Why kitchen equipment looks dense and bills light
Commercial cooking and refrigeration equipment is stainless steel, compressors and insulation. On their own, ranges and dishwashers run 9 to 10 PCF, class 100 to 92.5. Reach-in refrigerators are lighter at around 4.5 PCF because most of their volume is an insulated box. So far, ordinary freight.
The problems are the long and flat pieces of a restaurant build:
- Exhaust hoods. Wall canopy hoods run from about 4 to 16 ft long, around 48 in deep and 24 in high, in stainless steel. Crated, a 12 ft hood is about 150 × 48 × 30 in. The crate is low and long, and almost always marked do-not-stack because the hood dents. Cubed to 96 in, a 30 in crate is billed at more than three times its height.
- Walk-in cooler panels. Insulated panels, typically 4 in thick foam between metal skins, ship flat in crates. They rate around 7 PCF, class 125, on actual cube but fall to class 250 if the crate is not stackable.
- Stainless prep tables and shelving. Large, light and often crated with legs removed. Around 3.6 PCF, class 250.
Put those together and a restaurant package that is class 175 on physical cube can be class 250 on tariff cube, over every carrier cube trigger, with hundreds of cubic feet of phantom cube from crates that are only 30 to 48 in tall.
Used and reconditioned equipment adds a twist. Dealers and auction buyers often move equipment uncrated, strapped to a skid with stretch film. That is fine on a dedicated or partial truck where the piece is loaded once and strapped to the wall, and risky through LTL terminals, where an uncrated stainless unit is easily dented and almost always billed as non-stackable.
Typical kitchen equipment handling units
| Unit | L × W × H (in) | Lbs | Cu ft | PCF | Class | Cubed to 96 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 ft exhaust hood, crated | 150 × 48 × 30 | 620 | 125.0 | 4.96 | 175 | 1.55 PCF · 300 |
| Walk-in cooler panels, crated flat | 96 × 48 × 48 | 900 | 128.0 | 7.03 | 125 | 3.52 PCF · 250 |
| Stainless prep tables, crated | 96 × 30 × 40 | 240 | 66.7 | 3.60 | 250 | 1.50 PCF · 300 |
| Two-door reach-in refrigerator on skid | 56 × 34 × 84 | 420 | 92.6 | 4.54 | 175 | 3.97 PCF · 250 |
| Six-burner range on skid | 40 × 38 × 64 | 520 | 56.3 | 9.24 | 100 | 6.16 PCF · 125 |
| Door-type dishwasher on skid | 30 × 30 × 72 | 390 | 37.5 | 10.40 | 92.5 | 7.80 PCF · 125 |
Weights are representative; hood weight in particular depends on gauge, length and whether fire suppression piping is pre-installed. The reach-in refrigerator is a near miss worth noting: imputed to 96 in it lands at 3.97 PCF, 0.03 PCF under the class 175 line. Units over 60 in cannot avoid imputation, but the low crates in the table can, if they are built to carry weight.
Run a restaurant build package against all carriers
- Safe — tariff cube, density and linear feet stay under the carrier's cube and linear-foot rules.
- Tier 1 — 350 cu ft or more under 3 PCF (XPO, Saia, ABF, Estes): synthetic weight of 6 lbs per tariff cubic foot.
- Re-bill — 750 cu ft or more under 6 PCF, or linear feet at the carrier's rule: book volume LTL or direct partial truckload.
Worked example: a restaurant build package
An equipment dealer ships a build package 850 miles to a new restaurant: two 12 ft hood crates at 150 × 48 × 30 in and 620 lbs, two crates of walk-in panels at 96 × 48 × 48 in and 900 lbs, and two reach-in refrigerators on skids at 56 × 34 × 84 in and 420 lbs. Everything is marked do-not-stack.
Walk-in panels: 96 × 48 × 48 ÷ 1,728 = 128.0 cu ft × 2 = 256.0 cu ft
Reach-ins: 56 × 34 × 84 ÷ 1,728 = 92.6 cu ft × 2 = 185.1 cu ft
Actual cube = 691.1 cu ft · Weight = 1,240 + 1,800 + 840 = 3,880 lbs
Density = 3,880 ÷ 691.1 = 5.61 PCF → Sub 4, class 175
Imputed cube = 1,523.6 cu ft (832.4 cu ft of phantom cube) · Imputed density = 2.55 PCF → class 250
Synthetic weight at 6 PCF = 1,523.6 × 6 = 9,141 lbs
Linear feet = 150 in + 96 in + 56 in = 302 in ÷ 12 = 25.2 LF (each pair rides two across)
On actual cube the package is under 750 cu ft at class 175. Imputed, it is more than double that and over both cube tiers, and 25.2 LF is about half a 53 ft trailer.
| Option at 850 miles | Indicative linehaul |
|---|---|
| Class 175 LTL as booked | $1,134 |
| After cube re-rate and W&I fee, all do-not-stack | $2,546 |
| After re-rate, hood and panel crates built stackable | $1,233 |
| Spot volume LTL on 25.2 LF | $1,115 |
| Direct partial truckload on 25.2 LF | $1,269 |
| Dedicated 26 ft box truck | $1,998 |
Two fixes, two very different results. Building the hood and panel crates with rated lids, so they can be marked stackable honestly, drops imputed cube to 717.6 cu ft at 5.41 PCF. That clears both cube tiers and leaves only the linear-foot treatment, which brings the re-rated bill from $2,546 to $1,233. Tendering it as a direct partial at about $1,269 costs $36 more than that, with no re-rate risk at all and no terminal forklift near a stainless hood.
Crating and loading guidance
- Crate hoods with a full frame and a rated lid. The hood dents if a pallet lands on it; a framed crate with a plywood top does not. A 30 in crate that can carry weight avoids the 96 in imputation.
- Stack walk-in panels flat with dunnage between. Panels ride flat in crates, finished faces protected, with cam-lock edges guarded. Crate them so the lid can carry the prep-table crates.
- Keep refrigeration upright. Reach-ins and ice machines ride upright, strapped to the wall, with doors taped or strapped shut.
- Remove table legs and undershelves. Flat-packed stainless tables are denser and less likely to be bent.
- Load hoods along the wall, not across. At 150 in long, a hood crate rides lengthwise; two crates side by side take 12.5 LF.
- Label by area. Hot line, prep, dish, walk-in. The installer sets equipment in sequence.
Delivery and accessorials
Restaurant sites are hard deliveries: city streets, strip-center rear doors, no dock, and a general contractor's schedule. Plan for:
| Need | Why | How we tender it |
|---|---|---|
| Liftgate | Most restaurant sites have no dock | Fine for refrigerators and ranges within the gate rating; a 12 ft hood crate overhangs a typical platform |
| Forklift or crew at site | Long hood crates and heavy panel crates | Confirmed with the contractor before dispatch |
| Delivery appointment | Coordinated with hood installer and walk-in assembler | Built into partial and dedicated rates |
| Inside delivery | Equipment placed in the kitchen | Quoted with door widths confirmed; a two-door reach-in is about 34 in deep |
| Limited access | Malls, airports, campuses, stadiums | Quoted per site |
Indicative LTL ranges are $75 to $175 for liftgate and $100 to $300 for inside delivery; on a partial or dedicated truck they are agreed in the rate.
Which mode Cubic Transport tenders kitchen equipment on
Single pieces of equipment on skids move standard LTL with liftgate and exact dimensions. A build package with hoods, walk-in panels and refrigeration goes on a direct partial truckload, delivered on an appointment the contractor can staff. Multi-unit rollouts for chains go on a 53 ft truckload or a shared truckload with several drops along one route. Short-haul builds with no dock are often best on a 26 ft box truck with a liftgate and two people. We broker the transport; equipment setting and installation are handled by your dealer or contractor.
