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PALLETIZING AND CRATING IN LCL OCEAN FREIGHT

This page mostly related to shipping LCL (Less than Container Load sea freight service offered by international transportation companies) cargo by non-commercial shippers that do not have a loading dock, appropriate equipment and experienced staff to prepare its cargo for the international shipment by sea, i.e. for individual shippers, shippers of household goods etc.

LCL sea freight cargo can be shipped as follows:

Loose items
Palletized and shrink-wrapped
Crated
Mixed

All methods above have advantages and disadvantages. Shipper has to decide which way he/she is going to prepare cargo to the international shipment in advance.

SHIPPING LOOSE ITEMS BY SEA USING LCL OCEAN FREIGHT SERVICE FROM INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES

Advantage: Shipping LCL ocean freight as loose item is the most economical way to ship cargo from or to US because the total ocean freight shipping cost will be calculated as a straight sum of volumes for all shipped items in cubic meters (or cubic feet).

Disadvantages: Shipping loose items by sea is not always safe for your import or export.
Since every single item will be loaded and offloaded in a sea freight container by hand it could be damaged when it is handled by the international transportation company. It may be spread out in warehouse(s) and/or the sea freight container(s) and even partially lost during the international trip. Loose items are less protected from thieving as during the ocean shipment well.

NOTICE: If you ship up to 4-5 boxes, then your goods may be shipped loose. However, if you ship many boxes OR any one piece exceeds 100 lbs then the ocean carrier may require to palletize your loose items no matter either you did or did not request the palletizing or not.

PALLETIZED AND SHRINK-WRAPPED CARGO IN RESPECT OF OCEAN FREIGHT

Advantages: When import or export goods from or to US by sea, palletized and shrink-wrapped cargo has much higher probability to reach its destination without damages or loss. During the trip forklifts will safely handle it. Since all shipping items are kept together in a pallet(s) then a partial lose is not possible. It is much better protected from potential theft on any stage of the ocean shipment as well.

Disadvantage: Additional charges for palletized cargo will appear.

Cost of pallet and labor
A charge due to extra chargeable volume for palletized cargo

As a rule you may ask an ocean carrier ship warehouse, which you deliver your lose boxes to, to palletize your boxes directly at the warehouse. Then your will pay for the palletizing directly to the ocean carrier freight terminal. Charges vary depending on the warehouse and type of used pallets from $35 to $55+ per skid including cost of pallet.

When palletizing, your shipped boxes, etc. will be stacked by the ocean freight carrier on a pallet, as many as it can fit. It can be stacked up to about 4 to 5 feet high and should not exceed 60" (1.52m). Then the whole thing is shrink wrapped by plastic film.

The size of standard U.S. pallet (also known as a "skid") is 48"(1.2m) x 40"(1.0m) x 6"(0.15m) in height.

However in the sea freight industry it is permitted to use a variety of pallets with different sizes and forms. Must important is that froklifts can handle pallets/skids. I.e. its bases are accessible for pallet-jacks on two sides with a minimum clearance of 3.5". All pallets must fit into a 40’ multimodal sea freight container.

TO CALCULATE YOUR FINAL CHARGEABLE (GROSS) VOLUME THE LONGEST, WIDEST AND HIGHEST POINTS OF THE SKID WILL BE MULTIPLIED.

For example: a 40 x 50 x 50 inch skid would equal 1.65 gross cubic meters (or 58 gross cubic feet).

GUIDELINES FOR PALLETIZING:

Wooding packing restrictions: Always keep in mind wooding packing restrictions when use wooden pallets for shipping cargo from or to US. Find more about these restrictions in our website.
Addressing and Labeling: Before palletizing, label two sides of ALL individual cartons on the skid(s) whenever possible. Remove or mark through old labels.

Label two sides of each skid. Include in the labels a booking and reference numbers that we will provide you with. Include names, addresses and phone numbers both at origin and destination on your sea freight shipment.
Size and Weight: Skids exceeding 2,200 lbs. or exceeding 70" in height or 119" in length or 80" in width may require prior approval.
Loading and Stacking: Distribute weight evenly. Stack boxes squarely corner-to-corner to the skid's edge to maximize compression strength, but do not allow boxes to hang over the skid.

Keep the top of the skid flat to minimize loss or damage to cartons; do not pyramid-stack.

Place angled fiberboard (angleboard) between cartons to prevent crushing.

Cover the top of the skid to protect your freight from weather damage.
Securing: Wrap freight in 70-gauge stretchwrap. Pass at least two bands (tightly secured) through the skid voids and around all cartons. If possible use steel, rayon, polypropylene, nylon or polyester strapping to band the freight. Use shock-absorber connections or cushioned skids, if applicable, when bolting.

CRATED CARGO FOR AN LCL SEA FREIGHT SHIPMENT

Crating cargo for the export or import could be considerable expensive. Crating goods shipped by sea is necessary when you ship furniture, big items or certain kind of irregular or fragile commercial goods. A standard or custom-made solid crate can be purchased from a packing company. Check your local yellow pages or order online. You may consider a quality loading service from a professional packing company as well.

Crates same as pallets, must be forklift accessible and suitable for the load into a 40’ sea freight container.

IMPORTANT: Always keep in mind wooding packing restrictions when shipping crated cargo overseas. Find more about these restrictions on our website.

MIXED CARGO

Depending on what you ship, sometimes it is the good idea to ship LCL cargo mixed. That means you can palletize and shrink-wrap small boxes, crate most valuable or fragile items and leave oversized items loose. This approach can give you peace of mind and save on gross chargeable volume.