Steve,
We get trucks and heavy pallets in here all the time and since I work out of
my house have to unload them ourselves too. Some have been in the 1000's of
pounds too. The responsibility of the truck company is to get it to the back
of the truck and nothing more. But in 6 years of doing this I don't ever
recall a driver that would not at least help and in some cases they bring it up
to
the door.
What I would do is to call the trucking company once you know who is
delivering it (get the name and bill of lading number (pro number) from the
shipper.
Call them and tell them you are a residential delivery and see if they can
provide a lift gate (many companies have these on some of their trucks though
there may be an extra $25 charge for it). If so they can put it on that and
lower
it to the ground. Also see if they have what is called a pallet jack. This
is something like a floor jack but has two arms that go under the pallet and
then lifts it up. It has wheels and you can usually roll it then to your
garage. The driver will normally help with this, but if your drive is steep
they
may not and it may not even be possible to roll it up the drive if it is that
steep.
But one you have it off the truck you can then open the pallet and take the
items out one by one and use a hand truck or even two (one on each end) to get
the items up the drive with the help of a friend or friends. You most likely
will not need to rent anything if you have a least two hand carts.
Hope this helps some.
Jeff
In a message dated 7/16/2005 9:21:05 PM Eastern Standard Time,
Steve@shoyer.com writes:
I finally ordered a lift so I can park both my MGB and my real car in the
garage. It's supposed to be loaded onto a truck on Tuesday and should show up
3-4 days later. I was planning on renting either a fork lift or a Bobcat
(skid-steer loader), but the trucking company is only going to give me 24 hours
notice before delivery, and I don't want to have the equipment sitting around
over
the weekend at $200+/day. Does anyone on the lift have experience getting a
lift off a flatbed trailer that might be more economical?
The lift I'm getting is from Revolution Lifts (the consumer division of
Rotary Lifts), and they said that the box is about 15' long and weighs about
2100
lbs. The heaviest component is the ramp with the hydraulic piston at about 400
lbs. I'm afraid that they might not be able to get the trailer up my steep
and twisty driveway, but my first concern is just getting the stuff off the
truck.
I figure the hard part is over - convincing my wife that we really needed the
lift.
Thanks.
--Steve (1980 MGB)
Best Regards,
Jeff Zorn
Little British Car Co. / Vintage Motors, LTD. http://www.LBCarCo.com
Also visit the premier MGA Website http://www.namgar.com
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