Whether you’re a small or medium-sized e-commerce business, palletizing your pallets the right way is the difference in making your customers happy. If they’re not, your customers will likely end up with a pallet of goods that can’t be used and you’ll end up having to front the costs. If you ship products on pallets, consider following the below tips to ensure a secure transportation process.
Expect the Unexpected
Whether your freight is being transported via air or land, planning for the worst conditions is always the way forward. A bit more packaging is better than less, so always ensure you go the extra mile to secure your products. A bit of extra strapping and bubble wrap can go a long way in protecting the goods. Remember that during the transportation, your goods will likely have to be handled numerous times. Therefore, it’s crucial you consider the impact your current packaging solutions will have.
Invest in the Right Pallets
You have numerous options when it comes to the various materials used to create pallets, so it’s important you consider the cost and transportation process. Always look at new pallets for shipping. They’re not always the most affordable solutions, but they’re guaranteed to get the job done safely. You’ll want to consider the weight of the products, shape, and the handling to ensure you pick the right solution.
What Works Best for the Customer?
It’s not just the transportation you need to be wary of; it’s also how the pallet will end up when it reaches its destination. As stated above, you could wrap the pallet numerous times to make it more secure, but that might not benefit the end-user when it comes to unwrapping it. Sometimes, a banding solution is wise, but if you have numerous smaller boxes, you will have to wrap it to ensure no boxes are loose. With that said, contact your customer to see what tools they have available to open the pallet when it reaches them – it could save you a lot of time and effort.
Consider the Stacking Pattern
If you’re shipping an obscure shaped load, there’s not much you can do make sure the stacking is stable. However, when it comes to boxes and the like, it’s crucial you pay attention to the stacking pattern to ensure it offers the best stability during transportation. The last thing your customer wants at the other end is to offload the pallet with some pallet trucks, only for the load to topple. Therefore, it’s paramount you consider the stacking for when it goes out the door but, more importantly, when it gets to the customer and it needs to go in the door.
The above tips are just some of the many tips that will help you better load your pallets for a variety of conditions. So long as the pallets are well-packaged, secure, and well palletized, there’s not much more you can do to ensure it gets to the customer in one piece.
