Operations
Liftgate Freight Shipping When the Dock Does Not Exist
A liftgate is a piece of equipment, not a surprise. Here is when shippers must request it and what happens if they do not.
Updated 2026-08-20 · liftgate freight shipping
Liftgate freight shipping is the unglamorous answer to a simple facility fact: there is no dock pit, and a forklift cannot meet a 53-foot trailer at grade. The hydraulic platform on the rear of a truck or pup trailer becomes the only legal way to get pallets to the ground without a dock.
COL Freight Solutions arranges liftgate-capable equipment on LTL and on smaller truckload or straight-truck moves across the USA, Mexico, and Canada. We cannot bolt a liftgate onto a dry van that was already dispatched without one. The request belongs in the first tender, next to the ZIP code.
Who actually needs a liftgate
Stores, restaurants, small warehouses, construction offices, and many Canadian or urban receivers that look “commercial” on Google Maps but have a curb, not a dock. If your SOP says “all customers have docks,” audit it. The exceptions are where invoices grow.
LTL versus a dedicated truck with a gate
LTL networks bill liftgate as an accessorial and still limit piece weight. A 2,500-pound crate may need a straight truck or a truckload with a gate, not a pup that maxes out lower. An LTL freight broker who never asks the weight per piece is setting up a refused delivery.
Inside delivery is a different request
Liftgate gets freight to the ground. Inside delivery takes it through a door. Residential and limited-access fees can stack on the same stop. Liftgate freight shipping quotes that omit those realities are not cheaper. They are incomplete.
Mexico and the equipment mix
Not every Mexican city has the same liftgate density as a U.S. LTL terminal network. Some destinations are better served by a local cartage truck after a cross-dock. Tell us the street-level truth: cobblestones, no forklift, union hours. We will arrange what exists, not what a U.S. accessorial menu assumes.
How to tender a liftgate shipment to COL
Piece count, longest dimension, weight per piece, whether a pallet jack exists at delivery, and photos of the door if the site is new. Phone 561-880-9808. Saint Petersburg and Los Gatos desks will not add the gate after the driver is already backing in.
