Lift-gate, inside deliveries and limited access fees.

Shipments sent to residences or retail locations in cities most likely don’t have loading docks for easy unloading of products.  And if the location happens to be a retail store in a mall, the delivery person may have to make an “inside delivery”, meaning wheeling the boxes on a hand truck to the store in the mall.

A lift-gate is a device on the back of a truck that’s like an elevator and is used to safely lower the product from the trailer to ground level.  It is useful for heavy boxes or bulky deliveries to locations without a dock, like residences or downtown commercial locations.  But this is most important to the freight carrier – it avoids costly Workers’ Comp claims for back injuries!

If the loading dock at a facility is located such that it is difficult to access (to back into), or is obstructed so that the delivery driver must wait for the dock to clear, there may be a fee for “limited access”.  Freight charges are contingent on the drivers having unobstructed and immediate access to loading docks.  If that’s not the case they may charge for the inconvenience or extra time to deliver the goods.

Unless your shipment is small enough to be sent UPS, FedEx or USPS, nearly all other freight carriers charge a fee to use a lift-gate and/or a fee for inside delivery.  It’s important to let us know if the customer needs “lift-gate” and/or “inside delivery” when the order is placed or requesting a freight quote.  This provides you the opportunity to communicate these additional charges to your customer.  The benefit to you is you’re not stuck with unexpected freight charges you are reluctant to pass on to the customer. And the benefit to your customers is that the delivery may be expedited because the freight hauler can then more efficiently schedule deliveries and determine the type of truck needed for the delivery.

Wisconsin Converting will not be responsible for additional charges for lift-gate, inside delivery, or limited access. These charges will be added to the invoice, or if already invoiced, billed separately.  So please, for your sake and ours, let us know right away if your customer’s location needs either, or both, inside delivery or lift-gate services.