Shipping bagged products economically by road or rail
The arrangement of filled bags on a pallet, the configuration of pallet loads in a shipping carrier, and the width of different carriers all play a role in getting bagged product to your customer efficiently and economically. Changing the size of your pallet loads and bags may enable you to save money by taking advantage of the available space in over-the-road trailers and railway boxcars. This article presents a method to help you determine the best pallet load size and bag size for shipping bagged products in these carriers.
If you ship your product in industrial shipping bags by road or rail, you need to get more for your shipping dollar to offset increased bagging costs. But shipping economically sets up an increasingly complex set of problems: How do you use the space available in different shipping carriers economically -- does your pallet load size take maximum advantage of carrier width, and is your bag size really the best for that pallet load size? Can you save labor costs by rearranging the way your pallet loads fit within the carrier or by reducing the amount of load bracing needed? At the same time, how do you ensure that your product arrives at your customer's dock in the same condition it left yours?