Ship-Thru and Ship-To Terms

Hi, my name is Larry Wyatt and welcome to this edition of National Fleet Services’ Truck Tips! Did ‘ya’ ever wonder what the terms Ship-Through (Ship-Thru) and Ship-To mean? Well, you’re not alone! Let’s take a look.

In order to meet a customer’s specific needs, a good truck dealer will order vehicles with whatever appropriate “factory” options the manufacturer offers. However, there’s no way that automakers like Ford, Chevy and Ram, can offer every kind of option and modification that commercial users require.

So, there’s a whole ecosystem of upfitters that can take factory-built vehicles and give them the final modifications that customers need.

That’s where Ship-Through and Ship-To come in. First, let’s talk about Ship-Through.

What does ship-through mean?

Automakers have close relationships with certain upfit companies. In many cases, these approved companies have facilities located very near the manufacturer’s assembly plants. So, when necessary, this makes it easy for commercial vehicles to roll off the factory line and be taken right to an upfitter like National Fleet Services. There, modifications like adding a bulkhead partition to a Ford Transit Van or a bed liner and a tool box to a RAM pickup are quickly and efficiently made. The finished vehicle then goes back to the automaker to be shipped to the delivering dealership and they hand it off to the customer. That’s called a Ship-Through. Think of it as the vehicle taking a slight delivery detour between the factory and the customer.

However, there are certain situations when a customer needs a ‘non-factory’ option or modification that cannot be accepted back into the automaker’s delivery system. For example, a modification that significantly alters the size of the truck, or if the only upfitter that does a specific modification is too far away from the truck’s manufacturing plant to allow for a Ship-Through. This is when a Ship-To is used.

What does ship-to mean?

In this case, the customer’s vehicle rolls off the factory line and is “final delivered” to an approved upfit company which, by the way, could be located anywhere in the country. The automaker is now finished with their delivery obligations. The upfit company makes the customer requested modifications and it is now the dealer, upfitter or customer’s responsibility to get the finished vehicle to the final destination. This may involve added delivery cost. But sometimes, Ship-To is the only way to get the job done.

In summary

Think of a work truck as a tool. In business, you can’t succeed without the right tools. So, truck dealers and companies like National Fleet Services use Ship-To and Ship-Through to give their customers the perfect tools for success, maximizing convenience and minimizing complexity. Thanks for watching! Please click on more of our NFS Truck Tips!