Whether the package you send is strangely-shaped, particularly delicate or special, unusually sized, or perhaps even a living being, there is no doubt that you want everything to go as smoothly as possible during the shipping process.
Ultimately, ensuring that you have done the proper amount of prep work will well and truly make all the difference in helping to ensure that all goes well along the way. The following blog post will be all about the shipping of unusual items and the different ways you can get them from A to B in the most successful manner possible.
Call in the Experts
The first step you could take is to call in a courier or transportation company that is specially trained and experienced in shipping a certain type of item. For example, there are specialists who know all about getting classic cars shipped successfully – just as there are those who can deal with horse transport, such as Shiply.
Ultimately, this is an essential part of the process, and you do not want the other steps to end up being in vain as your shipping company were simply not up to task in the way that you wanted them to be.
Choose the Right Container
You are then going to need to think about the specific packing materials that you have in mind. For example, if it is a delicate item, you will want to pick out a box that is the right size, but it also needs to be sturdy enough to ensure that it will not fall apart during the shipping process. At the same time, you also need to think closer about what you are putting on the inside, such as the polystyrene or the bubble wrap that will help provide that additional layer of protection.
If you are transporting a pet, you need to make sure that the carrier is an appropriate size and will stand up to the type of journey you happen to have in mind. If you are using a shipping company, then you need to make sure that any packaging you use fits the company’s required standards, or they won’t pick it up.
Make Sure You Measure Everything Accurately
Accurate measurements are going to help out for a couple of main reasons. First of all, it will certainly be useful when picking out packaging that is of the right size. At the same time, you will also want to do this to ensure that you get the right estimate for your courier or shipping partner and you do not end up overpaying or underpaying for any reason. It can also be useful when you are arriving on the other side. For example, if what you are shipping happens to be furniture, if you have measured everything out properly, it will help to ensure that it will all fit in your new place without too much trouble at all.
Seal and Waterproof as Necessary
Once everything has been measured and packed up, you are then going to need to go through the task of getting it all sealed up and waterproofed as necessary. This means that you need to place a high degree of focus on the tape or whatever else that you happen to be using. You do not want to have spent all that time and effort packing stuff up, only to find that it all ends up all over the place as the box springs open.
It may also be necessary to take some waterproofing steps. This could be essential to protect the package against any elemental issues along the way, such as heavy rain. When it comes to pets, you will obviously need to make sure that they can breathe comfortably, but the carrier needs to be sealed up properly to stop it from flying open.
Label Your Packaged Properly
While it may well feel like you have taken all the other necessary steps, you will also want to do all that you can in labeling the packages. In this manner, you are helping to prevent anything from getting lost along the way. After all, you do not want to get into a situation in which you have done everything else right that you possibly could have done, only to come unstuck at the end (quite literally) due to some poor labeling that could see your items end up getting sent to an entirely different location.
Not only do you need to label the address correctly, but you should also be using fragile warning labels for boxes that need extra care when they are being handled, and a heavy label for the ones that are not as light as they might appear.
Think About Using Pallets
While not every single package out there is going to require the use of pallets, there is no doubt that they can end up making a big difference to heavier packages as they can provide that additional layer of protection, as well as making them altogether easier to load and unload as necessary. Ultimately, this can also help provide an additional layer of security to packages that are not a normal shape and may otherwise be at risk of tipping over for one reason or another.
Get the Right Insurance
Even if you have taken all of the necessary steps, it is always important to remember that shipping is not always an exact science. As a direct result of this, proper insurance can help to end by providing that additional layer of protection, as it means that you will be properly compensated if anything should go wrong along the way. You also have more peace of mind too.
These are all of the steps that could prove to be useful when it comes to more unusual shipping packages. Ultimately, it is going to be all about ensuring that you have done enough prep work and taken the needed steps to ensure that it is less likely that anything goes wrong along the way. If it does, insurance can help to offer protection.
