Sunny Border Delivery Guidelines

Trucking Is Expensive!
We are always happy to have you pick up your order. You may be able to do that for less money than we would charge for delivering it. If it is neither practical nor cost effective to pick up, Sunny Border maintains a fleet of owned or leased trucks to serve you as efficiently and inexpensively as our costs will allow.
We charge for delivery. Rather than build delivery fees into our frontline prices, (which would not be fair to customers who pick up), we offer a sliding scale of quantity discounts. The scale is listed on page 68. In many cases your discount will be more than our delivery charge. To get "free" delivery, we are unashamedly asking you to buy more plants from us.
We usually won't deliver any order for less than $500 March thru May. It is sometimes possible to do so if we have a suitable consolidation with other customers.

Beyond 300 miles, we will deliver at our estimated cost or we can ship by common carrier, whichever is less. There is the possibility that we can consolidate your order with other customers. However, we can't always promise timely consolidation.
For delivery beyond 300 miles, we generally use our own one-way, shrink-wrapped, wooden racks. The cost of these racks, (about $50) will be included in the delivery fee and you own them. They are strong and well-made and should have re-usable value to you. Since you don't have to return them, you can off-load them at your convenience.
It is not cost effective for us to pick up these racks. If you have no use for them we will try to pick them up on subsequent orders delivered on our own trucks. We can't give you credit for them. Bringing back empty racks usually costs us more than they are worth.

How Do We Assess Delivery Rates?
Within a 50 mile one way radius we deliver for 4% plus a $25 drop-off fee. We will deliver a $500 order for 4% x $500= $20 plus $25 = $45 total. A $10,000 order will cost you $425 using the same formula.
Between a 50 and 100 mile one way radius we deliver for 5% plus a $25 drop off fee.
Between a 100 and 150 mile one way radius we deliver for 6% plus a $25 drop off fee.
For every additional 50 miles of one way distance from the nursery add an extra percent of delivery charge plus the $25 drop off fee. For example, a $10,000 delivery going 180 will cost you $725.
Delivery distances are assessed by actual truck miles, not by bee-line miles. Delivery to Long Island is assessed by way of the Throg's Neck Bridge, not by ferry, even if actually routed by ferry.
We're not a trucking company. Nonetheless, we observe every state and federal trucking regulation and employ only properly licensed, bonded and insured drivers. Doing so entails a tremendous amount of complicated and costly paperwork. Bottom line is that, in an effort to be of service to you, we are not looking to make a profit on our deliveries but we can't afford to lose money either. Also we are contracting with several outside trucking companies that charge extra fees for drop offs and for extra unloading time. These charges will be passed on to the customer on a case by case basis. We hope you will understand our plight.

Disclaimer:
Hardiness Zones and Sun/Shade Requirements
Most hardiness zone maps are based on a 25 year average. As a result they can be totally meaningless in any given winter. We are in USDA zone 6a but we have had 3b conditions at our coldest.
Conversely, we've had at least two winters with no worse than 7a conditions. Based on our experiences over 50 years we have guesstimated hardiness zones for each genus we list. Species, variety or cultivar requirements may vary within a genus.
Shade/sun needs may also vary. Plants that need shade in Virginia may do perfectly well in full sun when grown in New England.
We urge you to be skeptical about zone maps and light requirements. Many other factors effect plant performance and durability.