So another peak season is upon us
and with the growth of e commerce year over year, this holiday shipping season
is sure to bring more volume and more challenges. The number one challenge
during this time of year is ensuring your items arrive safely to their
destination. With so many packages and freight shipments running through the
system, damage is the number one issue facing shippers.
It has been estimated that
shipping packages between October 15 and December 15 increases your chances of
damage to your shipment by 36%. In fact some major carriers have published
statistics that show over half of their freight damage claims for the year
occur in this 2 month period.
In a major study of online
retailers most report that they plan on a 5% damage ratio of product being
shipped during the year and another recent study indicated that the 3 major
carriers UPS, USPS and FedEx have damage ratios of 11%, 10% and 7% respectively
during the year.
The peak season deluge of
shipments places a burden on all facets of the supply chain. During this time
the transportation providers and fulfillment warehouses hire temporary
employees to help meet peak season demand. Since the advent of cell phone
video, we can view video after video of employees who just don’t care: throwing
boxes out of trucks, over fences and even kicking boxes down the warehouse aisle.
Now don’t get me wrong, the vast
majority of workers, even the temporary hires, work hard and take great care of
your packages, but the sad truth is that, during the mad rush of the holidays -
there are just more workers…who care less.
All the carriers have packaging
guidelines, recommendations on how your items should be packaged so that your
shipment can safely navigate through their system. These packaging guidelines
are a great tool, but most packages that are damaged during the holiday
shipping season are packed to those guidelines but somehow they still get
damaged.
Now that I have given you a
warning on the perils of shipping over the next 2 months, let’s take a look at
a few of the mistakes people make and a few things you can do to protect your
valuable shipments this time of year.
The biggest mistake most people
make is not understanding some of the packaging guidelines. Do you understand
that you have to use the correct box? That’s right, there is a correct box.
Boxes are rated for strength.
This is a certificate stamp off
of one of our boxes. In this box we can ship up to 100 lbs. What do you think happens
when your shipment gets damaged and it is in a box that has no strength
certificate? What do you think would happen if I shipped 110 lbs worth of stuff
in the box above? In both situations the carrier would deny any claim because
the item was “insufficiently packaged”
The vast majority of boxes
shipped unfortunately are 50 lb items shipping in 30 lb rated boxes. In the freight world, recent changes to the
Universal Bill of Lading has changed the wording so that shippers now must
prove the carrier was negligent, rather than the carrier proving they were not
negligent, this puts a higher burden of proof on those shipping items and more
leverage for the carrier to deny your claim.
Another mistake many shippers
make is shipping items without declaring a value or getting insurance. When you ship with parcel or freight carriers
declaring your value increases the cost of the shipment because you are buying
an insurance commensurate with the value of the items you are shipping. In the
freight world increasing the value of your shipment can increase your class and
thus increase the amount you are paying per pound.
Those that don’t declare a value are
relegated to only collecting the minimum coverage for the item (With UPS and
USPS that coverage is $100). So if you ship an $800 item and the carrier
damages it, the most you can get back is $100, that’s if you packaged it
correctly!
The packing recommendations of
having 2 inches of packing material around your item works fine until a 100 lb
machinery part in a box is set on top of your glass Vase in its box. Meaning even
when you meet the guidelines for packing materials using this amount of foam,
paper and peanuts in the proper box that may still not be enough to protect your
item.
Here at Gateway Crate and Freight
we employ a number of methods to additionally protect the items we pack and
ship, we think it pays to do more, if it’s really important that the item not
get damaged. Let’s visit two of these:
Double Box – In some cases to
protect an item we will pack the item to standard in one box (2 inches packing
around item in the box) and then place that box into another box with even more
packing around it. This picture is an example of a couple of smaller boxes
packed into a larger box being filled with Styrofoam peanuts.
This packing method increase your
chances of your package arriving safely. This also will add to the cost of your
shipment however. The price of the extra box and packing, as well as paying
more for shipping due to its larger size is something you need to evaluate, but
it does improve the chances of your shipment arriving in good shape.
One issue even when items are
double boxed is that, boxes are sent down miles of conveyor belts during the
sorting process where they can snag on equipment, tumble over multiple times
and in some cases completely fall off. To eliminate this treatment we recommend
crating.
Crating - Another method we use
is wood crating. Providing a wood cover to your shipment greatly improves the
chance of successful delivery. It makes it increasingly difficult for other
freight to be placed on top or fall into your package and damage it Because of
the plywood exterior (Pictured below).
Again this method certainly costs
more, even more so than the double box, because the wood materials and the man
hours to cut and assemble the wood for the crate is a big cost, as well as
adding weight and size to your shipping cost, but it is the best way to make
sure your item arrives in good condition.
Another good perk to shipping in
a wood crate is that the parcel carriers do not put wood crates on the conveyor
belts to tumble over, fall off, or get caught on equipment, instead wood crates
travel through the system in a more direct manner, usually managed by personnel
responsible for “Special care” shipments. (Wood, staples and nails, unlike
cardboard could damage their sorting equipment)
Especially during the peak season
it may make a lot of sense if you are shipping something valuable or irreplaceable
to take the added steps necessary to ensure shipping success. We recommend you take the extra
packaging steps if you really want your shipment to arrive in good shape and not damaged
Gateway Crate and Freight is a
3PL focused on specialty packaging services and along with Gateway- Optimum
Transportation offer commercial and residential clients door to door packing
and shipping services for domestic and International shipments. Toll free
855-474-4685 or visit www.gatewayot.com
and www.gatewaycrateandfreight.com
for more info
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