If you want your pallets with merchandise to reach a safe port, the best way to start off on the right foot is to correctly prepare these pallets. Something that doesn’t always happen. This can happen for various reasons, but the important thing is to know that we will almost always be able to prevent this from happening. And the difference between a well-prepared shipment and one that is not can mean the arrival of the merchandise in good condition or with damage and even breakage.

Good customs to prepare your pallets with merchandise
Security

Securing the merchandise correctly should be like starting our journey by buckling up or putting on our helmet: something absolutely mandatory and that, out of habit, comes naturally to us.

Too often, companies don’t pay due attention until a problem arises. This foresight will prevent us from greater evils, which will always be more expensive and more complicated to solve than good prior preparation.

typical failures

When preparing your pallets with merchandise there are certain basic aspects to take into account. For example, we all know that it’s a bad idea to go with your arms out of the car windows. However, many times that is what is done with the merchandise, placing it in such a way that its ‘extremities’ protrude outside the pallet.

This is going to mean a highway for possible damages. Keep in mind that now the merchandise, when loaded and unloaded in the vehicles, will not collide with the wood of the other pallets, but directly with the merchandise itself.

Not correctly fixing the merchandise -by means of straps, shrink wrap or other fastenings- will have similar consequences, since the more it moves, the more likely it is that it will remain outside the surface of the pallet, exposing itself to unwanted contact. Also, more movement of the base will make it more unstable. And it will be more likely to tip over or for the weight of the upper rows to crush the lower layers.

The order of the factors does matter when preparing your pallets with merchandise

Contrary to what we were taught at school with multiplications, when preparing our pallets the order does alter the final result. If the packages that will make up your pallet are not identical, it is preferable to start by placing the heaviest and largest ones below. This way you will optimize the weight that each row has to support, and the lightest merchandise -which is often the most fragile- will have less weight on it. The bulkier material is usually also more useful when it comes to making the base of the top layers.

Documentation

Your pallets with merchandise should not be well prepared from the point of view of their physical integrity. Documentation is another essential part when making a shipment. Especially in cases such as import or export, when there are customs involved. In these cases, not being careful and precise with the data or knowing who is going to take care of paying certain costs -such as taxes- can mean the stoppage of the merchandise and the consequent delay in its delivery.

Related Posts

• How to send pallets at the best price without losing quality
• Three important aspects in delivery logistics
• How to hire pallet transport agencies
• Three factors in the ground transportation service
• Four keys to freight transport