Ordering your first pallet of merchandise

How exciting your first order can be! There are many things to consider when you finally decide to order your first pallet of merchandise. Shipping a pallet may seem to be difficult, but it is very simple as long as you have a crash course in freight logistics. Your pallet will be shipped by a commercial trucking company with the method being “LTL” or Less than truckload. The company you are buying the pallet from will confirm several pieces of information from you including your full shipping address, phone number and whether or not the location being shipped to is a residence or business. A shipment to a residence will typically incur a residential fee anywhere from $35 – $75 per shipment. It is most economical to have your pallet shipped to a commercial location. You will also be asked if your location has a loading dock or forklift for removing the pallet from the truck. If a loading dock and/or forklift are not available then you will be charging a “Lift gate” fee so your merchandise can be removed from the back of the truck. Here is an area where a forklift or loading dock is not necessary – Ask how your merchandise will be loaded onto the pallet. If your merchandise will be boxed and stacked onto the pallet it is possible that the truck driver at your location can cut the shrink wrap and hand down the boxes to you one at a time. It is not uncommon to have 8-30 boxes on a pallet. If your merchandise will be placed into a “Gaylord Box” (A very large box, think of a watermelon box found in your produce department) the “Hand Down” method will probably not work.Even with lift gate and residential fees shipping a single pallet to you is still economical as your shipper probably receives freight discounts based upon the volume of merchandise they ship ongoing. You should count on at least $100-$350 shipping per pallet which will vary due to pallet weight and destination.

When your pallet arrives at your location the driver will present to you whats called a “BOL” or Bill of Lading. This is a fancy term for a packing list. Both shipper and receiver will sign this list. The shipper verifies that a certain quantity of merchandise is loaded onto the truck and the receiver will, upon verification, sign that the quantity has been received. Remember a quantity could be “One Pallet” or any number of boxes so check with your shipper (Company you bought from) to see how they built the pallet.

The trucking company will leave you with the wood pallet and you might want to consider buying a pallet jack which will allow you to move your pallet around with ease. Pallet jacks are an inexpensive convenience. Watch your local newspaper and you might be able to purchase one used for $50-$150.00. New pallet jacks can be purchased from a company called HarborFreight.