Whether you use your own transport or work with couriers to make deliveries, transport costs can stack up. You might not realise it, but any packaging you use will have a direct impact on your transport efficiency, costs, and carbon emissions.
So, what should you consider when it comes to packaging and its effect on transport?
Your pack size and cubic space used
The size of your packaging can have a big knock-on effect. If any of your boxes or bags are too big for your products, you’ll need extra infill which add to the pack weight AND they’ll take up more cubic space.
In turn, this means you’ll get less on a pallet or incur higher courier costs if they’re calculated by volume.
So, it’s important not to take a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to your packaging. Think about the overall packaging footprint and how best to pack a product to minimise the space it uses. If your volumes are high enough, you could invest in automated solutions that size your packaging for you – so each pack is optimised.
Your material weight and overall pack weight
The heavier your packaging, the heavier your overall pack weight will be. This directly impacts the amount of fuel your delivery vehicles use, and the CO2 created during transport. If you use a courier service, heavier weight packs equal a higher deliver charge too.
To reduce your overall packaging weight, you need to consider the outer box and any internal protective materials. You should aim to strike a balance between using enough material to prevent damages and not excessively packing your product to lower waste and overall pack weight. A great example of this would be switching to a performance grade cardboard that’s engineered to be lighter but still performs like a heavier weight board.
Your palletisation
Optimising your palletisation can help you ship more product in fewer journeys. This is where packaging that’s the right size for your product will be important – if it’s too big you could be losing valuable space on your pallet.
Just a small pack size reduction could have a big impact. For example, decreasing pack height by a few centimetres could allow you to add an extra layer of product. This extra layer would allow you to reduce the number of pallets you use, meaning you can use less transport – delivering a financial and environmental saving.
How we can help you reduce your transport costs
Our packaging review service can help you analyse your complete packing operation from start to finish. The information we gather can help us identify key areas for improvement that could deliver significant savings across areas like transport and productivity.
Email contact@networkpack.co.uk to book a review and see how we can you maximise your transport efficiency.
