Shipping & Delivery

Shipping Rules-of-Thumb

• Stone is most economically shipped on full flatbed semi trucks (typically 24 tons) or in full shipping containers (typically 20-22 tons). The shipping cost is usually the same if the truck or the container isn’t fully loaded so it is more cost-effective to ship in full units. Shipments of individual pallets by common freight carriers are more expensive per ton than full semi truck shipments.

• Stone is always transported on pallets which must be loaded and unloaded with a forklift. Pallets of stone usually weigh between 3000 and 4500 lbs. each.

• In most cases, customers are responsible for unloading pallets of stone from the trucks or shipping containers at the job site. This requires a fork lift and an operator. Within Montana, Quarry Works can deliver stone on a truck equiped with a “hitchhiker” forklift to unload pallets of stone.

• For cost-effective delivery, the delivery site must be accessible to a typical flatbed semi truck. Roads and driveways with tight corners and weight-limited bridges can prevent the truck from reaching the delivery site.

• Full-thickness (~4″-6″) wall stones cover 25-35 square feet of wall per ton of stone. Therefore a full 24-ton truckload of wall stone will cover 600 to 840 square feet of wall.

• Thin veneers are cut to 1″-1 1/2″ thick, so a full 24-ton truckload consists of 2700 to 3300 square feet of stone.

• Flagstones cover between 50 and 150 square feet of floor per ton, depending on the thickness.