Freight, Delivery & Installing Heavy Kitchen Equipment

A wok range or roaster is not a parcel. A single Panda® range can weigh several hundred pounds, ship bolted to a wood pallet, and travel by less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier — a freight network built for pallets, not doorsteps. The equipment itself is usually the easy part. What trips up buyers is the last hundred feet: getting a heavy machine off a truck, into the building, inspected, and hooked up to gas and power without a costly surprise. This guide walks through how that process actually works so you can plan the receiving day before you place the order.

How LTL palletized freight moves

Heavy equipment ships on a pallet and moves through an LTL carrier's hub-and-spoke network, changing trucks once or twice on the way to you. That routing is why freight transit runs a few business days rather than overnight, and why the carrier — not the seller — calls to schedule your delivery appointment. When we ship, in-stock items leave our New York factory in 24 to 48 hours; the clock you actually feel is the carrier's transit time on top of that. You can review the current terms, including free freight over $999 and the flat $89 charge under that threshold, on our shipping page.

The single most useful thing you can do up front is tell us your delivery environment honestly: a commercial dock, a storefront with a curb, or a tight residential-style street. That determines the delivery level below, and getting it wrong is the most common cause of a failed or re-billed delivery.

Liftgate, dock, or threshold — pick the right delivery level

LTL delivery is sold in levels, and the difference matters when the pallet weighs as much as the crew unloading it:

• Dock delivery — the trailer backs to a loading dock at the same height as the truck bed and the pallet rolls straight off. Fastest and cheapest, but only an option if you actually have a dock.
• Liftgate delivery — the truck carries a hydraulic platform that lowers the pallet to street level. This is what most restaurants without a dock need. Say so at order time, because a standard trailer has no liftgate and the driver will not be able to unload a 400 lb crate by hand.
• Threshold delivery — the carrier moves the pallet just inside your door or garage, no farther. Beyond the threshold, positioning the machine on the line is on you or your installer.
• Inside / white-glove delivery — the crew brings it to the point of use and may remove debris. It costs more and is worth it for stairs, elevators, or a long interior path.

Inspect before you sign — this is your one window

Once you sign the carrier's delivery receipt clean, you are telling the freight company the shipment arrived undamaged, and a later claim becomes very hard to win. So inspect while the driver is still there. Walk the crate before signing: look for crushed corners, forklift punctures, a shifted or tilted machine, and torn or re-taped shrink wrap. If you can, uncrate and check the equipment body, controls, and gas manifold for dents or bent components.

If anything looks wrong, note it on the delivery receipt before you sign — write "crate damaged, possible concealed damage" or describe what you see. Photograph the packaging and the machine from several angles. You can accept the shipment with damage noted; you do not have to refuse it. Then contact us right away so we can help work the freight claim. Damage that is discovered after a clean signature is called concealed damage and is genuinely difficult to recover, which is exactly why the two minutes of inspection matter.

Lead times: in-stock versus built-to-order

Plan your opening or remodel around two very different timelines. In-stock equipment ships from our factory in 24 to 48 hours, then adds carrier transit. Custom wok ranges and configured equipment are built and line-tested to order in our 60,000 sq ft New York plant, so they carry a production lead time before anything ships — ask for the current build window when you spec the job, not after. If a fixed opening date is driving the project, tell us early; a custom range designed and welded to your dimensions is worth the wait, but only if the schedule accounts for it. You can start a configuration from the wok range category.

Gas and electrical hookup

Freight ends at the pallet; a working line needs a licensed hookup. Two details decide whether install day goes smoothly. First, fuel type: gas equipment is built for either natural gas or liquid propane (LP), and the two are not interchangeable without the correct orifice and conversion — confirm your building's fuel before ordering so the range arrives configured for what you have. Second, on electric and automation equipment, verify voltage, phase (single vs three-phase), and the amperage your panel can supply against the machine's kW draw; a high-output electric unit can require a dedicated circuit your existing panel may not have.

Gas connection, and often the electrical tie-in, should be done by a licensed plumber or electrician who will also handle any required permit and inspection. Our equipment is NSF, CSA and ETL listed, which your local inspector will look for. If you are weighing electric or automated cooking lines, the electric and automation category lays out the options.

NY-metro installation and field service

In the New York metro area we offer installation and field service directly, so uncrating, positioning, hookup coordination, and startup can be handled as one job rather than a scramble of separate trades. It is the lowest-risk path for a custom range or a full line, especially where stairs, elevators, or tight kitchens are involved. See our service coverage on the locations page, and reach the team through contact to confirm scheduling and what your site needs before the truck rolls.