Packing for Shipment

© Brooke Clarke 2007

I have had a number of eBay items arrive after being destroyed during the shipping process.  The reason is the the shipper did not properly package the item.  Recently I bid on and won a Self Winding Clock Co. "Western Union" clock that had the cover glass.  As far as I know you can no longer buy these large concave clock glass circles.  But as soon as I moved the box from my front porch I know the glass was broken into bits.  Hence this page about how to do it correctly.

There are college degrees for packaging engineering.  In some engineering classes a project is to package a fresh egg so that it can be dropped from the roof of a building and survive.  To engineer the packaging you need to know what stresses will be applied to the item and what stresses it can survive.  The most common stresses are shock and vibration, but for some products temperature (food) or barometric pressure (G-M tubes with thin metal walls) are critical.

After making this web page and thinking about it there's a philosophy to good packing. 

Cushioning

Void Fill

Chicken or Egg

UPS, Fedex, USPS, etc. do not dedicate a person to put your package on their lap and hand carry the package, although this is what some people must think.  The reality is they all consolidate as many packages as possible into a big truck.  This means packages stacked on packages until there are packages touching the eight foot high ceiling.  I've seen some trucks with a sign on the back saying 100" high or 102" high which is a little more than 8 feet.

To unload the truck a conveyor belt is slid into the truck and the packages are pulled down and allowed to drop onto he belt which takes them to the dock.  There are variations on this theme but it's part of standard practice to drop the box some distance that varies from a couple of feet to seven feet.  This process gets repeated at each consolidation center.  Typically there are two centers between the sender and the receiver.  In the case of domestic Fedex air shipment there's the Memphis, TN center.  So a fragile item shipped Fedex air will have less trauma than other commercial methods.

I'm sure that anyone who has been in a business where they are shipping something soon learns how to properly pack.  So it's interesting to see what they do.

Fair Radio

Mike Murphy

pvt Jarhead

Mile High Clock Supply

National Semiconductor Samples

Foam in Place Packaging (Google)

Instapak ®

Fast Pack NSN 8115- (Google)

Shredded Paper

Item Loose

Super Circuits received 3 Aug 2007:

	As received the box was full of  peanuts.  Which may or may not be OK.
	But all the items were on the bottom of the box!  So there was no padding.  How well the items survived is determined by what padding the factory box provides. This is poor packaging. PC164 TV camera, Lens, power supply 100 feet of coax.
	The PC164 box has no padding other than what is provided by the paperwork and wires.

13 Aug 2007 - Heard from Super Circuits that my camera had a loose internal connector, exactly the type of problem bad packing would cause.  It's on the way back.  We'll see if they pack it correctly.  Also received an email from them thanking me for letting them know about the poor packing.  Again, we'll see if that was hype or if they have improved.

16 Aug 2007 - received the P-164C (KPC-350BH).  This time it was wrapped in bubble wrap (that's the way I sent it to them) and in a box with the high quality peanuts.  The strange thing is on the phone the tech told me a cable was loose inside, but on the green tag it says unable to duplicate the problem.

Also received a Super Circuits P-38 (Mintron 63V5) in a different box.  This time the camera box had peanuts on all sides.  Also the Mintron factor box has an egg create rough molded paper type cradle for the camera that provides some cushioning.

Enco received 14 Aug 2007

As soon as I picked up the box it was obvious that was way too much slop.  This is strange since most of what they sell is heavy metal machines and accessories.  You'd think they would have learned how to properly package.

	Enco box just after opening.  All the items ordered are in a plastic bag which is wrapped with tape.  But a strip of 5 air pillows were used to fill the rest of the space.  This was the wrong packaging material.  One of the pillows has burst.
	This bag of measuring items weighs just under 3 pounds and is 6" x 3.5" x 1.5".  So the smallest end has an area of about 5 sq inches.  The loading on that end is 8.6 oz/ sq in.
	Inside the box there's a hole in the seam and a large dent a few inches to the right of the hole.  The cardboard has a crease between them.  To the left of the hole the cardboard is distressed. If this box went much further the inner heavy bag would have escaped the box and not arrived at all.

Nowhere on the storopack  web page was any specification about what loading the pillows can take.  air pillows are an alternative to plastic peanuts and neither is suitable for dense items, like the metal parts in this shipment.

15 Aug 2007 - their email said something like thanks.

Enco #2 rcvd 21Nov 2007

The UPS delivery man did the knock softly then run away.  He was in the truck starting to back out when I opened the front door.  As soon as I picked up the box it was clear that the contents were very loose.  Inside I started a web page for using a Drill Press for drilling holes on the centerline of round parts and when I got the the part about the Enco items I went to open the box.  Then noticed a yellow plastic tape that said "DO NOT OPEN    DO NOT OPEN".  The strange thing is that it was under a staple and so probably was put on at Enco.  Maybe because this set is a sale item composed of a number of Enco items and may have been prepackaged.  The shipping label looked like it was stock, i.e. contents have not been repackaged (which sometimes is done by the carrier if the box is beyond hope).  My thought was that maybe the box should be opened from the other side to make getting the contents out easier and after turning it over saw the hole in the bottom.  After calling Enco they said go ahead and open the box.  Inside there was a single piece of bubble warp loose in the box.  It is far short of the volume needed to fill out the voids in the box.  The packing list says this is the "5C" collet set.  There are 4 individual boxes inside.

Simmons Amp Meter

Another case of a seller that doesn't have any idea of how to package. 

Auction ad shows pointer at 2	Packed in Photo mailer NO padding you can see over a dozen hard hits to the meter	pointer broken loose screw inside rectangular washer shown in another auction photo completely missing. The glass was knocked loose from the brown stuff that held it in place as was the dial.

This is a special problem.  If a single item is well padded and then tightly boxed it will be OK.  But suppose two items are in the same box.  By two items I mean that they are not connected together in a very stiff rigid fixed way.

Although you might be able to ship a sledge hammer and a wine glass in the same box it would be better to seperate them and use two boxes.  I think most people would do this.  The problem comes when it's not so obvious.  For example pendulum clocks have a heavy bob at the end of the pendulum that's equivalent to a sledge hammer.  The rest of the clock is about as fragile as a wine glass. 



The photo at left shows many small packages consolidated into larger bags which in turn were wrapped in the small bubble wrap seen under the bags.  A few of the bubble wrapped bags fit into a USPS priority mail box and the small remaining space was filled with plastic peanuts.  Electronic Gold Mine GOOD PACKAGING has a good solution to keep customers from tossing product out with the packaging.

The Electro-optical parts are small and light (pun intended).

Morse Bugs or Vibroplex keys

The same goes for Morse code keys called "bugs" or Vibroplex keys.  The lever weights act like hammers.
For Packing a Morse Bug or Vibroplex for shipment see: Packing a Bug for Shipping.

Self Winding Clock Co. "Western Union" packing

The pendulum is like a sledge hammer.
In the case of the Western Union clocks the maker built into the design a way to anchor the pendulum bob so shipping would be no problem.  There are two holes in the bob and matching holes in the clock frame.  A 1/4-20 bolt, lock washer and thumb nut will hold the bob and it can not escape.  The suspension at the top of the pendulum is designed to allow the whole length of the pendulum to sit flat against the frame for shipping without doing anything special other than installing the nut and bolt.  They even provide a place to store the nut and bolt while the clock in mounted to a wall next to each battery holder.

Telephones

The handset acts as a hammer and destroys the phone or vice versa.
Here's a case where someone just tossed a bunch of old phones in a box and sent them loose.  About half of them were damaged.
Save the Phones! - explains how to pack phones so they survive shipping.

Military Radios

In most TMs there is a section dealing with preparation for shipping that covers securing the equipment, removing batteries, settings that need to be homed, meters put in the self dampening range, etc.  The next section usually has a figure showing how to pack the item for storage or shipping.  So if you have a TM for the item by all means read the packing section.

Four inches of bubble wrap.  Applied one layer (an inch) at a time tightly taped so it can not move.  Layers 90 degrees to each other.  The 4 inches applies to every part of the item so handles and rack ears need 4 inches past their widest point, not just the main chassis.  The box needs to be reinforced with cardboard in all the corners.  Fiber tape or a banding machine holds the box to the padded item.

Items not Covered Above

The number of items not covered far exceeds the few I've mentioned.  If you're shipping an item you need to do your homework and learn how to properly package it.  Google is your friend.  Find someone who has the item and see what groups or links they might have.  Above all use common sense.  Think!
This is why a business does not do many things that are very different.  My grandmother would say "stick to your knitting".  Meaning do what you know.  It's OK to do new things, but then it's your responsibility to learn how.

No Packing

I purchased three Cesium Standards from Government Liquidation and hired one of their recommended shipping companies to handle shipping the pallet.  I picked this particular lot because it included 3 Fast Packs for the 3 items.   The photo at the left shows the three Fast Packs and one of the Cesium Standards has been taken out so it can be seen.  So one of those Fast Packs is empty.  The guy from the shipping company just used a metal banding machine to tie everything together as you see it in the photo then wrapped with the clear wrap.  When the truck arrived I was sick to see the Cesium standard with metal banding down to the pallet.  Not only no padding but a good mechanical connection to all the shocks and vibration.  Needless to say that unit has never worked, but should since is brand new.

Small High Value Items

Small high value items often can be properly packaged in a box only a few inches on a side.  But a small box is more likely to be lost than a box that's say 1 foot on a side.   Also Registered mail requires a signature path and can be traced from the shipper to the last person at the post office who handled it.  So if it's lost there's a better change of finding the package.  I recently received an adapter from C/CS mount to 1 ¼" telescope.   It's small enough that you can hide it in your hand.  The seller shipped it in a priority mail box that was nearly 1 foot on a side for just this reason.  (I think he had earlier suffered "lost" shipments).

Heavy Fragile Items

Double boxing adds a layer of padding.  For example the ICOM R9500 is double boxed from the factory. 

Multiple Items

Multiple items in the same package in addition to being individually padded MUST be tied together.  I received a set of microwave parts where each was well padded but the small bag of connectors got tossed into the garbage because it blended in too well. 

Garbage

It's a good idea to not toss packaging immediately into the garbage, but instead store it for more than a week.   Christmas presents was the first place where I learned that lesson.  Some of the boxes made for new things like cell phones have compartments that have something inside that may not get opened after the phone and manual are removed from the box, but will be missed when needed, like the charger or USB cable.  When moving packaging to the garbage it's a good idea to inspect it to be sure you're only tossing packaging and not content.  Good packaging avoids this problem by not hiding content.

Postage & Stamps

I have a seperate web page about options for USPS postage.

Air Pillows

These are used like Plastic Peanuts but have advantages for the shipper in that they take up much less space and for the recipient in that they are much easier to seperate for the shipped items.  The problem is when they are misused, like in the Enco case above where a pillow burst.

Plastic Peanuts

These are one way to fill voids in a box after the contents have been padded.  But they have a number of disadvantages.  It makes a mess for the receipent.  They have very low strength so are not suitable for use in the same box as heavy items.  They generate static.  Items can get lost in a box (See Multiple Items above).

Styrofoam Sheet

A little Googling and I found DOW web pages where they specify 15 Pounds per Square Inch (PSI) for the wall insulation sheets.  These or similar sheets are available at home improvement stores.  This is a void filling method, not suitable for padding.

ESD

Electrostatic Discharge can cause the failure of electronic items.  Many people put their static sensitive product into an anti static bag thinking that will protect the product.  But, that's not the case.  "Antistatic bag" just means the bag will not generate any static.  These plastic bags look sort of like sunglasses.  To protect a product from static a Faraday Cage (Wiki) is needed.  There are bags that do this and they look like paper painted sliver on the outside and black on the inside.  Or just wrap in aluminum foil so item is completly covered.

The Wiki article is wrong about antistatic.  The meaning is "Preventing or inhibiting the buildup of static electricity".   This is very different from shielding from static discharge.  See: Static & Electrocution.

Shipping or Transit Cases

Many military devices come in a shipping case.  These are typically made of metal, have a closeable air vent and use a number of quick acting latches.  They are water proof and have compartments for each item.  I believe you can just tape a label on these without any further packaging and a commercial carrier will accept them.  They are also used for commercial products.  For example when going to trade shows or customer demonstrations the equipment is packaged into shipping cases.  Some of these have wheels like carry on baggage complete with long handles so make it easier to move them without lifting.

Insurance is not going to pay for damage caused by improper packaging.  It will pay for lost items, but the odds of a lost item are extremely low.   Some of the eBay message boards make a point of recommending that either the seller or the buyer get insurance with the belief that everything is covered.  If you get a custom policy from Lloyds of London and pay their fee then that might be the case.  But the insurance offered by the carriers only covers their neglect.  Dropping a box 6 feet is not negligent, it's standard operating practice.

What is Good Packing? 

1. Gets the item to it's destination without any damage.
2. Minimizes the expense of the shipper both in terms of time and money.

Characteristics of Good Packing.

1. No movement of item when package shaken, dropped or bounces in truck.
   
2. Box completely filled so can not crush.
3. For heavy items fiber tape or banding to hold box together.
4. If more than one item in box they are individually padded then held firmly toghther so they can not beat up each other.
5. Item is padded on all sides so box can be dropped.
6. If the box is too small for a heavy object there will not be enough padding.  Heavier items need more padding so need space for more padding.  The style G model XE9 Fast Pack has a lot of built in foam padding.
   

Good Packaging Methods for Common Carrier Items

• Foam in Place
• Fast Pack
  
• News print compressed so tight you can not stick your finger into it
• Four inches of bubble wrap on all sides.  Wrapped one layer at a time and taped tight.  90 degrees between layers.
  

UPS -Preparing Your Package -Packing Materials - Internal Packaging - talks about different types of fillers
Gemmary - How to Pack Expensive Antique Scientific Instruments for Shipping -
Astromaart - A realistic guide to packing astro items -

Fast Pack Boxes