Cabinet Door Shipping Costs at Cutting Edge
Updated November 27, 2024
Discover how factors like shipment weight, parcel size, and shipping services influence shipping costs, and what additional fees may apply.
Congratulations! You’ve decided which cabinet doors to order – an exciting step in your project. But what happens next? Once your order is placed, you’re faced with questions like: How will the doors get to you? How much will shipping cost? Are there extra fees you need to prepare for?
If you don’t work with shipping companies regularly, navigating the options, variables, and fees can feel overwhelming. Should you arrange shipping yourself, or can the company handle it for you? What factors affect the cost, and how can you ensure a smooth delivery?
At Cutting Edge Doors & Woodworking, we simplify the process by managing shipping for you. From our shop in Maple Creek, SK, we ship hundreds of cabinet doors daily to destinations across Western Canada, Ontario, and even the United States. Our experienced customer service and order processing teams handle shipping logistics to ensure reliable and cost-effective delivery.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- What factors influence shipping costs
- When additional fees might apply
- How our shipping policy takes the hassle out of the process
By the end, you’ll see why letting us handle your cabinet door shipping is a smart choice for your business.
Factors That Increase or Decrease Shipping Costs
Why can’t all companies charge a flat rate for shipping? Why do shipping costs vary so much?
There are a lot of factors that can increase or decrease shipping costs. The size and weight of a parcel affect how much it will cost to ship, as does the shipping service used.
Shipping Service
There are two common types of shipping services: LTL (less than truckload) and courier. The type of shipping service a company offers will impact the shipping costs they can offer.
LTL shipping companies accept a wide range of shipments, from a single box to an entire trailer load of pallets.
Couriers limit the shipments they accept, usually by weight or size. They prefer to focus on small parcels that can be handled by people.
Purolator is a courier company. They focus on shipping small parcels, often directly to the end customer. Most people they work with don’t ship or receive large items like crates or pallets. Focusing on small parcels allows Purolator to keep freight costs low.
Manitoulin is an LTL company. They accept a wide variety of shipments (boxes to pallets to crates and more). However, they have to charge more to ensure each shipment is profitable. They must have all the equipment needed to handle any possible shipment at delivery, which increases their operating expenses.
Shipments sent by courier cost less than shipments sent by an LTL company.
Shipment Weight
Shipment weight has a major impact on shipping costs. All shipping companies increase the cost as the weight increases.
In addition, many shipping companies have a minimum cost per shipment up to a certain weight. For example, a box that weighs 20 lbs might cost the same to ship as a box that weighs 80 lbs.
Other shipping companies, like Canada Post, won’t accept shipments over a certain weight. For Canada Post, the maximum shipment weight is 66 lbs. Companies implement a policy like this to help prevent injuries for the employees handling parcels.
Parcel or Package Size
The size of an individual parcel or package doesn’t have as much effect on shipping costs, but it can make a difference.
As mentioned above, shipping companies like Purolator prefer to work with small parcels. Because of this preference, they won’t accept packages over a certain length. If a shipment is too long, you can’t price it using courier shipping rates. Instead, you will have to use LTL shipping rates. Shipping via an LTL company is at least $50 more expensive on average.
Fees That Might Apply In Addition to Shipping Costs
Accessorial charges are fees that a shipping company adds to a shipment while it is still in transit. Some of the most common charges are power tailgate fees, redelivery fees, and delivery detention fees. We will go over these and more below, including the minimum cost from our preferred shipping companies and when you may receive these charges.
Delivery by Appointment - $42.00+
Shipping companies apply a delivery by appointment charge when you request a specific delivery date and time for your shipment.
Call Before Delivery - $8.40+
A shipping company adds a call before delivery fee when you request the company to notify you when they will deliver your shipment. The company will provide an estimated time range. The shipping company will charge you a Delivery by Appointment fee if you request a specific delivery time during this notification call.
Carry-In Delivery - $58.80+
This fee applies when the delivery driver has to carry a shipment from the truck to the building. The cost increases depending on the weight of the shipment.
Delivery Detention (With Power) - $32.55+ per 15 minutes
All companies allow an average amount of time for deliveries – usually 15 minutes. The shipping company will charge you this fee if you take longer than 15 minutes to unload the shipment. The charge will increase every additional 15-minute period the driver has to wait. For example, if it takes 45 minutes to unload a shipment, the fee will be at least $65.10.
Power Tailgate - $56.70+
This charge applies when the delivery driver uses the liftgate at the back of the truck to deliver a shipment.
Private Residence/Rural Route - $88.52+
This charge applies when the delivery location is a private residence or outside the nearest town limits.
Residential Delivery - $88.52+
This charge applies when the delivery location is in a residential zoning area.
Re-Consignment - $59.85+
Shipping companies apply a re-consignment fee when you request an address or delivery location change once the shipment is in transit.
Re-Delivery - $59.85+
A redelivery fee applies if:
- there is no answer at the delivery location
- the receiver asks the driver to deliver the shipment at another time
- the driver is unable to reach the delivery location.
While some of these charges may seem ridiculously expensive (which they are, we agree), they are non-negotiable. Once a fee has been added to a shipment, it is very difficult to get it removed or reduced.
If you think some of these fees may apply to your shipment, it would be worth considering having the shipment held at the nearest depot for pickup. Shipments held at a depot for pickup rarely have accessorial charges added.
How Does Shipping Work With Cutting Edge Doors & Woodworking?
We do our best to ensure shipping is hassle-free for you. If you would like us to arrange shipping, we will allow the necessary standard shipping (excluding accessorial charges) costs on your quote or order.
If your order is over $1000 subtotal and your location is one of our standard destinations, we cover the shipping costs. You can combine multiple orders to get over the $1000 threshold.
It is important to note that the shipping calculator on our online ordering system is not 100% accurate. There are so many variables that affect shipping costs that we can’t allow for them all in an automatic calculation. However, when an order is placed, our team will review the shipping costs to ensure they are accurate. You can also request our team review the shipping charges when you place a quote.
What About Accessorial Charges?
Good question! These charges are difficult to estimate as the amounts vary from company to company. As well, accessorial charges don’t get applied consistently. Some delivery companies will charge a fee every time the service is used, while others may only charge the fee some of the time.
For these reasons, we only add accessorial charges to an order if:
- You have ordered from us before, and all of your shipments have had the same charge applied
- You requested we add a fee because you think it might apply
Otherwise, we wait until we have received the shipping invoice from the company we used. If any accessorial charges are applied to your shipment, we will create a separate invoice for that amount.
As well, we only charge the actual cost of the accessorial charge plus GST. We never add a mark-up or a service fee to accessorial charges invoices.
If damage occurs to your shipment, notify our team and we will look after submitting a freight claim or replacing the damaged items. Whenever possible, our team will ship replacement doors without waiting for a freight claim to be approved. If a shipment is delayed, we will work with the shipping company on your behalf to get it back on track.
Our goal is to make shipping as easy as possible for you.
How Much Will Shipping Cost on Your Order?
When you started reading this article, you were concerned about how much shipping would cost. You were looking for options and potential solutions and feeling overwhelmed by the options out there.
Now, you understand what affects shipping costs and what additional fees can apply. As well, you know that we are here for you. When you place your order, you can be confident that we will look after you. Any shipping charges will be visible on the order paperwork, and accessorial charges that might apply will be discussed. We will take the stress of handling shipping off your shoulders.
Now, it’s time to learn how to get a quote on your preferred door style and see what the shipping costs are!
