To liftgate or not to liftgate, that is the question.
You’ve seen the option but may or may not have chosen it. Or – your customer may have requested it upon delivery and you only found out once you were invoiced. Let’s talk about an essential term that you must know if you’re in shipping, what is a liftgate?
Liftgate Definition
A liftgate (or tailgate) is a hydraulic lift attached to the rear of the truck that allows you to load and unload pallets with only a hand pump truck.
How Does a Liftgate work?
Liftgate’s use a hydraulic system that powers them up and down. When required, they will lower to the ground and provide you the ability to push the pallet onto the platform with a handpump which either you or the driver supplies. Once loaded, the driver lifts the gate so it’s parallel to the back of the truck, which will allow him to then load the skid inside the trailer.
Liftgates are frequently used in offloading shipments in residential areas. Sometimes customers forget to mention they’ll be needing a liftgate and shippers are charged extra for redelivery ($ 100-500). This is called an accessorial charge, A liftgate charge usually averages around $ 50- 100.
When Do I Need a Lift Gate?
There can be a few situations where you may need a liftgate, here’s a list:
Now that we understand what a liftgate is and when you need one, let’s talk about the benefits of using a liftgate vs lifting your shipment the old fashioned way.
What Are the Benefits of Using a Liftgate ?
Lifting heavy shipments may cause injuries. It doesn’t matter if you’re shipping to a business or residential address, it makes business sense to provide a liftgate service to your customer.
If your customers are lifting the shipment manually this can not only waste time for them, but in the case of an accident could also get you in legal trouble. To mitigate your risk, we recommended using a liftgate for all heavy shipment deliveries.
If you’re a business or consumer shipping valuables to your address, it’s possible that the trailer may be too high for you to effectively carry the shipment. This may cause you to damage the shipment as you are unloading it. We recommend using a liftgate especially in the cases of valuable freight.
Do you remember the last time you moved something heavy ? It’s safe to assume you didn’t do that alone. When offloading heavy freight, you may require a number of employees to complete the task effectively. Your unloading crew will use up more time as they manually try to offload your freight. For best efficiency, safety and ease, use a liftgate.
Are There Limitations to the Liftgate?
Absolutely. You’ll need to understand that liftgates are designed to work with your typical standard size pallets. The gate has a maximum width as well as height and weight limitation. Let me explain;
Are you looking to buy skids, pallets, or crates to use for your shipments? Here’s a few of our recommended sellers:
4. New Pall
So there you have it. If ever in doubt between who will dispatch what truck or what the maximum length or weight might be, especially when utilizing Freightcom’s system when we offer such a wide variety of options, reaching out to our experts to get the answer before shipping is extremely important. Nobody expects you to memorize each carrier’s limits, and that’s why we have a team that handles these things exclusively.
No account with Freightcom? What are you waiting for? Sign up today free, and browse our selection of carriers and service offerings.