What is a delivery appointment?
What is a delivery appointment? It is a scheduled window the carrier has to book with the receiver before the truck can show up, and most large distribution centers insist on one.
What is a delivery appointment going to cost you in time
Scheduling is not instant. The carrier calls the receiver, the receiver offers a slot, and the slot may be a day or several days out depending on how busy the dock is. That waiting time sits on top of the carrier's published transit, which is why an appointment shipment can arrive later than the transit map suggests.
Plan for it rather than react to it. If the receiver books three days out as a matter of routine, that is part of your lead time.
Who requires one, and what happens without it
Retail distribution centers, every Amazon fulfillment center, hospitals, schools, government sites and most third-party logistics warehouses. Many of them also enforce a late window and will turn a truck away for missing it.
A driver arriving without an appointment at a dock that requires one gets refused. The freight goes back to the terminal and comes out again as a redelivery, which is billed.
Related terms
Quick answers
Who books the appointment, me or the carrier?
The carrier books it, but they need the right contact and phone number from you. A missing contact is the usual reason a shipment sits at a terminal.
Does an appointment cost extra?
Appointment scheduling is a billable accessorial with most LTL carriers. It is small, and far cheaper than a refused delivery and a redelivery.
Delivering to a big DC?
Send us the receiver and we handle what is a delivery appointment means for your lane, including the contact the carrier will need.