How can you prevent damaged pallets?

When sending items through a pallet courier, you surely want to go to every extreme to ensure your pallets go undamaged. 

Pallets are what effectively protect your goods in transit, so it's only right that you learn the best ways to prevent damaging them.

Do you need a pallet truck?

Attempting to handle something that’s too heavy will result in damage. 

If your pallets are too heavy for you to carry by hand, you should invest in a pallet truck to make life easier. 

However, we can ask the driver to turn up with a pallet truck at hand if you do not have one of your own; You just need to select ‘tail-lift’ at the checkout. 

We’ll help you load everything onto the pallet truck and move your goods to the trailer, ready for their journey. 

Check how the pallet was previously stored

When stored, pallets should be laid flat to prevent them from breaking. 

If you picked the pallet from a trusted manufacturer, this should not be a concern. 

But if you sourced your pallet second-hand, you may need to ask them how the pallet was stored (indoors or outdoors) before considering using it for your pallet delivery. 

Inspecting pallets for any signs of damage is crucial for safe transit.

Never overload a pallet

You MUST NOT overload your pallet. 

If your pallet carries too much weight, it will break before leaving the collection point. 

All standard pallets have a maximum weight limit; for standard grade 1 pallets this is 1,000kg, for grade 2 this is 750kg and for grade 3 this is between 200 - 500kg. 

The best way to check this is to find the size of your pallet, i.e. a full, half, or quarter pallet, and find the maximum weight for that size.

Select the right pallet size

You MUST ask if you are unsure of pallet sizes and which one to select. 

If you send us a Live Chat message, we will help you work out which pallet size you need for the items you wish to ship. 

Doing this will ensure your items do not overhang the pallet at all, and that your pallet does not become damaged.