White glove delivery is a final-mile service in which the crew does more than leave freight at the curb: they bring the item inside, place it in the room of choice, unpack it, assemble or install it where required, and remove the packaging. In Miami it is most often used for furniture, medical and lab equipment, fitness machines, high-value electronics, retail fixtures and hospitality FF&E.
The defining difference from standard delivery is labor. A white glove stop is priced around crew time and headcount, not just miles and weight.
What is included in a white glove delivery
Standard scope
- Scheduled delivery appointment, usually in a two- to four-hour window
- Two-person crew with blankets, floor protection and hand tools
- Inside delivery to the room of choice, including stairs or elevator
- Unpacking, light assembly and placement
- Removal and disposal of cartons, pallets and packaging
Common add-ons
- Full installation or mechanical hook-up
- Old-unit removal and haul-away
- Certificate of insurance for the building
- After-hours or weekend windows for condo and hotel loading docks
- Photo proof of delivery and signed condition reports
Why Miami buildings complicate final mile
South Florida has an unusually high share of high-rise residential and hospitality addresses, and those buildings impose rules that a standard box truck operation is not set up for. Expect to deal with:
- Certificate of insurance requirements. Most condo and office towers will not admit a crew without a COI naming the association as additional insured, filed days in advance.
- Reserved freight elevators. Elevator time is booked in blocks and often restricted to weekday business hours.
- Loading dock height and length limits that rule out a 53-foot trailer and force a smaller straight truck.
- Causeway and bridge restrictions to the barrier islands, which change routing and timing.
Getting these cleared before the truck rolls is most of the job. Route and window management is where last-mile technology earns its keep, because a failed first attempt on a high-rise stop is expensive to repeat.
How white glove is priced
Pricing is built from a base stop charge plus crew time, with thresholds that trigger extra cost:
- Crew size — two-person is standard, three or four for heavy or oversized pieces
- Time on site, usually billed after an included window such as 30 or 60 minutes
- Stair carries, priced per flight above the ground floor
- Assembly complexity and tool requirements
- Debris volume, since packaging disposal has a real cost
- Delivery window restrictions, especially evenings and weekends
Because the cost driver is labor rather than cube, dimensional weight logic does not apply the way it does in parcel or LTL. Two identical cartons can cost very different amounts to deliver depending on the building.
How the warehouse leg affects the delivery
Most white glove programs run through a staging warehouse rather than straight from the port or the factory. Freight is received, inspected, held, and then released against a customer appointment. Damage discovered at receiving can be resolved before the customer ever sees it, which is the single biggest driver of a clean first-attempt rate. Go Freight stages white glove inventory in its 104,000 sq ft Miami facility and dispatches from there through last-mile delivery services. Where an item arrives damaged, the receiving inspection becomes the evidence base for a freight claim.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between white glove and threshold delivery?
Threshold delivery ends at the first dry area inside the door, such as a garage or lobby. White glove continues to the room of choice and includes unpacking, placement, light assembly and packaging removal.
How much does white glove delivery cost in Miami?
Pricing is built from a base stop charge plus crew time, with additions for stair carries, extra crew members, assembly, debris removal and restricted delivery windows. Because labor drives the cost, two identical cartons can price very differently depending on the building.
Do I need a certificate of insurance for a condo delivery?
Most Miami condo and office towers require a certificate of insurance naming the association as additional insured, filed several days before the appointment. Request it early, because a missing COI is the most common reason a white glove delivery is turned away at the dock.
Get a quote
Go Freight is an asset-based Miami 3PL founded in 2004, running 100+ owned trucks, our own chassis pool, and a 104,000 sq ft bonded warehouse at 6901 NW 26 Ave, Miami, FL 33147. Request a rate or call (786) 445-0150.