Rule of Thumb: FREIGHT = CRATE !
May 1st, 2009
We get requests on a regular basis to send boxed or otherwise “softpacked” artworks via package services such as UPS or Fed Ex, or by freight, to various destinations.
Our answer in 99% of the cases is, no. We don’t ship softpacked art by freight service, period. Or, (with apologies to O.J.) if it’s freight it needs a crate! For starters, the package services don’t differ from freight in terms of handling; they are freight.
Freight handling is rough and tumble, or can be. We get crates in regularly that have footprints on them from being “stood” on, sometimes a whole line of footprints showing the crate was walked on most likely to reach other objects in a truck. If that container had been a softpack or box — curtains.
Most freight shipments are handled multiple times enroute, are fork lifted to and fro, and may get conveyor belted as well. The extra foam padding used within a properly built crate gives far better “shock” protection than a standard softpack. If you have ever seen the result of a cowboy driven forklift tine striking a cardboard box, it isn’t pretty. With a severe blow even a crate might be breached, but the chances are better for a positive outcome.
In addition, freight shipments are generally not “tied in” within the transport vehicle or aircraft. Which means they can shift, turn over, or other items can lean against them or fall on them. Thus, the more rigid the container the better.
Moreover, crates can be constructed using various tricks of the trade along the top or bottom which make them suitable to ride only one way i.e. in a given orientation as to LWH. While this is not foolproof, and we never rely on freight carriers to ship art that might be damaged if turned from the vertical, it is more possible to secure the orientation of larger crates than boxes or cartons. Any small box or package shipped via freight is guaranteed to be turned this way and that, no matter what orientation marks appear on the exterior.
There are exceptions to the freight=crate rule. Several companies sell prebuilt shipping containers or “strong boxes” composed of heavy corrugated cardboard, seriously foam lined, and sometimes incorporating additional puncture proof linings. These offer protection approaching that of a plywood crate, but are more crushable, still. And there is the occasional very sturdy artwork that can survive double boxing in a foam lined box.
Your local pickup guy may hand carry your box out to his truck, and may lovingly place it in the proper orientation, but it’s not going to be handled that way for the rest of the journey, chances are. We see packages every day which are handed to us upside down, or where “fragile” markings are ignored with parcels tossed casually into trucks despite cautionary labeling. A crate offers superior protection outside and in and gives what can be an art saving margin for error.
If you stick with our rule of thumb you have a far better chance of your shipment arriving in good condition.
Betsy Dorfman
Tags: aircraft, art saving, artworks, cardboard box, cautionary labeling, crate, Fed Ex, foam lined box, foam padding, footprints, fork lifted, forklift tine, fragile markings, freight, freight handling, freight service, freight shipments, orientation, orientation marks, package services, parcels, plywood crate, properly built crate, rule of thumb, severe blow, softpacked, strong boxes, tied in, transport vehicle, UPS, upside down