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Package Handling
I really enjoyed this week's topic. I have some extensive work experience with different types of pallets. Therefore, this topic was rather easy for me.
In my ten years of experience I have encountered and worked with four different types of pallets. I have worked with 463L pallets which are strictly used for air planes with a locking rail system. I have also worked with three different types of warehouse pallets; metal, plastic, and wooden.
The first pallet that I want to talk about is the 463L pallet. This pallet is meant to ship large and heavy pieces of equipment. These pallets are 108x88x2 inches and enable you to use 104x84 inches with a weight up to 10,000lbs. The allowable height will be determined by the type of aircraft that is utilized. The restraining systems used with these pallets are chains and devices, or cargo nets/straps. I have even had the chance to use couplers and marry the pallets together for items that exceed the usable dimensions. Chain gating a 20' container is not a fun process. (Global Security, 2015)
The second pallet that I will cover is a metal warehouse pallet. I have not had that much work with these pallets. To the best of my knowledge their intended use is for explosives, ammunition, or any item that has a high rate of being a fire hazard. PLEASE correct me if I am wrong on this. Some specific considerations with these pallets would be the weight that the pallet when planning for shipments.
The third pallet that I am familiar with utilizing is the plastic warehouse pallet. In my experience, these pallets are more expensive but more durable. When I used this pallet, we loaded a heavier more ridged generator on the pallet with the intention of not damaging the wooden pallets.
The fourth and final pallet that I have worked with is the standard wooden warehouse pallet. The standard size of this pallet is 48x40 inches. Somethings to consider when utilizing this pallet is that it is made from wood so it is susceptible to damage.
Somethings to consider when planning on which pallet, if any, is necessary for usage. The type of equipment that is being loaded on the pallet should not damage the pallet. If you are going to load put something metal on a 463L pallet you must put shoring down in order to protect the pallet and provide proper weight distribution. With warehouse pallets, forklifts or pallet jacks are required to move the warehouse pallets, therefore if the pallets are too heavy or there is a lot of overhang forklifts/pallet jacks may not be able to reach the pallet. I have had a situation where we had overloaded the pallet and were unable to move it out of the warehouse. In that case, we had to unload the pallet and reload it once outside of the warehouse. You need to load the items onto the pallet in a manner that will prevent them from collapsing on the lighter items. Therefore, try to load the heavier items on bottom followed by the lighter items on top in order to prevent damage. One finally consideration when deciphering whether or not the products need to be on pallets or inside of a container is if the products are weather proof. Since pallets do not provide shelter, if the products are not properly weather protected they could be damaged.
References
Global Security. (2015) 463L PALLETS AND SHORING. Retrieved from https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/55-17/ch18.htm