subject: Do I Need A Lift-gate With My Order? [print this page] Once you start shipping cargo with a larger Atlanta courier service, you're going to see options for lots of extra services and additional equipment, and it can be hard at first to learn which of these things are going to apply to you, and which are completely extraneous to your needs. One of the most common of these for people to wonder about is something called a lift-gate. Of all the additional options or services that your larger cargo courier offers, this is likely the one that you're going to have to pay for the most often.
Essentially, a lift-gate is simply a piece of equipment which fastens on to the back of a truck or trailer. It is used to elevate cargo from the ground level to the level of the vehicle, and back down from the level of the vehicle to the ground when unloading. They carry the lift-gate with the shipment and use it as required if you have paid for its use.
You will have to use a lift system anytime you are shipping something where the individual packages weigh more than 100lbs. This is a hard and fast rule with most courier companies, and there isn't likely to be much flexibility on that as a policy. The reason for this is that the prolonged lifting of packages of over 100lbs from any height to the ground and vice versa would very likely cause injuries to employees. In the situations where the employer might allow this, in many cases unions will not, meaning that lift-gates are always going to be required.
The cost of a lift-gate service is just one of those things that you have to expect when you start getting into shipping things which are larger and weigh more. One way that you can save on a liftage, somewhat, is by shipping LTL. If other shippers on that truck also need the lift-gate, some couriers will disperse the cost amongst the shippers that require it, meaning that you don't have to bear the cost entirely on your own.
One thing you want to make sure of is that you're not being charged for a lift-gate when you don't require one. If your facility has a loading dock, and the cargo is being taken to another location with a loading dock, a lift-gate isn't required. Because the cargo can be loaded straight onto and off of the truck, there is no reason to use the lift-gate.
