Freight to your shop, and what to do when it arrives

Your chairs and tables come on a freight truck, on pallets, not in a parcel van. That changes what happens at the door, so this page is worth ten minutes before the delivery day.

The short of it

• LTL freight, palletized, dropped at a business address, either at the dock or off the truck's tailgate.
• Freight is quoted separately for each delivery address after we read the order. It is never in the furniture price.
• Stock pieces want 14 to 21 business days before they are ready, custom ones as much as about 8 weeks. Transit is added, and it is an estimate.
• Your staff unload the truck and carry everything inside.

What standard service means

LTL stands for less than truckload: your pallets share a truck with other freight. The standard service ends at a business address: at your dock if you have one, otherwise at the truck's tailgate. That is where the carrier's job stops. Moving the furniture off the tailgate and into the shop is yours, so plan the hands and the hand truck.

Granite and stone table topsGranite and stone table topsResin patio furniture

No driver will haul pallets or cartons on stairs, up or down. Unpacking, assembly and taking away the cartons and wrap are never part of any delivery service.

Services you can add

If your shop has no dock, a liftgate lowers the pallets from the truck bed to the ground. Inside delivery brings them through the door. Limited access covers sites with gated or controlled entry: a hospital, a school, a church, a military base. A home address is served with the residential delivery service.

Every one of these is charged on top, and it goes on the order at the moment you send it. Mention it in the order and in the address details. Adding a service once the truck is on the road may not be possible, and it costs more if it is.

Lead time and loads

Once confirmed, a stock item takes 14 to 21 business days to be ready for the truck. Custom work, such as upholstery outside the listed options, a special finish or an unusual size, can stretch to about 8 weeks. The carrier's transit time comes on top and is an estimate, never a promise, so don't book the opening party on it.

A big order may come on two trucks or more, and every truck gets the same careful check at the door.

Charges that can turn up later

Carriers bill for things that change on the day. If the truck has to wait, comes back a second time, is sent to a new address, has to hold the freight in storage or is asked for a fixed appointment, the carrier charges for it. Those charges, called detention, redelivery, reconsignment, storage and appointment fees, are passed on at the carrier's rate. A ready crew and a correct address avoid most of them.

Get the shop ready

Clear a path from the curb or the back door to where the furniture will sit. Measure the door. Move the bakery rack, the chalkboard and the bins out of the way. If deliveries come down an alley shared with other shops, tell us in the order notes.

Receiving, step by step

Plan for the truck to be emptied inside roughly half an hour of pulling in, so have the crew on hand. Then work through this before the driver leaves:

• Tally every pallet and carton with the bill of lading in your hand.
• Walk round each carton. Any carton that is crushed, torn or absent gets written onto the bill of lading, and only then do you sign.
• No time to check it all? Add the words "subject to inspection" beside your signature.
• Photograph any damage, on the pallet and in the carton.

Concealed damage, the sort that only shows when a sound-looking carton is opened, has a 24-hour reporting window. Hang on to the broken packaging till the claim closes. We help you prepare the carrier claim. Short counts and defects go to us in writing inside three days of the delivery, at sales@commercialcafefurniture.com; begin the subject with CLAIM.

Several shops, one order

Opening two sites at once, or refitting three? Every address is priced for freight on its own, and each takes its own load. Put every address and its contact name in the order, and mark which lines go where.

Shipping on your account

Got a freight account with a carrier? You can route the order on it; just say so as the order goes in.

Canada

Most of Canada is in our delivery area. Clearance is handled by a customs broker you appoint, and brokerage fees, duties and Canadian taxes all fall to you. Put the broker's details in the order notes.

Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico

We can get a large order to any of the three. First fill in the specialist form with what you need; we write back with the route and the price, and you order after that.

For anything else about freight, write to sales@commercialcafefurniture.com with FREIGHT at the front of the subject. The returns page and the warranty page pick up where this one ends, and the questions page has short answers on liftgate and residential delivery.