Freightquote.com® is a leader in freight shipping because of our comprehensive approach to making your freight shipping experience a positive one. Part of our expertise comes from our years of experience with crating best practices. While we don't offer crating as a service, we're sharing the fruits of our knowledge with you so that your crating efforts will make for a simple and cost-effective freight shipping experience.
All freight must be safely contained within a shipping crate or container before it can be picked up or delivered. It's important to conform to any size restrictions with respect to your freight. These size restrictions may vary depending on your freight and the mode of transport. Once you've determined the correct dimensions of your crate, it's time to pack the freight.
Follow these guidelines for crating and shipping fragile or breakable
freight
It's important to determine the status of your crate freight. Fragile or breakable freight should be packed with special care to avoid breakage or damage during shipping. While crating will protect your items to a certain extent, you can take extra steps to ensure your freight arrives damage-free.
If the cargo you are shipping is a fragile item such as glass or electronics, you should wrap the materials separately to avoid any damage that can occur during the freight shipping process. Cargo shipping carriers take great care to get your cargo shipments to its destination without damage, but fragile cargo can become damaged if its not protected during the crating process itself.
Whenever possible, keep fragile cargo and nonfragile cargo separate to minimize any damage that could occur if movement occurs within the cargo crate during shipment. Another way to minimize damage caused by inner crate cargo movement is to pack your freight crates as fully as possible. Items that are packed tight are less likely to shift during shipment.
Crate shipping is a very labor intensive business, and anything you can do during crating to keep your freight together is going to make crating and shipping easier as well. Keep in mind that odd shaped items that take up more space can make crating loading and shipping more complicated. Pack accordingly.
Wood crates make for the best crating and shipping experience
At Freightquote, our experience has taught us that wood crates are the safest way to transport any item during shipping. Crates can be made to any size, can be packed any way and can hold almost any weight.
The more solid the objects are inside, the less likely damage to the crate or freight would occur. All items should be wrapped, and packed separate from one another in bubble wrap, paper, cloth, packing peanuts, and even expandable foam. Always pack items in box firmly, with appropriate spacing between box walls, and objects inside.
Pack crates completely to ensure safe passage
When you are filling your crate or box, fill the crate to capacity to make it a solid piece where inner shifts will be kept to a minimum. Crate shipping follows the basic rules of packing. Heavier items should be placed at the bottom of your cargo crate. Lighter items will be at the top of your crate where they'll be spared being crushed by larger items or damage from shifting items.
If it is not possible to fill your crate to capacity, fill any empty spaces with packing material. This will help prevent shifts in the cargo crate during shipping. If you are shipping items that can be disassembled, take the time to do that. For example, a bicycle that is packed as one piece might be damaged at its weakest points - such as the spokes - by shifting weight on the bike during shipping. But as separately packed items, you could place the bike's heavy frame lower in the crate and save the spokes for the top portion.
Freightquote knows from experience that with our simple crate shipping tips, your freight shipping order will be a positive, hassle free experience. Happy crating!
* Freight crating adjustments can be complicated. Freightquote does not accept responsibility for crating adjustments that occur based on the information contained here. If you need assistance with your shipment, please call one of our freight experts at 1.800.323.5441 for assistance.
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