Ensuring Your Commercial Safe Arrives in Mint Condition
Why ‘free shipping’ isn’t so free, how to mitigate the risk of damage, and more.
Are you looking to invest in a high-security safe but aren’t sure where to buy one or how to get it installed? Choosing the right safe and finding the right company to install it can be a challenging and overwhelming process.
Our family-owned and operated shop has been selling safes since 1988. We offer one of the largest selections of in-stock and ready-to-deliver high-end TL and TRTL safes in the nation. We’re highly skilled at delivering and installing commercial safes in a wide variety of locations. Additionally, we have developed a carefully curated network of the best installers throughout the United States and beyond to support you wherever you are located.
In the world of commercial safes, the landscape is far and wide. Whether you’re a business owner seeking insurance coverage or a homeowner looking for the world’s highest security safe for your precious metal collection, knowing where to start can be daunting. In this post, we’ll help you navigate those waters by reviewing potential problems and their solutions. This will include addressing:
5 Challenges of Safe Shipping and Delivering A TRTL- or TL-Rated Safe
In the world of commercial safes, the landscape is far and wide. Whether you’re a business owner seeking insurance coverage or a homeowner looking for the world's highest security safe for your precious metal collection, knowing where to start can be daunting.
Northwest Safe has been family-owned and operated for 40 years and has helped thousands of customers nationwide navigate the logistics of shipping, delivering, and installing gun safes, home safes, TL-rated safes, and TRTL-rated safes. Our network of specialty safe movers enables us not only to sell you the highest-quality and top-rated safes but also to have your safe professionally installed.
1. Free Shipping” Isn’t Always Free
Perhaps the most challenging part of the process is figuring out how to get a safe that can weigh thousands of pounds across the country and into your place of business or residence. The last thing you want is a significant investment showing up damaged and then being stuck with a cumbersome safe with no real solution.
Many of the online-only safe retailers offer the “Free Shipping” method to entice shoppers to buy now, with the perception that their new safe will be placed right where they want it. In truth, many of these retailers only offer curbside drop-shipping. This service is exactly as it sounds — your safe is placed on the curb outside your home or business, and you are responsible for moving it to your desired location.
NW Safe Solution: Full Service Delivery & Installation
At NW Safe, we offer full-service delivery and installation. Our highly skilled delivery crews have the expertise and tools to move huge safes without damaging your floor, door jams, or stairs.
2. Poor Packaging Exposes Your Safe to Damage
TRTL and TL-rated safes are a hefty investment that should be packaged with care so the safe isn’t scratched or dented during transit. Poor packaging can expose your safe to everything from minor blemishes to major integrity issues if the safe handle or lock is damaged.
NW Safe Solution: Expertly Package Each Safe
As we prepare to ship your safe, our team will spend hours packaging it properly. This includes:
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Bolting is to an oversized pallet
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Using multiple layers of foam and cardboard
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Crating your safe (if so desired)
All of this is to ensure your safe has the best chance to arrive in good condition.
3. Combined Freight Increases Potential Damage
It’s incredibly common to combine a safe shipment with another shipment to maximize costs. While this can be more affordable, the chance of your safe being damaged in transit increases. Not only does this mean your safe may travel further than necessary, it means your safe may be loaded and unloaded multiple times before it arrives. Each time it’s loaded and unloaded, the chance of it being dropped or tipped over increases.
Furthermore, when your safe is being handled by multiple drivers, it’s tough to guarantee that each individual will care for your safe at the level it deserves.
NW Safe Solution: Dedicated Freight
We use a specialty freight and logistics company to ensure a top-rated driver and truck handles your safe. Hiring a dedicated truck eliminates the risks associated with damage from low-cost, multi-transfer freight companies.
In most cases, we will ship your safe directly to the preferred installer, and we will work together to communicate and schedule your delivery. After your safe is placed where you want it, your installer will review all of the features and locking mechanisms so you understand how it works. From there, all that’s left is to fill it up with your most precious items and achieve the peace of mind that you deserve from the protection of a high-security TL/TRTL-rated safe.
4. Your Safe Arrives & Doesn’t Work Properly
What happens if your safe is delivered and the internal locking system isn’t working properly? It becomes an oversized paperweight.
NW Safe Solution: Fully Inspecting Your Safe Before Delivery
Before any safe leaves our facility, our team inspects it for imperfections and makes sure the internal locking mechanism is working correctly.
5. Being Stuck with the Factory Model
TL and TRTL-rated safes are often utilitarian in design. Depending on your needs, this rudimentary shelving-only design could reduce the functionality of your safe. You may also not like the lock on your safe, but feel stuck because the online-only retailer you’re buying it from doesn’t offer lock swaps.
NW Safe Solution: Customized Interiors & Lock Swaps
Our safe technicians can also install your preferred lock, whether it be a custom combination on a mechanical dial lock or a high-security, audit-trail, and time-delay electronic lock. We can even customize the interior of your TL or TRTL-rated safe, as we’ve done for other customers.
Lighting and dehumidifiers can also be installed before shipping, ensuring they are set up and ready to use immediately.
Which TL or TRTL Rated Safe is Right for You?
High-security safes offer the ultimate personal protection money could buy for preserving high-value and irreplaceable valuables at home and in a business. Insurance companies often use the TL and TRTL ratings to determine the adequate level of protection needed for a business based on the value they are protecting. This same value-based scale can (and, in our humble opinion, should) be used by homeowners to determine the appropriate level of protection for the value you’re securing.
What TL or TRTL-rated safe is right for you? Explore the essential things to know about buying a commercial safe.