Shippers are constantly searching for reliable ways to secure their freight during shipments. Shipping pallets represent one of the most popular means of preparing your items for safe transportation. Learn more about palletizing practices and improve your pallet shipping strategy!
What is pallet shipping?
Palletizing is a process of stacking your cargo onto a flat structure that provides extra stability and protects your items from transportation effects. Shipping pallets are platforms for locating your goods previously packed into crates or other packaging units.
Applying a pallet shipping strategy can make your supply chain safer and diminish threats of cargo damage. And this is not the only advantage of palletizing.
Why use shipping pallets?
The safety of your cargo doesn’t depend singularly on the chosen carrier service’s performance. To stay confident about the shipping flow, it’s vital to pick the best packaging method for your items. Palletizing remains an optimal way to stack your boxes at the final stage of the packaging process.
Pallets provide the necessary fixation to the articles, preventing them from unwanted movement inside the truck. When shipping disassembled units (i.e., furniture pieces), placing the packed parts of the same item on one pallet is very comfortable. Thus, you won’t have to worry about proper cargo identification or losing separate elements.
Besides shipping safety, palletizing significantly facilitates cargo handling, including loading and unloading. Many unloading docks are designed to unload items quickly from shipping pallets. It can speed up physical operations and reduce the need to hire additional staff.
How to palletize your freight?
If you didn’t use to palletizing your shipments before, this process might seem challenging at first. However, following a few simple steps can help you properly prepare your freight for transportation.
Choose a suitable shipping pallet
Shipping pallets come in various types and sizes, and your choice depends primarily on the cargo characteristics. First, get accurate measurements of your cargo, as its size determines the size of a pallet. Typically, a pallet is 48 inches by 40 inches, regulated by ISO (International Organization of Standardization).
Evaluate your items’ general volume, and see if the usual pallet size meets your requests. When deciding on a suitable shipping pallet, count the additional volume that comes with freight packaging. It will also help you understand how many pallets you need to stack the boxes.
The rules of pallet sizing are slightly different for international shipping. If you’re planning to move your items overseas, ensure to learn about palletizing requirements before. It will guarantee the correct placement of the cargo and prevent possible freight loss.
Your pallet shipping preferences may also depend on the type of materials. Shippers commonly use wooden pallets for their firmness and ability to endure heavyweight objects. Besides, wooden pallets are more affordable and eco-friendly. Still, specific kinds of cargo require supportive structures produced from impervious materials. For example, you’d select a plastic pallet to ship healthcare products or other chemically active goods.
Stack your packages on a pallet
Before starting the actual palletizing, check if you’ve labeled your packages. Shipping labels must include the items’ titles and weight, addresses, and required barcodes. Also, you can add specific stickers that will prompt the carriers to careful handling (i.e., fragile items).
After picking up the shipping pallets, take care of the correct cargo stacking procedure. Use a cardboard slip at the pallet’s bottom to increase the weight distribution. Apply cardboard pieces to every layer of your cargo to prevent extreme pressure and condensate effects. For better protection, you can also secure the sides of your load with cardboard sheets.
Try to stack your packed crates in columns, placing the heaviest ones on the pallet’s bottom to create an even weight allocation. Align all the boxes so that none of them extends beyond the edge of your pallet. Thus, you’ll minimize the risk of crushing and cargo deformation. If there are some odd-size packages or boxes with a humpy surface, locate them at the top of your load.
Fix your cargo additionally
The last step of the palletizing process is the additional securement of your load. Consider using a stretch wrap to cover your packages and prevent them from separating during shipment. For extra fixation, apply elastic bands and straps to ensure your boxes hold together and avoid undesirable shifts. In addition, verify to include all the necessary paperwork for your shipment. It will facilitate the items’ identification and speed up the delivery process.
To stay confident throughout your shipment, cooperate with reliable shipping services like GoShip. We can connect you to many professional carriers that support pallet shipping strategy and can deliver your freight without disruptions. On our website, you can search for experienced carriers, compare their shipping rates, and get a free quote in a moment.