White Glove Delivery San Francisco
White glove delivery San Francisco: two-man crews, inside placement, unpacking and debris removal. We book the freight elevator, we pull the certificate of insurance for building management, and we tell you before the truck loads if a 26 ft box is never getting down your street. Dispatch is staffed 24/7/365 and cargo is insured to $1,000,000.
White glove delivery San Francisco is an access problem before it is a transit problem
The drive from our South San Francisco and Fremont crews into the city is the easy part. What goes wrong in San Francisco goes wrong at the kerb and in the lobby. A tower on Market has one freight elevator serving forty floors and a booking sheet that fills a week out. A converted brick building in SoMa has a 9 ft roll-up door and no dock. Half of Chinatown and the Financial District have loading zones with a 30 minute limit and a parking control officer working the block. Telegraph Hill and Russian Hill have gradients that rule out a hand truck with 600 lbs on it.
We ask about all of it at booking. Which floor, dock or street load, freight elevator dimensions and booking window, whether building management needs a certificate of insurance naming them as additional insured, whether the union or the building requires the work after hours. If the answers point to a smaller vehicle and a two-trip plan, we quote it that way rather than sending a 26 ft box truck to discover the problem at eight in the morning.
Full trailer loads coming into the city almost always need a transfer. A 53 ft trailer works to a Bayview or Potrero warehouse, then the final leg into SoMa or downtown runs on a 16 to 20 ft box truck with a liftgate. We say that on the quote, not after the trailer is sitting on Bryant Street.
What we move in San Francisco
Neighbourhoods we work daily
SoMaFinancial DistrictMission BayUnion SquarePotrero HillDogpatchBayviewPresidioMarinaHayes ValleyMissionDaly City and the Peninsula edge
Vehicles that actually fit the city
| Vehicle | Capacity | Where it works in San Francisco |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo van | Up to 2,000 lbs | Tight streets, hills, garages with a low clearance bar, single item placements |
| 16 to 20 ft box truck with liftgate | Up to 6,000 lbs | The default downtown vehicle, works most loading zones and dock heights |
| 26 ft box truck with liftgate | Up to 10,000 lbs | Docks and yards in Bayview, Potrero and Mission Bay, restricted in the core |
| Refrigerated vehicle | 2°C to 8°C or frozen | Temperature controlled equipment and product where placement is still required |
| 53 ft trailer | Full load | Warehouse to warehouse only, city legs transfer to a box truck |
Insurance and building requirements
Most downtown San Francisco buildings will not let a crew past the loading dock without a certificate of insurance naming the owner and the property manager as additional insured. We issue those on request, normally the same day. Cargo liability is $1,000,000, auto liability is $1,000,000, general liability is $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, and workers compensation is $1,000,000.
General liability is the limit that matters on white glove work, because the crew is inside your building. A scuffed lobby wall or a marked lift car is a general liability claim, not a cargo claim. Ask any carrier quoting you San Francisco white glove what their general liability limit is and whether they will name the building. Marvin Transportation is a member of the Customized Logistics and Delivery Association.
How a white glove delivery San Francisco job runs
The sequence is the same whether the item is one crate or a floor of furniture, and most of the work happens before the truck moves.
- Booking call. We take the item, rough dimensions and weight, both addresses, the floor, and what the access looks like at each end. You get a price on the call.
- Access check. Dock or street load, freight elevator dimensions and booking window, stairs, tight turns, height limits in the loading bay. Anything that changes the vehicle or the crew size is settled here.
- Paperwork. Certificates of insurance naming the building are issued on request, normally the same day. Building forms, badge lists and after-hours approvals are handled before the delivery date.
- Dispatch. The vehicle is assigned to your job rather than a shared route, so the item travels alone, and you get the driver contact.
- Placement. The crew takes the item inside to the room and position you specify, uncrates it, does basic assembly and levels it where that applies.
- Clear down. Packaging and debris leave with the crew unless you have asked for the crate to stay. You get a signature and a photo of the placement.
What dispatch needs from you
- Item description, rough dimensions and weight, and whether it is crated
- Collection and delivery addresses, with floor and suite
- Dock, kerb or freight elevator at each end, and any window the building has given you
- Whether a certificate of insurance is needed and who it should name
- A site contact for the day, plus any badge, escort or after-hours requirement
- Whether packaging should be removed or left on site
Give dispatch that and a white glove delivery San Francisco booking takes a few minutes. Leave it out and the crew finds the problem in a loading bay, which is how a delivery window turns into a return trip.
Frequently asked questions
Can you book the freight elevator for me?
Yes. Give us the building contact at booking and we will confirm the lift window, the dock slot and any COI requirement with property management, then schedule the crew around what the building gives us rather than what we would prefer.
Do you work after hours in San Francisco?
Regularly. Many towers only release the freight elevator in the evening or at weekends, and most retail fit-out work is overnight so the store trades the next morning. Dispatch is staffed 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
What if there is no dock and no loading zone?
We street load with a smaller vehicle and plan the carry. Tell us the distance from the nearest legal stop to the door and whether there are stairs, and we crew and quote the job on that rather than on the mileage.
How fast can you get a STAT job across the city?
STAT is 90 minutes for collection and delivery together. Same-day white glove is booked and moving the same working day on a dedicated vehicle, so your item travels alone rather than waiting for a shared load to fill.
Do you deliver to Moscone Center?
Yes, booked against the show marshalling window rather than a normal delivery window, with recovery after the show as well as delivery to it. We hold freight when the target date moves, which on show work it usually does.
Is packaging removal included?
Yes, debris and packaging removal is standard rather than an extra line. If the packaging has to stay for a warranty or a return, tell dispatch at booking and the crew will leave it stacked where you want it.
White glove delivery San Francisco is priced on the job rather than the mile. Crew size, access and the hours the building will release are what move the number, which is why we ask about all of it before quoting.
Book a San Francisco white glove delivery
Tell dispatch what the item is, the address, which floor, and whether there is a dock or a freight elevator. You get a price on the call and we flag any access problem before the truck is loaded.
Call +1 (323) 673-7397Request a quoteRelated pages
- White glove delivery in California, the full service and how it is crewed
- San Francisco courier service, same-day and STAT work across the city
- White glove delivery Oakland, East Bay crews and installs
- White glove delivery San Jose, Silicon Valley campuses and lab equipment
- Staging and event logistics, show freight and marshalling windows