How to prevent damage during shipping

0.5% of all products lost are damaged.

Well that number is super small, so I don't care. This will never add up.

WAIT!    What if your total sales revenue was 10 million?

I'll let you do the math on that one. Hint: It's a significant number!

Seen this before?

Shipping Damage Shipping Damage Damage during shipping

Let's fix that!

There's several things you can do when trying to prevent damage during shipping. 
First let's start with the stretch wrapping process.

Stretch wrap to protect pallets.

Do you know what a properly contained pallet looks like?

Stretch wrap used to contain a pallet will protect it from damage if done correctly. Containment force is the squeezing pressure that the film puts onto the load. Containment force must be consistent from top to bottom, creating a single package or unit. If containment force isn't done properly, the pallet will shift and fall during transit. Just think of those huge trucks and their wide turns they're always taking. Now imagine that pallets shifting their weight from side to side during the turn.

Containment Force

If your pallets end up like this after shipping, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.


Stretch wrapping pallets
  • Keep a consistent containment force from top to bottom. 
  • Wrap the pallet evenly and consistently, using the same number of revolutions.
  • Make sure you know the film weight, so you can keep it consistent and repeatable in the future. 

Load the trailer correctly.

No matter how properly you wrap a pallet with stretch film, it won't protect against the space between pallets. Like we mentioned before, those pallets WILL be moving from side to side during their travels. It's science. How about when those trucks are breaking? You guessed it, those pallets will move front and back.

  • So make sure you're balancing the weight evenly throughout the truck. 
  • Place loads with similar heights and weights together.
  • Fill the empty space.

How do I feel the empty space during shipping?

Dunnage Air Bags is the solution.

These guys are great for filling the void between pallets, helping to protect your loads from damage during shipping. They also look like really comfy pillows for your pallets. It's a long trip, make sure your pallets get the rest they need.

Dunnage

Dunnage Air Bags are the most cost effective way to fill those voids and block and brace your shipments. They're economical- in loads that are mostly the same a single dunnage air bag can brace an entire trailer. They eliminate load shifting that can cause major damage during transit. They're super easy to use. Dunnage air bags can be installed in a few minutes with ease. Air Bag Inflators help to quickly bring the bag to size needed to protect your packaging. Deflation is also simple, they deflate fast and can be removed quickly for easy unloading.

 Now you on you're way to preventing damage during shipping. Be sure to check out our Packaging Library for more great info on our products and solutions.

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