Whether you’re the shipper or the receiver, it’s necessary that the package being sent reaches its destination in one piece. A good way to ensure that is through the process of strapping — where a flexible, flat material is applied to the item to combine different parts, stabilise, or reinforce them.
If you’re in the business of shipping heavy items, such as steel coils, bundles of metals, and bricks and pavers, you would best be served to use steel strapping when securing them. While there are other kinds of straps that can hold your cargo, steel remains as the best choice for heavy-duty holding because of its strength and minimal stretch.
Handling your cargo should always be placed in capable hands, especially when it is shipped by the sea. Road transport can also subject packages to horizontal pressure since the delivery truck can gain speed suddenly or stop abruptly.
How is cargo secured?
While nature and physics are the ultimate factors, there are other reasons that can damage or lose your cargo, which can be avoided if people are competent and responsible enough to handle the job. There are several ways the packaging industry has adopted to ensure the safety of items beings shipped. In most cases, these methods are applied individually or in combination.
- Blocking – Wood and metal bars are used to minimise or totally prevent the cargo from moving sideways or back and forth during shipping. Examples of blocking include dunnage bags, chocks, front wall, beams, and wedges.
- Lashing – This method uses ropes, cables, wires, chains, strapping, and nets. Any of these materials are fastened to the container and tensioned against the cargo. Examples are web lashings, load binders with chains, and fixed winches.
- Locking – The cargo can also be locked mechanically to the load bearer. A twistlock designed for containers is one example of this method of securing cargo.
It’s indeed enough that you produce great products for your market. But, you also need to make sure they reach them in excellent condition.
