Are you getting ready to ship goods overseas? If so, you'll need to know how to properly and safely load your shipping container. This blog post examines the three key steps to ensure your goods arrive safe and sound.
Step 1: Packaging and Palletising Your Goods
The first step in the process is packaging and palletising your goods. Everything must be carefully packaged and secured before it is loaded into the container. This helps protect the goods from bumps, drops, or other potential damage that can occur during transport. Additionally, suppose you are shipping perishable items like food or flowers. In that case, you will want to be sure that these items are stored in coolers or insulated containers that will keep them safe during transit. Once everything has been safely packaged, you should use heavy-duty shrink wrap or strapping material to secure the items on wooden pallets for easy loading into the container.
Step 2: Utilise Spacing and Load Bars
Once everything has been securely packaged on pallets, it's time to begin loading your shipment into the shipping container. When doing so, it's important that you maximise your space by using any available area within the container — from floor-to-ceiling and side-to-side — and utilise spacing bars or boards when stacking boxes to separate layers of products for stability and safety purposes. Additionally, if you are loading large objects such as furniture pieces or machinery components inside of a flat rack cargo container, using load bars will help keep these items from shifting during transit which could cause damage.
Step 3: Secure Your Load and Ensure Proper Ventilation
The last step in safely loading a shipping container involves ensuring everything is properly secured before closing the door seal. Using lashing straps will prevent any movement of goods or cargo shifting while in transit — especially when shipping over rough seas. Lastly, ensure adequate ventilation for any perishable items being shipped and close up/seal all openings between boxes for further protection against moisture entering the container and damaging any goods inside.
Conclusion
Properly loading a shipping container takes careful planning and an eye for detail, but following these three steps can help ensure that your shipments reach their destination safely. From packaging your goods securely on pallets all the way through ensuring proper ventilation throughout transit, taking care of these details ahead of time can make the difference between a successful shipment and one that arrives damaged beyond repair.
For further assistance, contact a shipping container hire company today.
