For example: Say that I ordered a huge case of paper towel and I have set up a deal with a distribution company to bring them to my warehouse; will it be up to me to pull them off the trailer with my own forklift or will they take care of all of that for me? If I'm ordering mass amounts of a lot of things should investing in a fork lift be a good thing? Let me know.

Thank You

Good question, and often an area of misunderstanding. According to the rules/guidelines established by the NMFTA (I think the acronym is correct), participating carriers (and these would be your regular players like Yellow, Roadway, etc.) are responsible only to bring the freight to the end of the trailer, where you are responsible for off-loading, by whatever means you may have. Additional charges will be assessed for lift gates, inside delivery, and the like.

Now, theory and practice are sometimes grotesquely different, and this is one reason to always *repeat* always be kind to drivers, because a ticked-off driver won't do anything more than he is responsible for, and there's not much a small client can do about it. That being said, some drivers will unload for you, and some won't touch the freight at all.

I suggest talking to your trucking company sales rep first, to get a feel for what they're willing to do. If it's just an occasional thing, maybe a neighbor can lend a pallet jack or lift truck or even "cross-dock" for you. If you're going to be shipping / receiving daily, at least a good used electric pallet jack would be in order.

Remember, when dealing in forklifts, you're basically dealing in a vehicle, so exercise the same care you would in buying a car for yourself. If the budget calls for used, so be it, but get a third party mechanic to check it out. Also, LP lifts will emit exhaust that will cause you health problems (headaches, etc) in small warehouses with low ceilings. Alternately, a small electric may not provide enough power.

Several solutions -

First is have the driver open the back of the trailer, put it in reverse, come back fast and hit the brakes. Empties the trailer every time.

Times change and so do practices. Even though most LTL (less than truckload) truck lines have a "tailgate" policy, meaning the driver sets your freight at the back of the trailer and it's up to you to remove it from the trailer and do as you wish from there, most freight is now on wrapped pallets, many what they call "city trucks" that do the local deliveries (as opposed to the "line haul" trucks that go from city to city, have lift gates and pallet jacks. And, since they already have the pallet on the jack and have the jack on the lift gate, most drivers will "spot" your pallet for you CLOSE TO THE DOOR. They are not going to back into the hole on the other side of your building for you.

And you can also use a pallet jack to spot the pallet where you want it. Only if you are moving a lot of goods, or if you want to go up several layers, do you really need a forklift in most situations.

I've been receiving and shipping freight for several decades and have never had an LTL carrier charge extra for a liftgate. There was a time when only a few carriers had them, period. But now they are pretty common, so it's just a matter of making a few calls, seeing who in your area has them available and then specifying those carriers when ordering.

All of this refers to LTL's such as Yellow, Overnite, Roadway, Estes, RL?Greenwood, etc. If you suppliers use contract carriers or have their own fleet, they are probably prepared to handle whatever it is they bring you, no problem. But again, while they might go past the "tailgate" rule by a few yards, none of them is going to spot your freight in your building for you.

Such services are available in metro areas, often referred to as Shipper's Services. These people will deliver that piano to the 14 th floor, stock your products on the shelf for you, whatever (in addition to delivering it), but you need a super deep pocket for such custom services.

As far as buying / leasing a forklift, it depends on how much? how far? how high? You can start renting a pallet jack and going from there.

Okay here is where I have to say this from the experience of knowing people that use forklifts.

It is advisable that you take a course in how to operate one before attempting to use one. There are rules and guidelines governing this. For safety, I would recommend this if you have not.

Also, taking a course, and having the document to show that you have, you can therefore possibly use the ones at whatever location you would need one without purchasing your own.

And if anyone is wondering, I know this from my husband as he had to take a course where he used to work.

Moto is - Safety first!