Are you inflating your transport costs?

Take a look at your packaging. Is it a good fit for the products you ship?

You might be making more journeys than you need because of heavy, overfilled parcels. These take up excess space in your delivery vehicles and increase your fuel costs.

Equally, weak packages won’t provide adequate protection in transit, increasing the likelihood of product damage and returns. You will have to factor in additional time and resources to process returns and your brand reputation will suffer too as customers’ trust can be difficult to regain.

It is, therefore, essential to achieve the right balance between the size and strength of your packaging.

If you are currently using double wall boxes to ship your products, weigh up whether you could potentially switch to single-walled cartons. This could help to reduce parcel dimensions by about a centimetre potentially allowing you to add another layer of goods to your pallet.

Consider reviewing your box selection to ensure it offers a good fit for different items within your range. Boxes that are optimised for your products provide better protection in transit as they prevent items from rattling inside the box.

You will also need less cushioning material to fill each box, which will help decrease the weight of your parcels. Excess cushioning doesn’t always guarantee enhanced protection as overfilled parcels can burst in transit.

Automated packaging solutions such as auto-boxing and auto-bagging systems can help ensure you only use as much packaging material as necessary to package and cushion your products. Visit our automation page for more information.

Rethinking your packaging is a good opportunity to increase pallet yield and payload, giving you a competitive edge – particularly if you are exporting goods. Likewise, if you are looking to reduce your carrier rates.

If you think you might be inflating your transport costs and need help with optimising your packaging range, Macfarlane Packaging is here to help.

Contact us today for a free, non-obligation packaging review.