We’ll make sure you win!
In business, everyone looks at the bottom dollar. How much is this part or accessory going to cost me? Not only price, but you have shipping fees, installation fees, storage fees, etc… Well, we wanted to let you know your options for shipping and some ways that you may be able to save. There are many different freight companies and at Stenten’s we try to negotiate with them to keep all costs down, but we want to break down the options we offer so you can decide your preferred method.
We ship using UPS and USPS for small parcels and Southeastern Freight Lines and SAIA for our LTL (Less Than Load) truck orders. We generally choose if we ship LTL or UPS based on cost and additional fees that can be applied such as residential charge, lift gate fee, etc… Recently, UPS ground has opened up larger possibilities by increasing the weight and size limits that they will carry. When it comes to our small parcel shipments, unless a customer requests USPS, we will ship via UPS as default.
Small Parcels
UPS is a great service but sometimes it just takes too long to get packages to the west coast. When this happens, the United States Postal Service might have an option that will be the right fit for your needs. They offer Flat Rate Priority mail to anywhere in the Continental US in 3 days or less. Last year we started shipping via USPS Priority mail to a select few dealers and the response was mixed. Our dealers that are in Florida sometimes had packages delayed 2-3 days when UPS would be delivered next day. We haven’t had any issues with packages that were going across the country. The USPS flat rate is offered in 3 different shipping sizes from 8 5/8” x 5 3/8” x 1 5/8” for $6.10 to a large size 12”x12”x5 .” for $16.35. This is a flat rate fee for up to 70 lbs. maximum weight. We can ship via standard priority mail in other packaging but the price would fluctuate based on weight the same way that UPS does, but it is usually a more affordable option. Priority mail is a service you will need to request, however, when you place your orders at Stenten’s.
Truck Freight
Truck orders are reserved for larger stock orders or large product that exceeds UPS’s limits, such as tops. Most of our Free Freight orders will be delivered via LTL because we have negotiated very competitive rates, however, there are additional services that are sometimes requested that are not included for free. For instance, there are additional fees for residential delivery, call before delivery, and lift gate service, and these are substantial fees. Residential and lift gate service are $80 each and to have the driver call before delivery is $18 when shipping via Southeastern Freight Lines, which is our most used carrier. A dealer can easily add an additional $178 to their order if all of these services are required. Most times these fees can be avoided by 1. providing an alternate commercial address for delivery, 2. if you do have a commercial address most likely you will have a forklift and you can avoid the lift gate fee, but sometimes this fee may not be avoidable if you don’t have a means to unload the pallet, 3. Finally, you can eliminate the call before charge most times by simply being proactive and calling the terminal yourself and finding out what time they have you scheduled for delivery most times they give a 1-hour window.
As always if you have any questions about our shipping policies or if you simply need a quote on freight before your order ships just give us a call and we will be more than happy to help you.
2785 Commerce PkwyNorth Port, FL 34289
