How to Pack Heavy Items for Shipping
Packing and shipping heavy items can be complicated. Not only do you need to consider weight and cost, but you also need to anticipate the impact of heavy handling and warehouse equipment. What steps can you take to minimise the risk of damage? And how do you make sure you wow your customers, but minimise costs at the same time?
Allegro Logistics are a specialist e-commerce fulfilment provider based in Bristol. We have years of experience packing and shipping items of all shapes and sizes, and overseeing their safe onwards journey.
In this blog, we explain how to ship heavy items successfully, covering everything from packaging materials to weight distribution.
Why is Packing for Heavy Items Important?
Heavy items require special consideration when it comes to packing them up for shipment. Heavy packages will be moved by warehouse equipment like forklifts, experience compression on all sides through stacking, and are more likely to shift during transit.
Whatever the weight of your package, it needs to arrive in top condition. Why? Because customer satisfaction depends upon their interaction with your brand in the real world. A package that arrives damaged or compromised will not deliver a positive experience. To help make sure people buy from you again, it’s crucial you consider how your shipment will travel to their door, and take care to protect it from damage.
Packing Heavy Items for Shipping – Things to Consider
Materials
When it comes to choosing packaging materials for your heavy items, durability is key. Only use materials that can stand up to some rough handling and are strong enough to protect the items. Finding materials that combine aesthetics and strength will ensure you wow your customers but keep the items safe from damage too.
Weight Limits
Royal Mail considers anything over 20kg a heavy parcel, and other couriers and carriers will also have their own limits. Typically, anything over 30kg must be shipped using a courier who can transport pallets.
Handling
Think through how your package will be handled by couriers. Will it be carried or forklifted? Will it be stacked with other heavy items? This will provide you with some useful insights as to how you should protect it.
Awareness
Don’t forget to highlight that the package is heavy using a prominent sticker. This will let your courier know that they need to be extra careful when moving it, making injury and damage much less likely.
How to Pack Heavy Items for Shipping
Don’t Overload
It might be tempting to consolidate items into a single package in order to reduce shipping costs. However, this increases the risk of the package breaking or the items damaging each other inside. If your shipment is made up of multiple heavy items, package them in separate boxes with separate cushioning and insulation. This will ensure everything is fully protected and ready for its journey.
Choose Durable Packaging
For packages over 10kg, opting for a double walled cardboard box as your shipment’s outer packaging will offer better strength. If your package is 30kg or above, however, a tri-walled box and a wooden shipping crate or pallet made of hardwood might be necessary. When it comes to the box, make sure it’s brand new and check the maker’s certificate for weight limits. Choose one that’s well-constructed, with stiches or staples at the seams. When sealing your package, make sure you use strong tape to seal it up, and consider using three strips on the top and the bottom to add further reinforcement.
Pallet Delivery – Everything You Need to Know About Pallet Distribution and Delivery >
Distribute Weight
Distributing the weight of your package appropriately is crucial to minimising the risk of damage. If there are multiple items in the box, place the largest and heaviest at the bottom, and balance the weight so it doesn’t tilt when carried. This can be done by centring the items in the box using insulation and braces – more on that later!
Protect Contents
To prevent damage to the items in your parcel, it’s important to use adequate inner packaging. Fill up the space between the item and the outer packaging with strong cushioning materials. Paper is unlikely to be robust enough for this. Instead, choose products like thermocol or bubble wrap which will provide greater protection.
Minimise Movement
As heavy items are more likely to shift during transit and whilst being handled, minimising movement will help protect your package. Use corrugated cardboard or foam enclosures to brace items within the outer packaging, or brace using cushioning material.
Track Package
Considering the added risks posed by shipping heavy items, it’s even more important to track your package. Accurate data will give you more control over the shipping process and provide your customers with easily accessible information about the whereabouts of their purchases. As a result, you’ll seem transparent and trustworthy, and your buyer journey is more likely to be positive.
Related: How Has Technology Transformed the Logistics Industry?
Outsource Fulfilment
Packing heavy items for shipping can be a headache, but outsourcing your fulfilment can relieve the strain. Your logistics partner will think of everything on your behalf, meaning you can focus on running your business. Specialist fulfilment expertise will enable them to get your heavy items to your customer in top condition, and save you money too.
Benefits of Outsourcing Logistics – The Advantages of Using a 3PL >
Order Fulfilment Solutions for Heavy Items
At Allegro Logistics, we understand what makes a fulfilment service great. We take the hassle out of shipping, whatever the shape, size and weight of your product. When you trust us with your logistics, you can feel confident that your customers will have only the best experience of your brand.
Request a quote today and let us take the weight off your shoulders!
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