When you place an order with your San Francisco courier service you may be told that you require the use of a lift-gate. A lift-gate is a special piece of equipment which is used to move equipment from the ground to the level of a truck, and also from the level of the truck back to the ground level. This is something that is required for any shipments in which the packages weigh over one hundred pounds.
When the packages are less than one hundred pounds in weight, they are loaded and unloaded typically by having one man on the ground level and one man in the back of the truck and loading and unloading the packages by hand. However, regulations require that for packages that are heavier than that limit that a lift-gate be used in order to maintain workplace safety and minimize the risk of any injury to workers.
There is an exception to this rule of using lift-gates. When the pickup and delivery locations are both equipped with loading docks, then a lift-gate is not required. This is because in this case there is no need for the lowering of the goods from the truck level to the ground, as they can simply be moved straight from the truck into the warehouse via the loading dock.
There are many reasons why loading docks are a very useful feature to include in any warehouse, and the cost saved on renting lift-gates from your delivery company is just one of them. There is also a huge savings in term of the time it takes to simply unload a truck into a loading dock as opposed to the amount of time it takes to unload to a ground level facility and then move the cargo to its final destination.
The lift-gate fee will appear on your invoice if one was required for your shipment from most delivery companies. This is also another reason that it is always important to accurately list the weight of your shipments. If you estimate your packages to be less than one hundred pounds, you will be told you don’t need the rental of a lift-gate.
However, if you underestimated the weight of those packages, then when they weight your cargo at the shipping facility, a lift-gate will be required to be added to the truck, at which point you will receive an invoice that will be for more money than you were originally quoted for.
Scott Gallagher is an International Consultant for San Francisco Courier Service. With exceptional knowledge of the San Francisco Delivery Service, Scott is also becoming an expert with Local Internet Marketing.
