Behind the Build: Keeping Spooky Surprises Out of Your Shipping Crate
A mysterious wooden crate. A creaking lid. Shadows of movement as you peer inside it. Sound like great elements of a horror movie – but not really what you want when a customer receives your products.
This Halloween, we’re continuing our Behind the Build series with a look at the less obvious details of custom shipping crates. Because when it comes to shipping valuable products, the outside of the crate only tells part of the story.
A Scary Strong Crate Needs Planning
A wooden crate seems simple: a base, four walls and a lid. However, a strong exterior isn’t a complete packaging plan. Depending on the product, the design may also need internal blocking, bracing, cushioning or secure attachment to the base. These components serve different purposes and need to work together.
Before deciding what goes inside, we need to understand the product. Where can it be supported? Which surfaces need protection? Are there fragile components or protruding parts? How will it be loaded and removed?
This information helps turn a wooden box into a complete packaging solution, not a messy “Frankenstein’s monster” crate!
Keeping Things from Going Bump in Transit
In a haunted house, unexpected bumps, and shifting floorboards are part of the experience. Inside a shipping crate, this becomes a living nightmare.
Wood blocking and bracing can help prevent a product from shifting or rolling. Their placement, strength and attachment need to suit the load—not simply fill negative spaces. Think of a piece of equipment with an unusual shape. The packaging needs to accommodate that shape while keeping the product appropriately supported and secures. Adding more wood isn’t automatically the best solution.
Cushion – Don’t Mummify – Your Products
Some products need cushioning as well as structural support. This material needs to suit the product, and testing can help confirm whether it performs under expected shipping conditions. That’s why a useful conversation with your packaging supplier goes beyond outside dimensions.
What is the product sensitive to? Where can cushioning be placed? Are there any regulations at the destination?
The goal is to make the crate comfortably padded and avoid any curses during transit.
Not Haunted. Just Elevated.
Not every protective feature is hidden inside the crate. Sometimes, it’s underneath. No, this crate isn’t levitating—and we didn’t hire any ghosts to help with assembly. Those yellow, doughnut-shaped feet underneath are called “Skid-Mates”.
Pelican describes Skid-Mates as air-dampened cushioning devices that mount to a crate or pallet base to help protect sensitive products against shock and vibration during handling and transportation.
They are also available in different load capacities per cushion. That means selection needs to account for the weight supported by each foot—not just the total weight of the shipment. They are one interesting example of a specialized component that can be added to the crate design.
Opening the Crate Shouldn’t Be Terrifying
It’s worth thinking about unpacking before the packaging is built. Will the receiving team lift the product out from above? Will a panel need to come off first? Which supports or fasteners need to be removed, and in what order?
Discussing those details with the customer helps us plan around how the packaging will be used. After all, the delivery isn’t the end of the story. Someone still needs to get the product out.
No Tricks. Just Thoughtful Packaging.
This Halloween, the only spells we’re casting are for safe, efficient and well-designed packaging.
For our customers, the goal is much more practical: packaging designed around the product, its journey and the people who will handle it.
At Bois Ellen Lumber, we manufacture custom pallets, crates and industrial wood packaging solutions. From wood supports and hardware to specialized components such as Skid-Mate feet, each project starts with understanding what the customer needs.
Sometimes the most interesting part of a crate isn’t what it carries. It’s what went into protecting it.
Contact us today to discuss your next pallet or crate project.
This article was written by the team at Bois Ellen Lumber, a family-owned Quebec manufacturer specializing in custom pallets, crates and industrial wood packaging solutions for manufacturers across North America.
Sources
Pelican — Skid-Mate product information and load ranges.
FedEx — Freight Packing and Packaging Guidelines.
FedEx — How to Ship Using Crates.
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