subject: What Are The Packing Guidelines For My Shipment? [print this page] Before you ship with any company, always ask to see a copy of their packing guidelines. Every Chicago delivery service out there is going to have some kind of guidelines for how you are supposed to pack their shipments. Some companies might just have a generic document that is very easy to follow, while others might have more specific instructions that you are expected to follow.
If you haven't packed your shipment correctly, you can expect all kinds of problems. The good news is, most of these guidelines are very easy to follow. Most of these are basic common sense items designed to protect your packages as much as they are designed to protect the courier. These include things like making sure that any breakable items are securely packed in paper, foam, or bubble wrap.
Two other common packing guidelines are going to be for items that contain any liquid which could spill, and any exceptionally heavy shipments. With anything that can spill, the requirements will usually be to make sure that the goods are totally sealed. That prevents anything from spilling and damaging other goods that may be being moved in the same van. Heavy packages usually must be packed in rigid, reinforced or doubled up boxes to ensure that the packages do not tear when couriers move them.
Some people feel that these guidelines are only put in place to help them protect their packages, but this is not the case. Courier companies are actually often very firm about enforcing these guidelines. Couriers are protected from liability by ensuring that their customers adhere to all of the required packing guidelines.
What this means, is that your couriers will often give your packages a cursory inspection before they will take delivery of them. If they see that your packages have not been packed in an appropriate way they have the right to refuse to pick up the packages. They also will not wait around for you to finish repacking them properly in most cases. They simply don't have the time with all the other clients that will be waiting for them on their routes. This means that you will have to wait to arrange a time when the courier can come back and pick up your package. This simple mistake can cause quite a significant delay to when your customer actually gets to receive the shipment, and is a situation that you should take great care to avoid.
