The Essential Guide To Package Your Delivery

Items getting damaged during delivery is something nobody should face. But how can package senders make sure this doesn’t happen? Read on to learn more about how to package your items correctly!

You will learn the following:

• Why You Need to Pay Attention to Packaging?
• What Good Packaging Should Achieve?
• What is Safe Packaging?
• 5 Best Practices for Packaging
• How Luwjistik Helps?

Why You Need to Pay Attention to Packaging?

Packaging is a key factor for getting logistics right. Here’s why:

1. Protect items
Shipping an item always carries the risk of damage. Here, you can take adequate measures by paying attention to the type of packaging materials used and layering your filler material for added layers of protection against external factors like rain. Proper packaging and filler material with correct labelling also ensures our network partners will handle the shipment with extra care, especially if you’re shipping fragile items.

2. Transporting goods is easier
Using suitable packaging ensures that your items stay intact while being shipped and are handled and transported conveniently.

3. Avoid delays in shipping
Delays caused by non-compliance in packaging are relatively common and can be remedied. However, compliance policies will differ depending on the type of item you’re sending or where it’s being shipped to. Not being familiar with these restrictions or failing to comply can cause shipment delays. So, knowing relevant compliance regulations and ensuring packages meet the standards is crucial in avoiding shipping delays.

What Good Packaging Should Achieve

When it comes to shipping, not only should your items reach their destination, but they must also be able to reach there without damage. Packaging your goods is critical to guarantee the safe arrival of your goods.

We’re talking about the three ways packaging is relevant in logistics and what good packaging should achieve:

1. It should provide adequate protection
The primary objective of packaging for any goods is to protect them while in transit. Items damaged during transit might cause some significant problems, so proper packaging is a preventive measure against potential damages in this case.

2. Packaging should be informative
Distributors require a lot of information about the item. And here’s when you can utilise transportation packaging as a suitable position to display some information. You can include which way up the package is supposed to be placed or whether the items in the package are fragile.

3. Convenience
Packaging provides convenience in transporting the item from one place to another. This is especially true for last-mile deliveries to ensure proper delivery to your consignee.

What is Safe Packaging?

We can define what is safe packaging in two ways:

• The packaging can protect the contents during the shipment journey; and

• The package must withstand various external factors such as liquids, bending, damage, and exposure to various weather conditions.

5 Best Practices for Packaging

Shippit has published an insightful list of best practices for packing that we are reproducing here:

1. Choose suitable packing materials

Packages pass through many hands during their journey to the customer. With this in mind, the material chosen should be strong enough to withstand the transfer from one transportation stage to the next and the friction between other parcels and boxes.

Types of packaging materials and seals

To find out which materials you should use, take into account the following three factors:

• Weight: The heavier the item, the stronger the packaging material needs to be. You can use double or triple-layered corrugated cardboard boxes if you want a sturdier option.
• Size and shape: When choosing a cardboard box, ensure enough space for cushioning material. The packaged item should not be touching the sides of the box.
• Value and fragility: Fragile and high-value goods need extra cushioning and protection. Placing a fragile label is necessary to minimise the chances of the item getting damaged during transit.

Individual parcel packing requirements

Once you’ve selected your materials, it helps to cross-check with relevant compliance regulations to ensure your packaging does not exceed the dimension and weight of freight capabilities. The maximum dimension and weight for domestic shipments are as follows:

You must also adhere to individual parcel packing requirements according to the country you’re shipping across borders. We’ve compiled a table to summarise these requirements for cross-border shipping for you:

2. Wrap all items separately

Before placing the contents in the package, wrap or seal them separately in bubble wrap, plastic wrap, or a zip bag to keep them dry during shipment. This is particularly important for items that contain liquids or powders, such as personal care items, as it will help prevent them from spilling inside the package. If your items are fragile, you can even wrap them individually with bubble wrap or other cushioning material and arrange them in a symmetrical position inside the box.

3. Add cushioning material

An important thing to note here is having sufficient filler material. More filler material may prevent your items from bouncing inside the box and getting damaged. Overfilled boxes, on the other hand, could burst during delivery.

When adding cushioning and filler material to your package, ensure the box has enough room for sufficient cushioning around the delivered item. Some examples of cushioning include:

• Foam or cardboard inserts
• Bubble wrap
• Airbags

The rest of the box can be filled with filler material like packing peanuts, crumpled paper, or styrofoam.

4. Use the correct sealing material

If your package needs a box for delivery, use tape with the correct width (around 2 inches/5 cm). Close the box and seal it using duct tape on all sides of the packaging so your packages don’t open accidentally on their way to your customers. Use the H-method by applying sufficient tape to the centre and edge seams.

If you’re packaging delicate items like t-shirts, you might use a polyurethane bag with its own adhesive strip. Ensure the bag is sealed correctly to prevent it from opening up mid-delivery or allowing any liquids to enter the package.

5. Attach shipping and handling labels

The final step is to apply handling labels, shipping labels, your commercial invoice, and any other documents needed.

Remember to attach fragile handling labels on your parcels when shipping fragile items. If your item has a chance of spilling during shipping, place a ‘This Way Up’ sticker indicating which way the parcels should be facing to minimise the chances of spillage during transit.

Appropriately packaging your items is vital in cross-border shipping. Remember to choose suitable packing materials and methods for your items and adequately cushion and seal your items. These practices help prevent damage to your items when shipping and ultimately improve your customer experience.