How to maximize space utilization and reduce volume billing for sea freight container loading
Shipping LCL is charged by volume, while FCL charges a fixed shipping fee based on container type. However, wasting container space will increase the number of shipments and overall logistics costs. Reasonable planning of container layout and full utilization of container length, width, and height space can not only load more goods at once, reduce container volume, but also avoid cargo shaking and damage. This article shares practical container loading techniques to save space and reduce volume costs.
First, familiarize yourself with the internal dimensions of a standard container: a 20GP inner diameter of approximately 5.9 × 2.35 × 2.39 meters; 40GP12.03 × 2.35 × 2.39 meters; The height of the 40HQ elevated cabinet is 2.69 meters. Before loading the container, calculate the placement plan based on the size of the outer box of the cardboard box and arrange it in advance to avoid random stacking and wasting gaps on site.
1、 Standardized cardboard boxes are uniformly organized to reduce irregular gaps. Customize a uniform specification outer box to avoid irregular cardboard boxes of different sizes. Irregular packaging and irregular products are individually placed on regular wooden frames, with irregular shapes corrected to rectangular shapes and gaps filled. Foam and soft packed goods should be packed in smaller volumes, and vacuum packed fabrics and home textile products should be used to greatly reduce the space occupied.
2、 Three dimensional layered arrangement, with horizontal and vertical matching to fill gaps. Large regular cardboard boxes are tightly attached to the cabinet wall and neatly laid on the bottom layer. After being horizontally laid in a row, the second layer is staggered and arranged, similar to bricklaying, to eliminate vertical gaps between the boxes; Narrow accessories and small boxes are used to fill the remaining gaps on the sides and top of large goods, without wasting corner space. Long strip pipes and plates are placed vertically close to both sides of the container, utilizing the vertical narrow area.
3、 Reasonable stacking of light and heavy layers, with the upper layer fully utilizing the raised space. Heavy goods, hardware, and stone are all placed on the bottom layer, while light foam goods, cardboard boxes, and plastic products are placed on the top layer. The empty space at the top of the 40HQ raised cabinet can accommodate 2-3 layers of light goods; The stacking height of the goods should be close to the top of the cabinet, with a safety gap of 5-10 centimeters reserved. Do not leave large areas of blank space. Fragile items are placed in the middle layer, surrounded by cushioning materials to avoid occupying scattered space at the top.
4、 Optimize wooden frames and pallets to reduce the volume occupied by pallets. When exporting solid wood pallets with large thickness, light and thin plastic pallets should be preferred, or bare pallets should be neatly stacked without pallets; Single large items are directly fixed inside the cabinet without separate wooden frames. Multiple small items are combined and shared on one wooden frame, reducing the space occupied by the frame. The trays are of uniform size, neatly arranged side by side without leaving any gaps.
5、 The key to controlling the volume of LCL cargo is to reduce billing cubic meters. Shipping by LCL is charged according to CBM, and the larger the volume, the higher the shipping cost. Remove excess outer packaging and thicken foam before shipment, and only retain basic protection; Loose toys and fabric products are compressed and packaged; Avoid individual small batch shipments, consolidate multiple customer goods into the same shipment, share basic operating costs, and fully utilize the entire warehouse space.
6、 Simulate and calculate before container loading, and optimize the plan in advance. Calculate the maximum loading capacity of a single container based on the length, width, and height of the cardboard box, estimate the number of cubic meters, and if there is too much remaining space, additional supporting accessories can be added for shipment to reduce empty container waste. Arrange a dedicated person on site to monitor the installation, and prohibit workers from leaving empty spaces or loosely stacking them.
Additional note: The maximum loading container cannot exceed the weight limit and must strictly comply with the weight restrictions of each container type; The goods must be reinforced with wrapping film and fixed with wooden blocks, and the space must be filled to prevent them from collapsing and being damaged due to shipping bumps. Reasonably utilizing container space, increasing single container loading capacity by 10% -20%, directly reducing container types and quantities, and long-term shipping can save considerable ocean freight costs.