Delivery planning
What the truck brings on delivery day, and what you do
A pallet is easy to order and harder to receive. This page covers what the truck brings, what's yours to handle, what costs extra, and what to do in the first thirty minutes. Hand it to whoever will be standing at the door.
What standard delivery covers
Furniture ships as LTL freight, palletized. LTL means less than truckload: your pallets ride with other shipments. The standard service drops them at a dock or at the truck's tailgate, at a business address. After that the pallets are yours, and so is the work of carrying the furniture inside.
Freight is never part of the furniture price. Once we've read your order, the confirmation email carries a freight quote for each delivery address. Prefer your own carrier account? Mention it with the order.
Extras, booked when you order
Each extra below adds to the freight bill, and each has to be asked for when you place the order, not on the day:
- Liftgate: a platform at the rear of the truck that lowers pallets to street level. Ask for it if your door has no dock.
- Inside delivery: the freight comes through the door instead of staying beside the truck.
- Limited access: sites with restricted entry, such as military bases, hospitals, schools, and churches.
- Residential: the service used for a home address. It's booked at order as well.
Staircases are off limits for drivers: they don't carry freight up or down them, so a basement storeroom or a second-floor dining room is your crew's work. None of the freight services covers unpacking, assembly, or debris removal.
How long it takes
Count 14 to 21 business days for standard pieces. Custom work, which means upholstery off the list, special-order stains or finishes, or sizes and shapes beyond the standard range, is slower: allow up to about 8 weeks. Transit time comes on top. It's an estimate, never a promise, so count backward from your opening date and leave room.
A large order may arrive in pieces, one truck at a time. Treat every arrival like the first and run the same checks.
The first thirty minutes
Staff should be ready to unload when the truck pulls up, and no later than about 30 minutes after it arrives. Then work down this list:
- Tally the pallets and cartons, and compare the tally with the bill of lading.
- Look over each carton for crushed corners, holes, and torn wrap.
- Anything damaged or missing goes on the bill of lading, carton by carton, before your signature does.
- Short on time? Sign "subject to inspection".
- Photograph damage before the truck pulls away.
- Open the cartons. Hidden damage must be reported within 24 hours.
Hold on to damaged packaging until the carrier claim is closed. We help prepare that claim, and a clean signature on a damaged delivery makes it harder. Shortages and defects have a three-day window from receipt, and the report has to be written: open the subject line with CLAIM, add photos, and send it to sales@restaurantfurniture.shop.
Ahead of delivery day
Walk from the curb to the spot where the furniture will end up. Measure the door. Note any step, any narrow turn, any hour when the street is closed to trucks. Clear a dry corner for the pallets and the empty cartons, because 40 chairs in boxes take more floor than you expect. Pick someone with the authority to sign, and put that name in your order notes along with the receiving hours.
Charges that can turn up at the door
Carriers bill extra when conditions change. Detention applies when the driver is kept waiting. Redelivery follows a delivery that couldn't be made, and reconsignment follows an address change while the freight is moving. Storage and fixed appointment times can be billed as well. We pass these through at the carrier's rate. Good notes at order time are the cheapest way to avoid every one of them.
Several addresses
Every delivery address gets its own quote, extras included, so a second shop is quoted separately. List each address with its ZIP code when you submit. If you copy your cafe plan for the second shop, change the address along with the counts.
Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico
Delivery runs coast to coast across the continental United States and into most of Canada. Canadian deliveries need a customs broker of your own to clear the freight. Their brokerage fee, any duties, and Canadian taxes are on you. For Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, large orders can be delivered. Fill in the specialist form with the project details before you order; the route and the cost come back to you in writing.
The ordering steps show where freight fits. Damage from the truck is a carrier claim we help with, a defect in the piece itself falls under the warranty, and changes to a confirmed order are covered on the returns page.
Freight question before you order? Write to sales@restaurantfurniture.shop with FREIGHT and your project name in the subject line, and list each address.