wwww.metalcabinetstore.com uses every available method to keep your shipping costs as low as possible. We do not make money on shipping; it is a "pass through" cost. Currently we use three freight brokers that electronically "shop" your order to hundreds of freight carriers to obtain the best possible shipping rates.
Things that effect shipping costs are:
1) The weight & distance the item(s) have to travel.
2) The freight class. The higher the freight class the higher the cost. We ship all of our mobile cabinets & carts without the casters attached because of this. It's hard to image but a cabinet without the casters is freight class 125 but merely by shipping the cabinet with the casters installed the freight class jumps to 500 and cost quadruples.
3) Where the shipment is delivered. Anytime a delivery is made to a non-commercial address the freight carriers add a "restricted access fee" which varies from carrier to carrier. Non-commercial addresses are residences, home offices, schools of any kind that don't have a separate warehouse facility, hospitals without a separate warehouse facility, any place there is security gate (military bases, prisons, etc.) and active construction sites.
4) Special Services. You wouldn't think it but all carriers charge an added fee just for using their lift gates. This can range from $15.00 to $50.00 depending on the carrier. If your item is light enough that you can lift it from the truck or you have a loading dock or forklift you want to be sure that you don't aks for this service. Inside Delivery is by far the most expensive add-on. It will add at least $90.00 and then the carriers will only bring it into the first door, not up any steps or elevators. We recommend that you avoid this option.
When you are looking at shipping costs please keep in mind that the more you order the lower the per unit cost. For example, after checking with the 3 freight brokers, if you were to ship one 150 lb. cabinet from our Pennsylvania factory to the Cleveland, Ohio area the cost would be $92.20 but if you were to ship 5 of these same cabinets to the same location the shipping would be only $157.68 ($31.54 per cabinet)! Whenever possible try to consolidate your orders and ship everything at one time and to the same location.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at 888-651-3880 (216-373-4200 outside the continental US), send an email to [email protected]or, if it between 9:00 and 6:00 eastern time, press the chat button that can be found near the top left corner of any page on this site.