What Is Liftgate Delivery Service for a Walk-In Tub?

Liftgate delivery service means the freight truck that brings your walk-in tub is fitted with a liftgate, a lift on the back of the trailer that lowers the crated tub to street level so the driver can bring it to your curb or driveway. It is the standard freight service for every Ella's Bubbles walk-in tub, and it ends at the curb: the driver does not enter the home, unpack the tub or carry it inside. How Shipping Is Quoted: Weight, Distance, Liftgate Delivery, and Accessory Shipping explains how liftgate delivery fits into the shipping quote for your address, and this page covers what the service includes, what it leaves to you, and how to get ready for it.

Why a Walk-In Tub Needs a Liftgate

Every Ella walk-in tub leaves the Chicago facility fully assembled, riding on a pallet inside a crate or reinforced box as LTL, or less-than-truckload, freight. It does not break down into cartons that a driver could hand down from the trailer, so the whole crate has to come off the truck as one unit. The liftgate is what makes that possible at a home address. The truck arrives, the liftgate lowers the crate to street level, and the driver moves it to the curb or driveway. The skid under the tub is built with that step in mind. Tubs ride on a custom skid inside the crate, ready for the liftgate, so the crate can be lowered and moved without the tub itself ever being handled.

The default booking for a home address is residential curbside delivery with liftgate. Freight carriers rate by distance and service area, and rural or mountainous areas, Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. territories are harder to reach, but the service itself works the same way wherever the tub is going. Small parts and accessories do not travel this way at all. They ship by parcel service and are quoted on their own.

What Liftgate Delivery Includes, and Where It Stops

• The carrier calls ahead to schedule a delivery window, using the phone number on the order.
• The truck arrives with a liftgate and lowers the crate to the ground.
• The driver brings the crate to your curb or driveway.

That is where the carrier's job ends. Drivers do not enter the home, unpack the tub or carry it inside, and they are not in a position to add a service at your door that the carrier never scheduled. Moving the crate from the curb into the house and up to the bathroom is the job of you and your installer, which is the main reason to have your installer lined up before the delivery date. Can I tell the delivery driver where to leave my walk-in tub? explains why placement has to be settled with the team before the shipment is booked rather than with the driver at the truck.

Liftgate, Inside Delivery and White Glove Are Not the Same Thing

Three delivery terms come up when people shop for a walk-in tub, and only one of them is standard.

• Curbside delivery with liftgate is the service every Ella walk-in tub ships with. The crate is lowered to the ground and brought to the curb or driveway, and the carrier stops there.
• Inside delivery is an added carrier service. The carrier moves the crate from the truck to an agreed spot on your property, such as inside the garage, and stops at that spot. It does not include placing the tub in the bathroom or any installation work, and it is not available from every carrier or at every address. There is no standard charge, because the carrier sets it for each delivery based on how far the crate travels and what obstacles are in the way. Nothing is added to your order until you, or the dealer who placed your order, approve the carrier's charge.
• White glove delivery generally means a crew unpacks the product, places it in the room and removes the packaging. Ella's Bubbles does not offer that service for tubs.

White Glove and Inside Delivery Options for a Walk-In Tub Order walks through how to request inside delivery: ask before the tub ships, describe the route in detail including gates, side entrances, steps, stairs and the surfaces the crate will cross, name an on-site contact who will meet the truck, approve the carrier's charge, and only then authorize shipment. Once the tub is on the truck, adding services is far harder, because the service level is booked before the tub leaves Chicago and the driver carries out exactly what was booked.

What Rides Down on the Liftgate

The crate that comes down the liftgate is built around your specific tub, and knowing what it looks like helps you judge its condition at the curb. The tub travels in a multi-piece box made of thick corrugated material, roughly three quarters of an inch to one inch thick, or in a half inch plywood crate that is cut and assembled around that model. Under the tub is a custom shipping skid with reinforced layers positioned under each of the tub's feet, so the tub rides supported and does not bounce in transit. A plywood layer around the skid protects the shipment from forklifts and other handling at freight terminals on the way to you. An instruction sheet is attached to the door of the crate.

The container is designed to absorb damage so the tub does not have to, which is why light scuffs and scrapes on the outside of the crate are normal. Keep all of the packaging material until your installation is complete. If a damage claim is ever needed, the carrier and the team will want to see it.

How to Prepare for the Liftgate Truck

1. Measure the path from your main entrance to the bathroom against the shipping size of your model, including every doorway, hallway and corner the crate must turn.
2. Line up your installer or two able helpers to move the crate from the curb. A garage or covered area is the ideal place for the crate to wait if installation is not happening the same day.
3. Make sure someone able to receive and inspect the crate is present, and keep the phone number on the order reachable so the carrier can schedule the delivery window.
4. Inspect the crate before you sign for it, note any scuffs or damage, and photograph anything that concerns you. Freight damage claims must be filed within 48 hours of receipt by contacting the team at (800) 480-6850 or through ellasbubbles.com/support, so save all packaging material and check for concealed damage, both visual and operational, before you file.
5. If you want the crate somewhere other than the curb, raise it with your Ella dealer or the team when you confirm the order, or at the latest before you authorize shipment, and give the exact delivery address and a description of the site.

How your walk-in tub ships and how to prepare for delivery day covers the packaging video and the delivery inspection checklist in more detail. With the path measured, helpers arranged and the inspection done at the curb, liftgate delivery is a simple handoff: the carrier gets the crate safely to the ground, and your installer takes it from there.

Related Guides

• My tub arrived damaged. What should I do in the first 48 hours?
• What If I Find Concealed Shipping Damage After Signing the Delivery Receipt?
• Printable Delivery Day Checklist for a Walk-In Tub

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