Bear Shift Pallet storage · coordinated by a licensed freight broker
Short- and long-term pallet storage with independent partner warehouses
Short- and long-term pallet storage near Seattle (Kent Valley and the rest of the Seattle–Tacoma area) covers freight that has to wait between two trucks, for a few days, several weeks or a few months. We look for room in an independent partner warehouse near your route, send you the storage price before anything is booked and arrange the trucks that bring your pallets in and take them out. The warehouse stores and handles the freight; Bear Shift coordinates the service.
Days, weeks or months, counted by the pallet
Storage is planned around your pallets and your time frame. A shipment might wait a week while a receiver clears floor space, or seasonal stock might sit for a whole quarter. Tell us how long you expect the pallets to stay, and if the plan changes, let us know so we can send you the price for the extra time.
The partner warehouse receives your pallets, checks them in and keeps an inventory by pallet in your name. Its warehouse receipts are issued to you, not to Bear Shift, because the goods remain yours the whole time they are stored. When you want pallets back on the road, the warehouse releases them on your instructions to the truck we arranged.
Who uses short- and long-term storage
- Importers holding container freight until a customer is ready to take it.
- Manufacturers and distributors parking seasonal or slow-moving stock outside their own building.
- Online sellers with more inventory than their own space can hold in busy weeks.
- Businesses that are moving, remodeling or between leases and need pallets kept for a while.
How a storage request works
- You tell us how many pallets, roughly for how long, and near which city the freight should stay.
- We check space with independent partner warehouses and send you the price for the storage and, if you want them, the trucks.
- Once you approve, we send the warehouse a written storage order and book the truck that brings your pallets in.
- When you need pallets back, you tell us how many and when, and we arrange the truck that takes them out.
What we need to price your storage
Give us the number of pallets, their size and weight, whether they can be stacked, what the product is and the dates you expect them to arrive and leave. Say near which city they should be, since a warehouse close to your customers shortens the trip out. Freight that needs temperature control, extra security or hazmat handling has to be mentioned from the start, because not every warehouse accepts it.
Trucks in and out, and handling
Warehouses usually charge for handling pallets in and out, and some also charge for labeling, wrapping or counting. Those charges, and any minimum charge, are part of the storage price we send you. The trucks to and from the warehouse are arranged with vetted carriers and priced on their own, so you approve each piece separately.
Storage is provided by independent warehouses; Bear Shift coordinates it. See who is responsible for your goods while they are stored.
Only need a truck, without storage? Get a transport quote from a person
Tell us how many pallets and for how long
Storage questions
Who is responsible for my goods while they are stored?
The warehouse. Storage is provided by independent warehouse operators. You (or your designee) remain the owner and depositor of your goods; the warehouse is the bailee and is responsible for them while they are in its care, under its warehouse receipt and the law, which can limit the amount it owes. It issues its receipts to you. The warehouse legal liability insurance we ask it to carry covers that responsibility; it isn't insurance on your goods, so for full value insure them under your own policy. Bear Shift coordinates the service, never holds goods in its own name, and helps you with any claim.
Is there a minimum?
Minimums vary from one warehouse to another and with the size of the job, so we don't publish a single one. Any minimum charge is included in the price we send you, and you see it before anything is booked.
Can I take out only part of my pallets?
Yes. Tell us how many pallets and on which date, and send your release instructions; the warehouse pulls them from your inventory and we arrange the truck that picks them up. The rest stay in storage, still in your name. Each release usually carries a handling charge, and it is shown in the price we send you.