One thing anyone who works in shipping knows is that packing and wrapping a pallet for freight is serious business. The safety of the product you’re shipping will be directly affected by the way the pallet is packed and wrapped, and the better it’s packed the safer it will be, which also decreased the chance that you’ll have to deal with all the messy paperwork that can come from filing transportation claims in the event of damage. Additionally, a well packed pallet can reduce freight cost. Here’s how to pack and wrap a pallet the right way to lower parcel costs.

Start with a Good Foundation
The first thing you need to have to be able to pack and wrap a pallet is good foundation. This means that the wooden support you use needs to be in good shape. There should be no nails poking out, so if there are any, give them a couple of whacks to flatten them down or push them back into the wood. All of the support beams of the pallet should be intact and not splintering or uneven, since this can affect where the weight of the shipment is carried and make it unstable.

Load Properly
Once you have the right base, load your shipment carefully. If you’re loading boxes, put the heavier and fuller ones on the bottom so that they don’t even up crushing the weight of lighter, less filled boxes. Makes sure that when you’re stacking the boxes that you switch the direction they’re facing for each layer. Once you’ve completed a layer of boxes, the next one should be going the other direction so they don’t create tippable stacks.

Secure the Load
Once you have a neatly, tightly, and carefully stacked load, it’s time to secure it with clingwrap. Most shipping departments will have a long roll of this, usually about three or more feet long. Unroll a few feet of the clingwrap and give it a few twists to make it rope like. Tie this around one of the support beams on the pallet. Then, walk around the pallet with the roll making sure to wrap tightly around the corners. Make sure you wrap each layer a few times before moving up. When you do, turn the roll 180 degrees to reach the higher levels of the load.

Making sure what you’re shipping is packed and wrapped well is one of the most effective ways to reduce freight price and a good method of controlling transportation costs. Many times, a well wrapped, tightly packaged shipment is going to contain more weight and lower parcel costs because there is a smaller number of individual freight shipments.

Do you have any other tips to lower parcel costs? Let us know in the comments.
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