The Freight Doctor

In an effort to help you find the best freight quote last week, I decided to pick 4 freight companies online and have them give a freight quote for the same item. Some companies I used their online instant freight quote. Others I phoned in an spoke with an agent.  Here were the parameters I used:

Boxed item rated as FAK Class 125 at 250 lbs.

Origin: San Diego, CA 92101 Commercial Location with Forklift and/or dock

Destination: Atlanta, GA 30303 Residential Location with Liftgate

I discarded any quote that didn’t offer freight insurance or was covered for less than $5/ lb.

Here are the numbers:

FreightShippingDirect.com - $313.88

FreightShippingCenter.com - $433.90

FreightCenter.com - $460.34

Freight101.com - $468.12

As a continuing part on my series explaining accessorial charges, today I’ll go into Residential Pickup and Delivery Charges.

The reason for Residential Delivery and / or Pickup Charges for non commercial locations is due to the fact that there are a number of factors that impede a prompt delivery or pickup to the location. The reasons can vary from there being no loading docks or forklifts, the streets may be narrower and harder to negotiate in and out of for the truck driver and as general rule of thumb it’s simply just more difficult to pick up and drop off shipments in non commercial environments. Typically you can also expect a liftgate charge attached because there isn’t a loading dock for the driver to back into as discussed in my previous post.

You can expect fees for residential charges to range anywhere from about $50-$100 tacked onto your total freight quote or bill.