Easy Material Handling Safety Fixes for White Glove Delivery

The dominance of ecommerce in the marketplace has meant a huge influx of online orders that require delivery. Meanwhile, deliveries from brick and mortar retailers remain common and popular. The result is that effective delivery is now often a necessary element of the success of delivery companies and even brick and mortar retailers that deliver their products. White glove delivery adds an additional element of difficulty and importance to the delivery process. As such, ensuring the safety of delivery staff and customers is of the utmost importance. That safety involves a number of elements, whether that’s investing in a stair climbing cart or providing the right training.

Lift Hand Truck
White Glove Delivery and Why It’s Important

White glove delivery is a feature of the last and most important delivery stage—the “final mile.” White glove differs from traditional delivery in that it involves more active participation of delivery staff, who enter a customer’s home and assemble or install the product, or both. The degree to which delivery staff perform these duties depends on the individual service.

Tools for the Job

One of the most effective strategies for ensuring employee safety during white glove deliveries is to have the right material handling equipment available. The traditional hand truck or dolly has long been the delivery professional’s best friend, but there are times when something more specific is called for. A perfect example is employing a stair climbing dolly if a delivery requires the navigation of staircases, such as a multi-story home. Standard safety tools such as hand, eye, and ear protection if employees work with tools, should be kept on hand at all times.

Details About Delivery Conditions

There’s a lot of supplementary information, beyond the basics such as address and time, that can help delivery staff. Giving customers an opportunity to provide custom notes is a great idea to help staff understand any unique circumstances they may encounter. Asking customers to provide details about pets, installation locations, whether there is space for the truck, and other considerations can also help make deliveries more efficient. Other useful information includes whether there are gates or doors that need to be opened or kept shut, narrow doorways or hallways, and any potential tripping hazards.

Options and Expectations

One of the best ways to glean that sort of helpful, safety-improving information is to include white glove options and expectations as questions as pre-delivery questions. For example, white glove delivery can mean a few different things. Anything beyond basic curbside delivery can be considered white glove. Different equipment and delivery considerations are often required depending on whether it’s threshold, room-of-choice, light assembly, heavy assembly, or even special services delivery. “Special services” covers any white glove delivery that requires, sometimes on top of assembly, connecting a device to gas, water, electricity beyond a plug-in, and so on.

About Magline

For over 70 years, the Magliner hand truck has represented the apex of material handling equipment. So much so, in fact, that the word “Magliner” is regularly used to refer to a hand cart of any brand. Don’t let that fool you, though: There is only one Magliner. Their standard for dependability, reliability, ease of use, and quality is unmatched. In addition to that traditional hand truck, Magline offers a terrific variety of specialized material handling equipment, including a stair climbing cart collection, lift hand truck selection of walk behind forklifts, and much more. For warehouse pickers, delivery drivers, logistics and trucking professionals, and any other occupation that relies on moving stock, there is a perfect Magliner to make it happen.

Check out how Magliner products can make your job easier at Magliner.com

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