Puerto Rico is our largest table market outside of the Continental US and every month we send multiple chiropractic drop tables to our Island neighbor in the south. As a US territory, shipping into Puerto Rico is an easy and straight forward process! Read on to learn about our tried-and-true shipping methods.
Types of Shipping
There are two modes of transport to Puerto Rico: via sea and via air freight. For both of these options your chiropractic table(s) will be shipped by piece.
Sea Freight: Because the tables are shipped by piece, the size of the shipment is not large enough to fill even the smallest shipping container (20 foot) for full container pricing by sea. I mention this because one option to consider if starting a practice in Puerto Rico and sourcing a whole office-worth of equipment is to search out a shipping broker and get full load (FCL) pricing on a 20 foot container. In this scenario you would purchase all your equipment (tables, x-ray, office furniture, modalities, etc.) from multiple vendors. You would then have everything shipped to a single consolidation point in the Continental US. From there they are loaded into the rented container for shipment to Puerto Rico.
Your per kilogram shipping cost if you can fill a whole container will be less than attempting to ship each individual piece of equipment. Better yet, the entire customs clearing process is reduced to a single transaction, thus avoiding the need to pay brokers fees on each individual shipment.
Air Freight: We use air freight for tables purchased from us directly. This is our mode of choice as we are sending pieces that are unable to fill a shipping container. In addition, air freight is typically faster than sea freight as there is no need to wait until the shipping provider fills a container with many pieces from different customers (consolidation). Sun Chiropractic Tables is also a “known shipper” with US TSA (Transportation Security Administration). This status grants us the ability to ship our chiropractic drop tables directly to Puerto Rico using “space available” on scheduled passenger aircraft. Being able to access this “space available” often saves a considerable amount on shipping costs over being required to ship via commercial cargo aircraft only.
Levels of Service
There are two common levels of service when shipping chiropractic drop tables to Puerto Rico. The first is door to airport and the second is door to door. As you can guess, the level of service is in the name.
With door to airport service, the table(s) are shipped directly to San Juan airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín). Upon arrival the shipping company contacts you directly and you then must pick the table up at the airport. It is your responsibility to get the table from the airport back to your office. This is the least expensive level of service and the one we recommend. Most of our customers have found this to be a simple and hassle-free experience.
Door to door service will have the shipping company deliver the table directly to your office. While this may sound more convenient, this level of service is also more expensive. Moreover, in our experience this is where the tables are most likely to suffer shipping/transportation damage.
Carriers Used and Obtaining a Shipping Price
Once you have selected your level of service, we will obtain a shipping quote. This quote is 100% of the actual transportation cost. It is our policy to provide you with the actual quote so you can see exactly what we will pay to get your table(s) to Puerto Rico. On arrival you will still be responsible for local taxes, customs fees and ground fees. These amounts will be determined by the carrier and are collected from you personally.
For door to airport shipping, we use DB Schenker air freight. Our frequent shipping via this method has allowed us to arrange for a special fixed schedule of shipping prices at the one, two, three and four table levels. To see the current pricing schedule, please contact admin@sunchirotable.com with your request and we will supply you with the most up-to-date shipping prices.
Door to door shipping is quoted using UPS Ground. The price of each shipment is based on your unique delivery address. To get a door to door UPS Ground shipping quote, please contact admin@sunchirotable.com. In your email, please provide your delivery address, quantity and type of tables you would like to order, and we will be happy to help you.
Finally, you will be charged a $50 boxing fee per table. This covers the cost of the packing materials used to ship your table(s). This will be billed to you with your table cost at the time you order is placed.
Paying for Shipping
You do NOT pay for shipping at the time of placing your order. Instead, we will bill you for the shipping cost separately, 72 hours before the table(s) leave our facility. We do this to keep the shipping off the commercial invoice. This reduces the possibility of customs combining the shipping cost with the table price and charging you local taxes on the total combined amount.
Customs Cost, Local Taxes, Ground Fees
The shipping cost that you have paid Sun Chiropractic Tables is 100% of the transportation costs. On arrival, local customs will charge you local tax, customs fees and any ground/storage fees as is appropriate. You will pay these costs directly to the carrier, and in most cases these must be paid before your shipment will be released to you.
We do NOT estimate what these other costs might be. Each shipment is unique, and it often depends on the individual who is clearing your shipment. However, you can estimate these costs using various tools available on the internet - but understand that these are only estimates and the final price may be different.
Shipping Times
- The time in transit to Puerto Rico is estimated at 10 business days or two weeks, including weekends.
- UPS Ground times reliably fall within a 10-day window.
- DB Schenker times are approximate. It has been our experience with Schenker that it can either be much quicker, or it can run a week (or more) longer than expected. The variance in shipping times is due to the tables traveling on space available via passenger planes. If there is a reduction in the number of flights, then there is less space available. We suggest allowing three weeks in your planning process for Schenker shipments to arrive.
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