1.ย Introduction
Weโre all familiar with pallets – stacks of wood, plastic, metal or cardboard. Theyโre frequently seen nestling beer cans, books, medicines, tools and more! Today, weโll see how low pallet shipment costs push shipping and logistics companies to utilize pallets to maximize efficiency.
2.ย Understanding Pallet Shipping
Compared to heavy-duty, wooden or metal crates, pallets can be lifted by people and machines alike. They are amenable to forklifts, cranes, pallet lifts and human arms. Pallet shipping relies on the consistent shapes and forms of the pallets – their cuboid shapes give them strength and stability for long journeys.
There are different types of pallets:
- Block pallets are designed for forklift use. Theyโre open on all four sides, making them easy to load and unload.
- Stringer or GMA pallets are designed as either two-way or four-way pallets.
- Solid deck pallets are designed with a wood or plastic sheet on top instead of slats. They also have an outlet to allow drainage.
Pallets can transport several different items as a part of the same shipment. This is a key reason for pallet shipping’s popularity with logistics and warehousing service providers.
3.ย Key Factors for Efficiency
So, what makes pallet shipping efficient? As we have seen, pallets can be stacked on each other, making them easy to transport. If you have several parts of an industrial machine, you no longer have to worry about shipping it in the same form. You can dismantle the machine and store different parts on different pallets. If you have a stack of ten pallets, you can then secure the pallets through packaging and tape. Then, all you have to do is ship the entire pallet package as a single shipment!
The ability to stack pallets makes them easier to transport over long distances efficiently. A single shipment of ten or a hundred pallets is cost-effective compared to hundreds of crates acting as individual shipments.
Lastly, stacked pallets make delivery, handling, loading and unloading easier than separate crates.
4.ย Optimizing Pallet Design
Now that youโre convinced that pallets can help you save on the cost while increasing shipping convenience let us look at how you can take maximum advantage of the method of pellet shipping. Here are some factors you can max out to fully utilize the power of pallet shipping:
- Pallet Size: In America, a 48โ x 40โ GMA pallet is considered the standard unit of pallets. The size of the pallet you choose will depend on what youโre trying to transport – groceries (48โx40โ), oil barrels (48โx48โ), telecommunications (48โx42โ) etc.
- Pallet Material: Wood pallets are cheaper and can bear heavier loads (up to 3000 pounds in certain cases). Plastic pallets, on the other hand, are more expensive. They will last longer and are preferred by people who anticipate manual handling of the pallets.
Thus, how well you utilize pallet shipping depends on the material and size of pallets you use. Before deciding which pallet to use, check your industry’s standards for palletized shipping.
5.ย ย Effective Loading Techniques
Once youโve decided to utilize pallet shipping and booked your order with a shipping company, youโll want to get your pallets in a row. Here are some tips to keep in mind while palletizing your shipment for its journey:
- Avoid overhanging products: Stack products in an edge-to-edge fashion to avoid overhanging products that might be damaged during shipping and handling.
- Integrate small boxesL: Place the smaller boxes to maintain a cubic shape rather than a pyramid or an inverted shape.
- Distribute weight evenly: Avoid stacking in a way that makes weight distribution uneven. Make sure you put the heaviest pallets at the bottom to maintain the shipment’s integrity as you build it up.
- Confirm load Stability: Before wrapping the box, verify the integrity and stability of the pallet. If it feels wobbly, rearrange the pallets differently so the shipping journey goes smoothly.
6.ย ย Choosing Packaging Materials
The material you choose to pack the pallets and cover them is important. The packaging will protect the shipment during its journey. Youโll want to ensure the packaging material is resistant to all the elements that could affect your shipment during its journey. The shipment can undergo stress, pressure, bumps, waves and other natural movements. Keep this in mind while choosing the packaging materials.
7.ย ย Utilizing Transportation Modes
You can utilize several modes to ship the pallets you have prepared. Here are some of the most common ways:
- LTL Road Shipping: Less-than-truckload shipments mean the trucks will ship your package with others in the same container. The container will open and close several times along a decided route. Thus, LTL shipments are cost-effective but time-consuming. When shipping over large distances with sufficient time, consider LTL a viable option.
- FTL Road Shipping: Full Truck Load shipments are containers with only your or a specific personโs pallets formed into a single shipment. They will stop nowhere till they reach your desired destination. FTL shipments are expensive but save time. If youโve urgent needs or commercial gains to be made, consider FTL pallet shipping.
- Air transport: You can send your pallets in one single shipment via air transport. They will then be wheeled to your desired destination from the nearest airport. Again, air transport is expensive but consumes very little time.
- Rail transport: Shipping pellets via trains is ideal for companies or commercial obligations with specific and repeated timelines. Railways regularly transport raw materials for energy and chemical industries, along with automatic parts in large quantities. Consider rail transport shipping for pallets for repeated journeys for maximum security.
- Ocean Freight: Pallets are ideally shipped via ocean freight for overseas shipping or cross-continent journeys. This is true for cars, diapers, consumer cargo and more. Ocean freight is cheaper than flying your cargo to its destination. However, savings come at the cost of increased time it takes to transport the pallets across the high seas.
Thus, when choosing how to ship your pallets, consider your budget, the time you have for shipping, the size of your pallet shipment and the fragility of the material you are transporting before making an appropriate choice.
8.ย Implementing Warehouse Management Systems
Pallets are not effective just for long-distance shipping. They can also be used for enhanced Warehouse Management Systems. Three key developments in technology help pallets reinvent WMS techniques for greater efficiency in operations:
- Barcode Reader: They are known as the โlicense platesโ of pallets. Based on the barcodes affixed on each pallet, scanners can tell warehouse managers the status of their inventory. It helps with reordering, maintaining stock-in-trade and transferring materials from one warehouse to another.
- RFID Tags: These tags eliminate the need for scanners and readers. A system of RFID tags is designed to transmit and receive data associated with the tags. This tells the viewer the location, status and volume of their inventory or product at any time.
- GPS: With a few clicks of a screen, the global position of any pallet shipment can be located by its owners or those responsible for its transportation. GPS has truly changed how we can keep track of palletized inventory.
Thus, pallets combined with modern technology are changing the nature of Warehouse Management Systems. They push data-centric efficiency and identify human errors while handling pallets.
9.ย Tracking and Monitoring Shipments
Pallet shipment, like any other method, is not without its risks. Peril haunts pallet shipping at every step of its journey. However, modern technology, as we have seen, helps mitigate such risk. While some risks cannot be eliminated, they can be guarded against.
You can track your pallet shipment at the touch of a few buttons on your phone. This will keep you updated with its progress and tell you when to expect its delivery. Tracking and monitoring are also important because your shipment could also be part of someone elseโs supply chain. Pallet shipping is thus integrating the supply chains of businesses all over the world.
10.ย Continuous Improvement Strategies
We have seen that your pallets can be a part of someoneโs supply chain. Such chains of supply for the lifeblood of contemporary businesses. Each chain link is important and can have a cascading effect on a company, an organization or even an economy.
Thus, each pallet shipment will have at least five stakeholders. The owner, the receiver, the shipping company, the maker of the goods and the ultimate consumer of the products.
It is important to include all stakeholders in examining the impact of pallet shipping on supply chains. Bad pallets can ruin the consumer experience, whereas sloppy shipping can destroy the product.
11.ย Conclusion
Pallet shipping is changing the face of Warehouse Management Systems. Pallet shipping costs are reducing overall operating budgets, thereby increasing efficiency.
The right pallet material and size are vital in maximizing the cost reduction of shipping exercises. Pallet choice should match the correct loading methods. Pallet shipments should also use modern technology for constant tracking.
With good feedback and iterative improvements from all stakeholders, pallet shipping can improve warehouse productivity, shipping experience and transportation efficiency.
