Shipping, packing,and packaging

[Chuck K3FT]

Greetings fellow aficiandos of the glorious Green!

Might as well as my 2.5 (inflation, y'know!) cents about shipping. I work at a major
Defense Contractor and they ships lots of heavvvvy and bulky articles via UPS and the
rest. Some even go UPS in cardboard boxes.  I have to inspect their packaging AND I
see hundreds of boxes a week that come into the facility via all sorts of shippers.
So I've a large universe of items from which to draw conclusions.

For those of us over 35, you may recall a commercial that Samsonite luggage produced
showing a gorilla tossing a suitcase around the cage. Well, you can translate that
directly into our current times. It happens all the time! No matter the 'DO NOT DROP',
'FRAGILE', 'THIS SIDE UP', 'GLASS' markings, count on it being dropped, bumped, kicked,
etc. Pack your stuff as if the Gorilla is going to play with it before it gets to the
shipper's hands. For anything of value or fragile, the few cents you save on shipping
and materials if far outstripped by the aggravation of damaged goods, frustrated
customers, and hassle.

Our rule of thumb is this.

For anything breakable or large (like Heathkits, tubes, etc) ALWAYS use an inner box
with plenty of cushioning. Figure 3 inches MINIMUM around the unit. Plastic 'bubble
wrap' and then shredded paper strips OR styrofoam peanuts are great. Wrap the inner
package securely with tape especaily on the corners and openings.

For the outer box, again if its heavy or bulky, use a TRIPLE WALL box. This has three
layeres - a top, middle, and bottom separated with 2 honeycomb interior layers. Use
styrofoam peanuts solidly packed in between the inner packaging and the outer box.
Again, 3 inches minimum.  Tape the box with GOOD 'hard to tear' plastic or reinforced
strapping tape, doing all the edges and a wide band around the seal.

mark it well and with dark plain block lettering Or typed labels if you have the
capability.  UP arrows and FRAGILE labels are helpful, but again. they don't buy a lot
in most cases, but they help if you need ot make a claim. Make sure the TO label is
clearly separate from the FROM return address so the shipper can't claim 'WE couldn't
tell who it was from and who it was going to!' (Yes, it has happened that shippers have
gotten their own packages back due to lousy label placement! HI)

It will, of course, cost a little bit more AND it will be larger than you thought, but
trust me, the peace of mind AND a happy customer are worth it.

If it's REALLY large and heavy.. then I hate to tell you this, but a wooden crate is the
way to go. yes, bulky, yes expensive (related to cardboard) but it gets there and it
gets ther ein one piece!

vy 73

Chuck K3FT
k3ft at erols.com

Sponsored by the City of Tempe 

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