The most common and lowest cost form of delivery is for us to ship to you in a freight van. Shavings will come to you delivered either on pallets or floor loaded in a van trailer, depending on your unloading method. You will be responsible to do all unloading of the truck once the driver opens the doors.

Once the driver arrives you will have 2.5 hours to get the truck completely unloaded. After 2.5 hours most trucking companies charge $65 per hour detention time charge, we will have no choice but to pass this cost on to you.  

Most farms put their shavings in hay lofts or they may be stacked in a ground level storage area. There are many ways to manually unload a trailer. We break them down for you here just so you understand what you will be required to do when a truck pulls in your driveway.

If the shavings come stacked on the floor (floor load) there are a few tips we can offer you to expedite the unloading process.

• Have at least 4 to 6 workers available to manually unload and stack.
• Have a standard hay elevator or set of rollers to help move the shavings across the trailer end gap.
• Have 2 or 3 standard hand trucks so that your laborers in the trailer can move 5 bags at a time to the rear of the trailer.

If the shavings are on pallets there are 4 different easy ways to get the shavings out of the trailer.

• Loading Dock and Forklift: Using either a portable or stationary loading dock, have the driver backup tight to the dock with his doors open. You will set your dock plate or dock lip in place to create a smooth bridge in to the trailer. Drive your forklift in to the trailer and take the pallets out one at a time. Be careful because shavings are very top heavy and will topple over if you are not carful with your forklift driving skills. Make sure your forklift is designed to unload standard freight van trailers. Done properly this process should take no more than 1.5 hours and require one forklift operator.
  
  
• Forklift and pallet jack: Using a forklift and standard pallet jack have the driver park on a flat and bump free surface. Open the trailer doors and use the forklift from the ground to take the back 2 pallets out of the trailer. Then lift the pallet jack with the forklift in the trailer and use it to roll pallets to the back edge of the trailer where they can be taken away by the forklift. Done properly this process should take no more than 2 hours and require 2 workers, one to run the forklift one to operate the pallet jack.
  
  
• Forklift and pull strap:  Using a forklift and 60’ chain or strap have the driver park on a flat surface where you have at least 50’ of flat space behind the trailer. Open the doors and use the forklift to take the first 2 pallets off. Then hook the chain or strap to the middle rail under the pallet and gently pull it back with the forklift to the edge of the trailer where you can take it away with the forklift. Continue the process for the remainder of the pallets. Use extra caution when pulling pallets using equipment; this can be a dangerous process. Done properly this should take no more than 2 hours and require 2 workers.
  
  
• Pallet jack and Manual unload:  Have the driver back the truck as close to your storage area as safely possible. Cut the shrink wrap on the rear pallets and un-stack the bags of shavings to where you need them to go. As you move further in to the trailer use the pallet jack to move the pallets close to the rear of the trailer where you unstuck them. This process requires a lot of labor; we recommend at least 3 laborers in the trailer and 2 to 3 in the area where you are storing the shavings. We also recommend rollers or a standard hay elevator to get the shavings close to the stacking area. Done properly this should take 2 hours to complete.
  
  
• Total manual unload: This will be a labor intensive process, we recommend at least 3 people in that trailer and 3 in that storage area. This type of unloading should only be done when you have no other choice. Done properly it should take 2 to 3 hours.

Pallet Jack

We only recommend ordering shavings on pallets when you have a forklift and or pallet jack. If you plan to manually unload for reasons like putting the shavings in a stall or hay loft area you should request that they be delivered on a floor-load stacking configuration. This will create less work for your workers and speed the process.    

If you cannot unload with any of the options listed you can check if we can arrange a full service delivery for you.

full service delivery >>