Truck Shipping Information
The trucks contracted by Brehm Vineyards will pick up and deliver frozen grape orders in a 40 to 53 foot trailer capable of refrigeration to sub-zero temperatures. A fully loaded truck weighs about 25 tons. In order to accept a delivery from one of these truck carriers, a customer will need to make arrangements for a delivery to a location with a truck delivery dock and / or a forklift.
Photo: Pick up your frozen pails in your Pick Up Truck or have them shipped in a freeway bound tractor trailer.
In some cases, residential deliveries can be arranged. This will included extra fees.
Because of the special nature of our product and the unique shipping situations of each customer, Brehm Vineyards must coordinate shipping arrangments with each customer individually.
Cost of Truck Shipments
The cost of truck shipments are based on the weight of the shipment and the distance between the pick up location and drop off location. There are other charges such as gas, and special pick up or delivery instructions that will add to the total shipping cost.
Brehm Vineyards is located on the west coast of the United States and most shipments will originate from Richmond, California.
In order to provide a customer with a specific rate for their order, the delivery location must first be secured. When we talk to the truck companies, we must provide them with the pick up location, delivery location, as well as how much weight and / or pallet spaces are to be shipped.
Less than Truck Load (LTL) carriers will have a minimum charge for a shipment. This minimum charge is usually for 1 pallet space of product shipped from between 1 and 1500 pounds. After this minimum weight, which will vary by truck company, charges are usually incurred at a per pound rate.
Bascially, the more you ship at one time, the less it costs. For this reason, Brehm Vineyards tries to arrange shipping points for multiple customer orders. That way, we can ship to many customers at once, and save everyone a little bit on the shipping costs.
Air Cargo Shipping Information
A very efficient method for shipping frozen grape orders of a few pails or more is to use the air freight/cargo services offered by many airlines. Unfortunately, not all airports are serviced with air cargo. But, most metropolitan airports are available for air cargo shipping.
This method of shipping requires the customer to pick up their pails from the air cargo terminal at the airport shipped to. We will work with our customer to find the closest airport to ship to.
Photo right: Checking in at Southwest Airlines at the Oakland CA Airport.
As of July 2009, Brehm Vineyards ships pails of grapes/juice as air cargo with Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines out of Oakland CA. All pails are shipped as general freight. For shipments within the United States and Canada, U.S. Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines frozen grape pails are shipped as General Freight. Since they are shipped as General Freight, they are not guaranteed to be flown out immediately. It may take up to 2 days for the pails to arrive at their destination airport. In most cases, pails are shipped on the next available flight and will arrive at their destination airport within 24 hours.
All airlines charge a fuel and security surchage to the billable weight being shipped.
Grape orders can be sent as a "rush" order and shipped as Guaranteed Freight (so they are sent on the next flight guaranteed). Orders sent as"rush" deliveries will be charged 200-400% higher than the General Freight/Priority Freight.
Cost of Air Cargo Shipments
All air cargo shipments will originate from Oakland International Airport, Oakland, California. Like truck shipments, air cargo shipping costs increase the farther east the pails are shipped. Thus, a shipment to Denver, CO will be slightly less than to Tampa, FL.
Photo above: Pails get labeled for air cargo shipment at Southwest Airlines Oakland CA center.
In an effort to make this method of shipping work to lower the costs to our customers, Brehm Vineyards pre-pays for each shipment. Tariffs, inspection fees and other charges normally incurred to someone shipping by air freight are thereby avoided.
Brehm Vineyards also insures each pail for damage incurred by the shipment. This does not apply to the grapes thawing during transit. By shipping their order as air cargo, the customer must be aware that the grape pails do thaw en route. The speed of the shipment, though, means you will usualy have a day or so more of thawing upon picking up your pails.
Brehm Vineyards will then bill you, the customer, for the cost of the shipment.
Brehm Vineyards $45 handling charge applies to all air freight shipments.
Currently, for shipments within the United States, the average minimum air freight shipping cost for a one or two pail shipment would be approximately $100. This is based on a minimum air freight charge of $55 for the air freight shipment plus the $45 Brehm Vineyards handling charge.
When shipping 3 or more pails by this method, the cost per pail actually goes down because the airlines begin to charge at a per pound rate. Thus, the average cost per pail will be between $35-45 (in addition to the $45 handling charge.) Of course the distance between Oakland International Airport to the destination airport is also a factor in the cost of the shipment.
All air cargo/freight shipping charges are subject to change without notice.
International Shipping Information
All shipments outside of the United States are subject to customs fees and other international tariffs and taxes. Customs brokers in the country to be shipped to must be hired in advance of the shipment.
Shipments to Canada
Brehm Vineyards is able to export our premium wine grapes to Canadian winemakers via established distributors in British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta, the Niagara Peninsula, Toronto, Eastern Ontario and Quebec. Areas without an established distributor should contact us directly.
Grape shipments to Canada and other international destinations are required to clear customs. For this reason, we find it necessary to refer Canadian winemakers to an authorized Brehm Vineyard's grape distributor or reseller.
Please Contact Us for information about your nearest distributor.
Brehm Vineyards maintains frozen pails at freezer facilities in Richmond CA, Chicago IL, Portland OR, New Haven CT and Hatfield PA. These frozen pails can be picked up for no additional shipping charges. We can also arrange to have these pails shipped by truck. Air cargo shipment is only available for frozen pails located in our Richmond CA freezer.