Cash, check or charge, there are only three ways to guarantee the payment of delivered building supplies to residential or commercial job sites. Simultaneously, there are only three main channels for delivering supplies: pay the dealer to do it, hire a third party delivery service, or do it yourself. The meshed processes entail having an adequate vehicle to transport the supplies, a safe way to load and unload them, enough manpower, and of course, the means to make and accept payments.
Deliveries by Building Supply Dealers
Many building supply dealers offer paid delivery services for their products at reasonable fees. Delivery is typically arranged by contractors or consumers when supplies are ordered.
The size and style of the delivery trucks depend on the type of materials being delivered. For example, a heavy duty stake-bed truck is the vehicle of choice for delivering products such as rebar, roofing shingles or lumber while a full-size 10-wheel dump truck is needed to carry bulk loads of top soil, gravel or crushed granite.
What kind of delivery services are available?
Building supply dealers can deliver items quickly and place them where they are needed. A standard delivery charge of $50 or higher (depending on the region) includes dropping them outside the building at the job site. Using specialized equipment such as lifts, rough terrain forklifts or cranes, dealers can reach more precise drop zones such as decks and roofs, or around hardscape features for higher fees. A few dealers are even willing to hand carry items into buildings for the right price.
Third-Party Delivery Services
Some building supply dealers use third-party delivery companies because they don’t want to hassle with vehicle maintenance, liability insurance, labor and other factors while others use third-party services to augment their own efforts or address seasonal overflow.
These delivery services are typically very reliable and cost about the same as dealer-run efforts. Some third-party companies are full-service providers with similar or even better capabilities as those mentioned above, but others are mom-and-pop operations with one or two medium-duty dump trucks.
If needed, help does exist for heavy building supplies such as wooden trusses where a crane operator can remove them from flatbed trucks, place them on the job site, or even lift them directly onto framed structures for a considerable fee.
The good news is that building supply dealers understand the required demands of the items they sell and only ship via qualified handlers.
Do It Yourself
This final category entails contractors or consumers picking up building materials and driving them to their own job sites. Many dealers will provide help loading items onto trucks at the supply yard, but buyers are required to drive their own loads to job sites.
Some dealers even rent pickup trucks to contractors or consumers who purchase small loads of building materials while contractors can rent a variety of equipment by the hour, day, week, month or longer depending on their needs.
The Best Way to Have Building Supplies Delivered |
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|
Delivery Method |
Supplies |
Vehicle |
Cost |
|
Deliveries by Building Supply Dealers |
Nearly all types of building supplies |
Flatbed or heavy-duty dump truck |
$50-plus per load* |
|
Third-Party Delivery Services |
Items sold by the ton/cu yd; specialty items such as trusses |
Medium-duty dump truck; crane truck |
$50-plus per load; $125/hr for the crane* |
|
Do It Yourself |
Generally smaller loads |
Company-owned vehicle; rented truck |
Operating costs; $19 for the first 75 mins* |
*costs vary by region
The Best Way to Guarantee the Payment of Delivered Building Supplies
CrossCheck makes it easy for building supply dealers to accept worry-free payments for delivered building supplies without expensive card-processing fees. The method is called Check on Delivery and here’s how it works in conjunction with electronic check processing:
- Dealers enter an estimated sale amount and a customer phone number on CrossCheck’s online merchant portal to receive an approval number.
- Delivery drivers drop off the order and pick up a check payment from the purchaser.
- After documentation is turned in, a check is scanned with a desktop imager and the data is sent to CrossCheck via its online merchant portal where dealers enter the final amount and check number.
- Those payments are now guaranteed, and CrossCheck even handles the banking because electronic check processing eliminates trips to deposit checks.
Download our free guide to learn how CrossCheck can help increase sales at your build supply center.
