Getting outdoor furniture off the truck and onto the patio

Your chairs arrive stacked on a pallet, wrapped tight, on a freight truck that needs room to stop. Plan for that truck and the day goes fine.

The short version

• LTL freight, palletized, with a separate quote for every delivery address
• Standard drop: a business address, at the dock or off the tailgate
• Your crew unloads and moves everything inside
• Standard pieces leave after 14 to 21 business days, and the clock for custom runs up to about 8 weeks
• Transit adds days on top, estimated and never promised

Trucks reach the lower 48 states and most of Canada.

Wood table topsOutdoor restaurant furniture

SKSSidewalk & Sky Outdoor Restaurant Furniture

The outdoor collectionSKS-40993

Wood table tops

What standard service covers

The driver brings the pallets to your dock or to the truck's tailgate. From there it is your job. Unloading, carrying the pieces in, unpacking, assembly and hauling off the cartons are never part of delivery, so put a few people on the schedule.

Extra services, booked with the order

A sidewalk cafe with no dock usually needs help getting pallets down. Each of these costs extra and goes on the order when you send it:

• liftgate, to lower pallets from the truck to the ground
• inside delivery, past the threshold
• limited access: a school, hospital, church, military base or any other site with restricted entry
• residential, for a home address, handled by the residential delivery service

Stairs are off the table for drivers, going up or coming down. For a rooftop, work out the route first: a freight elevator, a hoist, or a crew and an afternoon.

Get the space ready

Clear a path from the truck to wherever the pallets get opened. On a sidewalk that means the curb lane and the walkway, so find out when your block allows deliveries. On a roof, reserve the elevator for the afternoon. Have a box cutter, a hand truck, a broom and a spot for the cardboard waiting, because nobody hauls the debris away for you.

Charges that can appear later

When conditions change at delivery, the carrier may bill detention, redelivery, reconsignment, storage, or a set appointment time. Those reach you at whatever the carrier charges. A truck that waits an hour because nobody is there to unload is the usual culprit.

Timing and split loads

Lead time counts business days, not calendar days. Transit is added after the freight leaves and never counts as a promised date, so do not book the opening party on it. A large order can split across several trucks. Receive the third as carefully as the first. If the patio opens on a fixed date, count backward from it: lead time, then transit, then a few days to unpack and set up.

Several sites, or your own carrier

Opening a sidewalk patio and a rooftop at once? Every address is priced as its own freight job. Prefer to ship on your own carrier account? Put that in the order as you submit it.

Receiving, step by step

Unloading should begin within about 30 minutes once the truck parks. Then work through it at the curb, with the driver still there.

Match the pallet and carton count to the bill of lading. Walk around each pallet and look at the wrap and the corners. A crushed box or a missing one goes on that bill before your signature does. Short on time for a full look? Add subject to inspection beside your name. Then take pictures of anything damaged, right there on the sidewalk.

Damage hiding inside a carton has a clock: report it within 24 hours. Save the torn cartons and wrap; they stay until the claim is settled. We help you build the carrier claim. A short count or a defect gives you three days from receipt to write to us, subject line CLAIM, then the project.

Shipping to Canada

Clearing customs is your broker's job. You pay the brokerage, the duties and the Canadian taxes, separate from our freight quote.

Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico

Big orders can go there. Start with the specialist form and the project details. We write back with the route and what it costs, and nothing moves until that is settled in writing.

Before you order

Check the how-to-order steps for what goes in the order notes, and the returns page for what happens if a pallet is refused. A piece damaged in transit is a freight claim, while a defect falls under the warranty. Keep your outdoor plan handy on delivery day to tick off each line.