No one likes delays, especially unexplained delays. We’ve all been there: you order something, you are given an estimated time of arrival, and it doesn’t arrive by that time. Then, you have no idea why it is delayed or when it will arrive, and you wait in perpetual frustration. That is not a fun place to be! Whether in a personal or professional context, we all want to know how long it will take to get something because we want it, need it, or both.
Here at Kaplan, we have been shipping our products nationally and internationally for decades. With funding deadlines, new center openings, and licensing or quality rating requirements putting pressure on educators, we know that getting products in a timely manner is important to you. To better understand the shipping process and how it relates to your order, read below for details about Kaplan’s shipping criteria and some factors that play into shipping times and delays.
How Long Does Shipping from Kaplan Usually Take?
Many factors can influence the length of time between when you order Kaplan products–like tables and chairs for your classroom– and when you receive them. Two common ones are the size of your order and the distance it must travel.
The size of your order will impact its delivery time because your order’s size determines your order’s shipping method, and different shipping methods have different delivery times. If your order weighs less than 110 pounds, it can be shipped as a parcel (in an individual box–like a package you would get delivered to your house). If your order weighs more than 110 pounds or contains larger items such as tables or storage units, these will be shipped in a tractor-trailer as part of a process called LTL (less than truckload) shipping. LTL shipments take a few extra days to deliver because the shipping carriers will take shipments to terminals, where they will be placed in other trucks before going to their final destination. Smaller items being shipped via parcel are handled more quickly at terminals and will thus ship faster than items being shipped via LTL.
Distance is another important factor that determines the length of time between when you order items and when you receive them. Because Kaplan’s primary warehouse is located in North Carolina, orders in or close to North Carolina will arrive at their destinations sooner than orders further away from North Carolina. Kaplan ships the bulk of its orders from this location, so that is why proximity to North Carolina impacts the time of delivery.
Estimated delivery times for LTL orders are as follows:
- 2-5 days for the Southeast,
- 2-4 days for the Northeast,
- 3-6 days for the Midwest,
- 4-7 days for the Southwest,
- 4-7 days for the West, and
- 15-20 days for Alaska and Hawaii.
If you are curious about where your state fits within this regional breakdown, check out this map of United States regions from National Geographic that uses these same designations. Estimated delivery times for parcels are displayed on this map from our website, but a day should be added to these estimates because of the shipping interruptions that have occurred over the last three years.
Causes for Kaplan Shipping Delays
Although we cannot read your mind, we imagine that you are asking this question because you are concerned about delays. Delays are unwelcome and inconvenient, but they will inevitably happen from time to time. In this section, we will tell you some of the reasons for delays.
Items Are Unavailable For Immediate Shipment
The absence of items from your order is a common cause of delay. At Kaplan, if 100 percent of the items you ordered are in stock and available to ship, your order will go out as soon as possible. If any part of your order is back-ordered (out of stock), Kaplan will wait up to a week before shipping the order because it is our goal to ship it to you 100% complete. We want you to have all of the items you need at the same time–even if that means there is a delay. That said, there are some circumstances where we will ship partially fulfilled orders. If the order is still not complete three weeks after we receive it from you, we will ship it if most of the items are available to ship. Also, we will ship your order if we know in advance that the missing items will take a long time to arrive.
If you want to avoid a lengthy delay because of an out-of-stock item, it may be best to order that item at another time. For items that are housed in our warehouse, our website will tell you if something is temporarily out of stock, and you can receive a notification telling you when the item is back in stock by clicking the “Get In-Stock Alert” button and giving us your email. The example image below shows you where to find this button.
Payment Issues or Business Closure
In addition to missing items, there are a couple of other reasons for delays that are worth mentioning. Payment issues could be the cause. If you pay with a check, we will hold your order for ten days before declaring it eligible to ship. Business closure is another possible cause. If we know you will be closed during your original estimated delivery time, we will hold the order until you reopen. We don’t want you to have to figure out what to do when lots of items get shipped to your childcare center or classroom, and no one is there to receive them!
Seasonal Increases in Orders
There are certain times of year when we receive more orders. This is especially true during August and September because these months are right before the beginning of the public school year. During those peak times, the higher volume of orders makes delays more likely.
Shipping and Delivery Resources from Kaplan
We know that the timing of your delivery is very important to you. That is why we are committed to processing your order and shipping your items in the most efficient way possible. If you are looking for more information on the shipping process, view the estimated parcel shipping times for the United States map on our website (note: because of the shipping interruptions that have occurred over the last three years, a day should be added to all these estimates). You also have the option to track your order on our website by entering your order number and the ZIP code you listed. Finally, you can reach out to our customer support team if you have any other specific questions. Here at Kaplan, we want to do everything we can to ensure you have a smooth delivery experience. If this is not the case, please let us know, and we will do whatever we can to assist you.
