Tips for shipping fragile materials

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to ship something fragile either overseas or locally, but aren’t sure exactly how to pack it correctly? It can be frustrating packing something valuable or fragile, only for it to end up broken once it reaches its destination. Even if it’s not your fault, you may find yourself in a situation where the parcel service refuses to pay for it, or it may not be worth your time trying to receive compensation for your damaged item. Nobody likes being in this situation, so read this blog to learn about a few helpful tips to protect your items during transportation.

Gather Materials

When it comes to gathering packing materials, it’s better to buy too much than not enough. You may think it’s wasteful to buy more than you need, however, you’ll most certainly need these materials down the road to ship other things. It’s better to be left with additional materials than to not have enough to pack what you currently need to ship. Some things you may need are a new sturdy box, polystyrene chips, tape, bubble wrap, and scissors.

Orientation Matters

Depending on what you’re shipping, orientation could have a huge impact on its condition once it’s delivered. After all, there’s a reason most cardboard boxes say, “this side up.” If your item is top heavy, you may want to flip it upside down because things are easier to carry when the majority of the weight is on the bottom. This will also help indicate to anyone else moving the box which direction should be facing up. Not everyone follows these signs, but you can only hope!

Inspect Everything

Another thing you’ll want to do is check everything for damage. Not just the actual object itself, but the box. It would be a shame to get everything inside the box only to find out that it’s too damaged to adequately protect the item. You can also check to make sure the box is put together correctly. It may look like everything is fine until you actually pick it up, then everything falls out.

Wrap First

Always wrap the item before you put it in the box. Bubble wrap acts as a second layer of protection. One thing to make sure of, however, is if your object has any jagged edges, don’t tape the bubble wrap on too tight. This could damage the object further.

Do not leave room

The main issue you want to avoid when packing your valuables is to make sure you don’t leave any space for the object to move around. Once you’ve wrapped it in bubble wrap, fill the bottom of the box with a liberal amount of packing peanuts. Once it’s inside, hold it up straight and fill every side with packing peanuts ensuring it doesn’t lean to one side. Once again, it may seem like you’re overdoing it with the materials, but they can [and should] be reused.

Mark it as Fragile

If you’re really concerned about your package being unsafe in transit you should be sure to mark it as fragile. If you just get a box that says “fragile” on it, people are less likely to pay any attention to it. However, if you get some red tape, it will be more noticeable. Once everything is inside, make sure you put a good amount of tape around the openings.

Contact Delivery Agency

Are you ready to work with a courier company that you can actually trust with your valuable and fragile items? You shouldn’t have to spend any time worrying about whether your things will make it to their destination in one piece or not. We are your Top Rated Local® Local Courier in Accra, Ghana for a reason. Our staff are trained and will always look out for your best interest. We offer same-day deliveries, so you’ll never have to worry about your items arriving days or even weeks late. If you have any questions or you’re ready to get started, contact us today.