How to prepare goods for international transport

Most transport problems start at loading, not on the road. A well-packed pallet arrives just as it left. One packed in a hurry can come apart the first time the driver brakes hard. Here’s what we check, and what we ask you to prepare before the truck arrives.

The right pallet

The most common is the Euro pallet (EPAL): 1200 × 800 × 144 mm, with a load of up to 1,500 kg, evenly distributed. For wider goods there’s the industrial pallet, 1200 × 1000 mm.

• Use sound pallets, with no broken boards or protruding nails.
• The goods must not overhang the edges of the pallet. A few centimetres over means a lost pallet space and damaged corners.
• Don’t exceed the pallet’s load capacity. If the goods are very heavy, ask for a reinforced pallet.

Packing

A well-prepared pallet looks like a single block: nothing moves when you push it.

1. Weight at the bottom, light packages on top.
2. Cardboard or plastic corner protectors on the vertical edges, so the film and the straps don’t cut into the boxes.
3. Stretch film wrapped tightly and attached to the pallet as well, not just to the goods.
4. A cardboard sheet on top, if anything else is going to be placed on the pallet.
5. Fragile goods clearly marked, with arrows showing which way up.

Labels

Every pallet should have a label on at least two sides, showing:

• the consignee’s name and address;
• the pallet number out of the total, for example 3 / 12;
• the weight;
• handling symbols: fragile, this way up, do not stack.

Weight

Give the actual weight from a scale, not an estimate. It matters for two reasons: the truck must not exceed its maximum permitted weight, and each axle has its own limit. Heavy goods placed badly can overload an axle even when the total weight is fine. Fines for exceeding the axle load are high, and the truck can be held until the problem is sorted out.

Let us know in advance if you have very heavy packages or packages with a high centre of gravity. We’ll place them in the right spot in the trailer.

Load securing

On the road, goods are secured with straps, anti-slip mats and, where needed, load bars or dunnage bags between the pallets. The European standard used to calculate load securing is EN 12195-1.

The driver checks the load and secures it, but can only do that properly if the pallets are stable. A strap tightened over a wobbly pallet won’t hold the goods in place.

Documents

Have the documents ready before the truck arrives:

• the CMR consignment note, with the details of the sender, the consignee and the goods filled in;
• the invoice or delivery note;
• a packing list, if there are several kinds of goods;
• any certificates required for the goods, where applicable.

Checklist

• sound pallets, goods within the edges
• weight at the bottom, light packages on top
• corner protectors on the edges, film wrapped tight and attached to the pallet
• labels on two sides, numbered 1 / n
• actual weight, from a scale
• fragile or non-stackable goods clearly marked
• CMR, invoice or delivery note, packing list
• a contact person at the loading dock, with a phone number

If your goods are unusual, long, very heavy or fragile, call us beforehand. Together we’ll work out the best way to load them.