How to pack a pallet that survives Highway 39

Most damaged freight was damaged before it got on the truck. A well-built pallet rides a few hundred kilometres of prairie highway without a mark. A bad one does not survive the first railway crossing. Here is how we like to see a pallet arrive at our dock.

Start with a sound pallet

Check the boards. A cracked deck board or a missing block means the forks go through the load instead of under it. Standard 48 by 40 inch pallets are ideal; if yours is oversized, tell us when you book so we plan the space.

Heavy at the bottom, nothing overhanging

Put the heaviest cartons on the bottom layer and keep every edge inside the pallet footprint. Overhanging cartons get crushed by the next pallet and are the first thing to tear the wrap.

Corner boards, then wrap

Cardboard or plastic corner boards turn a stack of cartons into a single column. Wrap from the bottom up, at least three full turns around the base to lock the load to the pallet, and finish at the top with the wrap pulled tight over the corners.

Label two sides

Put the shipping label and the consignee name on two adjacent sides so it can be read no matter how the pallet sits in the truck. For cross-border loads add the PARS or PAPS label to the paperwork envelope, not the pallet.

One rule about weight

Tell us the real weight. A pallet declared at 400 lb that weighs 900 changes where it goes in the truck and how it is loaded. We weigh what we can, but honest numbers make everyone's day shorter.