Seeing a corrugated cardboard box for the first time may instantly prompt you into thinking of it as a magic trick. You may wonder how a simple cardboard box can hold up so many items. You may also wait for this entire load to squish into a pile of cardboard when a forklift puts it down. The first question you may have in your mind would be “do corrugated cardboard pallets work?”
The short answer is yes. Not only do those pallets work well, but they offer a lot of benefits that you might not like to miss if you are a manufacturer, retailer, or distributor. You will find yourself needing to use this solution to manage stacks of goods and products on a pallet.
Why do corrugated cardboard pallets work?
As unbelievable it may sound, a cardboard pallet can hold up to 10,000 pounds of weight. The key is to distribute this entire load properly. To compare things a bit, it is worth mentioning that a traditional wooden pallet can hold up to 4,600 pounds of weight. The question is how a cardboard pallet can hold this much weight.
Corrugated cardboard consists of two layers sandwiching a grooved layer. This structure adds to the durability and shock resistance of the entire box. These pallets work much better than traditional pallets due to the enhanced ability to hold up bulkier loads.
Benefits of cardboard pallets
The most significant advantage of a corrugated cardboard pallet is its less weight compared to the traditional pallet. When you ship your products across the skies or down the highways, you also pay for the pallet weight. Remember, your pallets are not the products you are selling. They are the means to hold your products during shipping.
The average weight of a wooden pallet is somewhere between 30 and 70 pounds. Corresponding corrugated pallets, on the other hand, weigh between 13 and 19 pounds. Choosing corrugated cardboard pallets over traditional pallets can help you squash down costs significantly.
Let’s say you have a shipping container with 20 pallets. Each of those wooden pallets weighs 70 pounds. The total additional weight you will be carrying in your truck will be 1,400 pounds. However, using the same number of 19-pound corrugated cardboard pallets will add 380 pounds to the shipping container. That means you can reduce 1000 pounds of weight just by shifting from wooden pallets to corrugated cardboard pallets. It will translate into a tremendous cost saving for your business.
There are several other benefits associated with the use of corrugated cardboard pallets. For instance, they are easy to produce, cheaper to incorporate, and easier to dispose of. Moreover, these pallets are safe to use because they do not use any nails or other extensive stapling. The pointing tips of these nails used on wooden pallets can prove hazardous for packaging personnel.
It will be worth mentioning while summing up this post that corrugated boxes are not always the best choice. Some circumstances may necessitate the use of wooden pallets only. You can discuss your requirements and all circumstances with your packaging vendor.
