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Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment precedes air freight packaging. Any consignment that is being moved will face some kind of a stress. Any kind of movement causes a stress in one of the three planes:

The air freight packaging method should consider all the three in advance. Risk management begins before the movement is planned. This is to optimise costing efficiency. Any charges that result from any kind of risk noticed once the consignment is set in motion, is an ignored overhead. That will have a direct effect on the profit. It is always to assess the risk of transport first before arranging the packaging. The selling price of the product should, in my humble opinion, reflect the price of the packaging, as well.

Example: an extremely heavy product needs an extremely stable and resilient packaging. The floor of the packaging should be constructed to bear and distribute the weight evenly to avoid concentration of weight at a certain point. An even distribution of weight is necessary for an optimum transport safety.

Air Cargo Packaging Material — An Overview

One of the prime factors, when considering packaging materials is not the costing. In all these years, I have realised that many companies seem to forget the primary factor: air worthiness.

When the packaging is being planned, along with the footprint of the consignment, the weight that the product applies on the surface needs to be taken into account. It should not be forgotten that forward or backward movements that the consignment will experience during transport, will have an effect on the content.

When the vehicle accelerates, the shipment will experience the law of inertia and show a tendency to move backwards. The content will also register a movement. This will apply a horizontal stress to the sides of the packaging. The same principle will apply to the vertical stress. The packaging material must be able to withstand these stress factors.

The Three Stress Factors Explained

Horizontal Stress

As explained before, the forward or the backward movement of the vehicle will result in a counter force which the shipment will experience. Since movements and vibrations are transmitted through the packaging material to the contents, corresponding measures need to be taken. The padding inside, between the content and the outer packaging must be sturdy and the same time soft enough to absorb any kind of thrust. The best way would be to prevent the movement of the content as much as possible, at the same time allowing for a slight recoil to soften the shock. The outer covering must be sturdy enough to withstand external shock of any item crashing against it. The lorries usually have measures in place to avoid such movements. However,prevention is better than cure.

Vertical Stress

Since speed is the keyword in air freight,one cannot ignore the vertical stress the shipments experience. Lifting and lowering of freight will have the same law of inertia acting on the content, as mentioned above. The only difference is that the thrust is either downwards or upwards. Hence the flooring of the packaging should be resilient.

One should take into consideration the enormous thrust the content can experience during take-off or during landing. At times during fast ground handling activity, at the airports, the staff is under enormous stress. The aircraft needs to be emptied fast, the apron has to be cleared, the freight needs to be transferred to the warehouse, inspection needs to be carried, entry registration for the customs needs to be done. All that means, the freight is in on the move.

Lateral Stress

Lorries need to drive around curves. Negotiating the curves means, the freight will suffer a thrust from the sides.The outer material must be able to withstand the stress applied by neighbouring freight. If the driver is forced to slam down the brakes in an emergency, while negotiating a curve, the lateral stress will be enormous, since it will be in a diagonal line. Have the corners of the consignment been secured?

The Air Freight Packing Materials- An Overview

Cartons

Cartons cannot withstand extreme stress. They are not made for that. Not only is the flooring to be strengthened; and, at times, waterproofed; but also the sides. Attentions needs to be paid to the corners.Hard cardboard collars should be used to secure the corners. Always use two or more packaging straps vertically and horizontally. Use protection collars on the edges and corners to prevent the straps from cutting into the packaging.

Pallets

The most important point in the case of wooden pallets (or any item out of wood) is: is the wood (even “dunnage”) treated as per norms? Certified according to ISPM 15? Is IPPC logo visible on the word?. Any type of wood, such as plywood, which underwent heat treatment, as part of the manufacturing process, is exempt. Clarify with your shipping agent, especially if your shipment is headed for Brasil!

One of the biggest risks of pallets is the breaking away of the chocks (the feet). Cardboard pallets are of no use, if for example the freight is flying to Bharat (“India”) during the monsoon! At the same time make plans for avoiding damage resulting from humidity.

Secure the load on the pallet using packaging straps, as mentioned in the section on cartons. Using a plastic foil around the consignment alone is not enough. If the cartons or any other pieces are packed high on the pallet, the risk of the horizontal stress causing damage is greater. Even if there is only piece on the pallet, the height give the vertical stress enough surface area on which it can act.

Preventing Damage from Stress Factors

Preventing damage from stress factors in air freight packaging has primary importance. Safety protocols must be run before the paging is  done. As a general rule, avoid Styrofoam chips. Vibration (during transport by lorry and from the aircraft engine) can cause the air pockets to get disrupted. This will cause the chips to settle down, exposing the top part of the content thus making that part vulnerable to damage.

(Article originally published on Substack and on Medium)

https://mantralayam.substack.com/p/air-freight-packaging-and-stress
https://medium.com/@srinath_90181/air-freight-packaging-and-stress-factors-34c67d08bc3d