the easy (and cheap) answer.

[CernyM]

You'll be unloading it from the truck yourself.

Some companies automatically boost the rates if they know they are delivering to a residential area as well.

If you are in a position to always use the same carrier, you might start calling around and see if you can work out a deal. If you are doing enough volume to be interesting to them, just about anything is possible.

[peterdaly]

If I end up doing much volume, I'll probably end up renting some rat hole of a warehouse with loading dock. I just need to do enough from home to see if the numbers make the business worthwhile.