Preparing your freight shipment for transport is extremely important for making sure all items within a shipment remain safe and secure during transportation. If you don’t properly pack and wrap your shipment, you’ll risk damage during transport.
It’s not the carrier’s job to pack freight properly - it’s yours. Their job is to move your cargo from one point to another, and you can’t expect them to disrupt their work by correcting mistakes that you may have made. You are the one responsible for packing your products for safe delivery.
So, how can you pack pallets for shipping? Here are the essential pallet packing tips you need to apply to every freight shipment.
Packing Your Freight
You should pack all the items that you need to ship in durable cardboard boxes. That way, they will remain entirely secure and damage-free.
You need to make sure there is no space in each box so that there is no risk of crushing your products. Make the boxes full and be sure to use packing aids such as bubble wrap, foam peanuts, air pillows, or similar packing materials that will protect all the boxed items.
Labeling Your Boxes
Every box you ship must have a proper label. Each label must say how many pieces of your shipment are there. For instance, if there are five boxes, the labels for each should say 1 of 5, 2 of 5, 3 out of 5, etc.
There should also be labels stating the characteristics of your shipment: fragile, glass, liquid, or heavy-weight.
When putting labels on each of your boxes, make sure you place them evenly on the side of each box and make sure they are clearly visible.
Packing a Pallet for Shipping
When packing your pallet, make sure you use new, high-quality boxes. Tape each box by sealing the flap edges on the top using the “X” taping method. When packing a pallet for shipping, place heavier boxes at the bottom and lighter boxes at the top.
Make sure to distribute the boxes’ weight evenly. Don’t misalign the boxes and never let them overhang, as they may move and fall. When stacking the boxes, both staggered and aligned strategies are best.
After every several rows, place a flat cardboard piece so that you reinforce any loose boxes. After this, place cardboard corner beads around your entire pallet, and add some additional pads at the top. This will strengthen the pallet and prevent any potential damage.
Lastly, wrapping pallets for shipping is incredibly important. In order to do this, you must shrink-wrap your entire pallet, so that all the boxes sit perfectly together. When wrapping pallets for shipping, be sure to wrap each 3 to 5 times. Leave just enough space at the top for the forklift to properly lift and move the pallet without damaging anything.
You can also add some nylon straps to the pallet to further strengthen and ensure safe transport and delivery.
Contact JRC Dedicated Services for Your Freight Shipment Needs
JRC Dedicated Services is a leading Chicago trucking and warehousing company. If you need experts to handle all your freight shipments with the utmost care, we’re here for you.
We pride ourselves on offering reliable, accurate, and incredibly fast services. Whichever of our services you need, we can customize them to meet all your needs. We provide overnight delivery during regular business hours, as well as off-hours delivery services.
If you’re interested in any of our services with customized transportation solutions, don’t hesitate to give us a call. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation!
