LTL freight at checkout, how does lift-gate + inside delivery + appointment scheduling work?

The customer is buying a 600lb Vulcan range or a Rational combi for a strip-mall restaurant with no loading dock. Parcel won’t work; you need LTL freight with add-ons. The workflow:

• Live rate quoting, Magento integrates with SMC3, Project44, FreightPOP, Worldwide Express, or Freightquote (CH Robinson) via REST API. Cart sends weight, dimensions, NMFC class, origin warehouse, destination ZIP, residential flag. Aggregator returns 5-15 carrier quotes (XPO, R+L, Old Dominion, Saia, Estes, YRC, ABF).
• Service-level add-ons, checkbox grid at checkout: lift-gate (~$75), inside delivery (~$95), appointment scheduling (~$50), residential delivery surcharge (~$45), limited-access (~$60). Each adds to the freight quote in real time.
• BOL generation, on order placement, Magento generates the Bill of Lading (BOL) PDF with the carrier’s details, NMFC class codes, hazmat declaration if applicable. Sends to warehouse + carrier.
• Appointment booking, warehouse hits the carrier’s appointment API (most majors expose it) to lock the delivery window after pickup. Customer gets SMS / email with the appointment slot.
• Tracking, ASN ingest via EDI 856 or carrier webhook. Customer account page shows freight status + appointment + delivery photo.

Margin tip: negotiate your own carrier contracts at $2M+ GMV instead of paying the aggregator markup. SMC3 + a direct XPO / R+L contract beats Freightquote by 12-25% on lanes you ship weekly.