​In previous discussions about pallets, I touched on the nature of the load that a pallet might be expected to handle. If you are a pallet geek like me, the term “unit load” is often used to describe the goods that are configured in such a way as to be easily handled by that pallet.

​So, I guess the unit load is and has always been associated with pallets, right? Well, not exactly. Although we can trace the use of pallets all the way back to ancient times, the common use of pallets to handle the unit load did not get going until World War II.

​Why is my 2x4 lumber not 2 inches by 4 inches?

Many decades ago, lumber purchased from a sawmill physically matched the common dimensions we use today. So why does that pine or spruce 2x4 from your local lumber yard now come up short? The short answer is modern surfacing and shrinkage.

Over time we've come to accept these nominal (approximate) dimensions as standard. But there's still a catch. Shrinkage can be highly variable. This makes it very difficult to manage and regulate dimensional accuracy.

Rules for Calculating Dimensions

​So now you know that 1x3, 2x4 are 4x8 are really just names or nominal dimensions. But... it gets even more complicated. Dimensions change based on the width or the thickness. Here are the general "rules" for calculating softwood dimensions:
 
Nominal vs Actual Dimension Rules

​Dimensional Lumber

Softwoods (pine, spruce, fir, etc.) are generally known as framing or dimensional lumber. This wood is commonly used for framing walls and floors in our homes and regularly used for building wooded crates and pallets. Since no one likes unexpected dimensional errors, the handy chart below outlines the changes in dimensions you can expect:
​
Dimensional vs Actual Lumber Chart for Dried Softwoods

Regulating Lumber Dimensions

​The US Department of Commerce standardized softwood dimensions for green and finished lumber back in 1969.

Today, regulating dimensional accuracy in the US falls under the responsibility of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The current standards are published by the government in a document titled the American Softwood Lumber Standard (PS 20). The latest version is labeled the Voluntary Product Standard PS 20-15.

Why is regulation so difficult?

State and local inspectors spot check lumber dimensions at mills and retail locations but determining if softwood boards are within limits is complicated. Here's why:​
​  

1. Shrinkage
   Green lumber has higher moisture content. As the wood dries (either in an oven or air dried) the dimensions reduce. Depending on wood species - and specifically wood grain direction - shrinkage can range from 2% to 15%. This equals anywhere from 0.012” to 0.6" for a 4 inch board.
    
2. Surfacing
   Boards with smooth sides are said to have a dressed surfaced. The process of smoothing out board surfaces further reduces the original width or thickness. Dimensional lumber is commonly labeled S4S. The designation stands for "surfaced 4 sides".
     
3. Inconsistent Testing
   Inspectors do not have nationally agreed-upon testing procedures. Everything from an individual inspector's sampling protocol to the device used for measuring can muddy the results. That's about to change.

 
If you're wondering about hardwoods, thickness measurements are slightly different, but most hardwood widths follow the softwood standard. As an example, a 6 inch hardwood board is actually 5.5".


New Testing Procedures Under Review

The Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) at the NIST has been working with the American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) since 2016 to develop new testing procedures for dimensional accuracy. The next big step in moving the new procedures forward is expected by summer 2018 when the proposal goes to a vote.

Have you ever wondered about about the impact of lumber's dimensional accuracy on wooden pallets and crates? Have your own wrong-size lumber story? Talk to me in the comments below.

Post by: Kent Longardner, Technical Sales Manager

Have you tried any products that could extend the life of your current warehouse pallets?  Reducing damage can be achieved by using pallet protectors, forklift fork-guards, and warehouse racking add-ons. 

Could there be products used to improve warehouse systems and prevent pallet damage?

• Pallet Protectors
  Products are available that can be added to the pallet such as end plates or metal strips to strengthen the durability where a forklift enters the pallet. Damage commonly occurs when the end of a forklift hits a deckboard or stringer causing a puncture that can split the board. By adding a metal end plate or plastic protector the end of the pallet becomes reinforced and can stand up to punctures.
  
  
• Forklift Attachments
  Similarly, there are products added to forklifts that reduce damage by pushing across the face of the pallet instead of just where the forks contact. By adding these forklift attachments, the stringers will get pushed before the leading edge of the deck board will be lifted.  By pushing against the stringers the weight (being pushed) is transferred throughout the pallet instead of being lifted by the edge deck board.
   
• Warehouse Racking Add-on
  Metal grids that reinforce a pallet rack can also aid in spreading the weight from the reinforcement rods. Grids may allow a less expensive pallet to be used or reduce the amount of operator error that a forklift driver would have when loading and unloading the rack.  

  
There are many products available to aid in extending the lifecycle of pallets.  A quick review of your warehouse with an industry expert could provide additional cost savings on packaging or create ways of reducing product damage.

Have you tried any of these new products? Or would your warehouse system benefit from one of our technical team members doing an evaluation and show how these new products could save packaging costs? We would love to hear how these products have worked for you.

Post by: Jonathan Haynes, Regional Sales Manager

Every pallet user has experienced fastener failures at some point.

Putting a nail or screw into a wooden pallet sounds simple enough, but it can actually get quite technical. When there is a failure, a good set of photos is often enough for an engineer to identify if the problem is the fastener or something else entirely.

Choosing the right fastener

There are many measurements that determine the withdrawal strength of a nail. The snapshot above details four different types of fasteners. In general, helical (screw) nails are better suited for harder wood species, and annular (ring) nails hold better in softer species.

​Here are some more notes:

• Most common nail spec
  Most pallet specs do not include enough information to guarantee a good fastener. The most common nail spec we see is 2-1/4” Helical nail. This can be everything from a very good nail with very high withdrawal strength to a very small diameter nail that is little more than a big tack.
    
• Cheap nails
  Moving from a cheap nail to a good nail only adds about 2% to the pallet price, but will double the life of a pallet. The cost vs performance tradeoff of a good nail is often a great deal. This is true even with one-way pallets because you’ll see fewer failures and better handling in the field. But, if a pallet user does not require the better nail, they will likely get the cheaper ones.​

Common Fastener Failures

Following are a few insights on fastener problems and solutions for wood stringer style pallets:
  

• Broken deckboards
  If deckboards are broken, the fastener likely did its job and the boards were too weak for the application. You need a stronger deckboard (thicker, wider, hardwood, etc.).
    
• Boards pulling from stringers
  If you have good boards pulling from the stringers (and you see nail points sticking from the boards) then the fastener pulled out of the stringer. The nails did not have enough withdrawal resistance for the application.

The best way to spec a nail is to give some guidelines, such as “2-1/4” helical’, and then also reference the Uniform Standard for Wood Pallets. This standard specifies minimum performance requirements for withdrawal in nails. Unfortunately, many pallet manufactures do not use this standard and may continue to use a sub-performance nail.

Are fasteners the issue in your pallet failures? Send me photos. I can offer an evaluation to see if fastener withdrawal is contributing to the issue.

You might be asking yourself how is it possible to save money by spending more money? It is always important to consider the BIG picture. Spending a little extra money in one area might create cost savings across the board. 

We have the perfect case study to demonstrate this claim. 

This customer's original crate design was creating problems within the distribution environment. 

• Unable to Double Stack
  The inability to double stack created unusable air space during shipping. While in the warehouse, the customer was losing square footage by not double stacking the crates. 
• Damaged During Shipping
  The original crate design was frequently damaged during shipping. Once the crate was compromised, the potential for product damage increased.

The loss of potential space and the increase in crate and product damage was costing this customer a lot of money. Money that could be saved by adding a little more to their packaging.

The Nelson Technical Center approached this project with three goals:

• Reduce damage to crate and product
• Allow crates to be double stacked
• Create a cost neutral design

The new crate design incorporated additional building material. Although the additional material added to the overall material costs, it allowed us to create a stronger product. A stronger product meant the crate now had the ability to double stack and reduced damage in shipping. Not only did the new design solve the two major issues within the customer's distribution environment, we were also able to create a space-saving feature. The crate is delivered to the customer knocked down and is designed to be easily assembled. 

The individual crate costs were slightly higher, yet the more efficient design allowed for significant overall costs savings as well as a better customer experience. By spending slightly more on the crate, the costs savings were realized in other parts of the distribution environment.

Can your packaging benefit from a holistic approach to cost savings? Let us know by commenting below. 

Post by: Kent Longardner, Technical Sales Manager

Have you noticed a change in your LTL shipping charges?

The methodology that LTL carriers are using to determine their rates is changing. This is in follow up to what the major parcel shippers (UPS and FedEx) have already done.

Traditionally, LTL carriers based their rates on density and established different classes for different types of freight. LTL carriers also offer significant discounts from their base rate structures.

Going forward, LTL carriers are going to start charging based on dimensional weight, as this is a better representation of the volume that a shipper is using on a particular truck.

So, what does that mean for you?

• Dimensional weight is calculated differently than actual weight.
  Dimensional weight is figured by multiplying the length, width, and height of a unit load and then dividing that number by 166. 

• Using the right size packaging will become critical.  
  A pallet that is 5” tall instead of 6” tall could save a shipper in freight costs much more than the cost of the pallet.  Reducing the footprint (length & width) of the pallet will also reduce the dimensional weight of the unit load.

“Smart sized” packaging will become critical for all companies that ship LTL, especially for lighter weight unit loads. For example, a lightweight load that is being shipped via LTL – pillows, potato chips, ceiling tiles – may only weigh 500 pounds. If that unit load measures 48” x 40” x 94”, then its dimensional weight would be 1087 pounds (48 * 40 * 94 / 166). The shipper would then be paying LTL freight rates based on a dimensional weight of 1,087 pounds versus an actual weight of 500 pounds.

Work with your packaging professionals and freight providers to come up with the best ways to ship your products in an LTL environment.

Do you use LTL shipping? We want to know how. Let us know how this change going to affect you by commenting below. 

Post by: Rich Reiher, Vice President

What is a Tech Center Evaluation? An evaluation by the Tech Center is an all-inclusive assessment of your current packaging systems. 

Whether this is a 2-3 day onsite comprehensive review or an offsite review of customer submitted photos of product damage, the evaluation can help solve any issues and/or reduce overall costs.

Here are the 4 basic areas we focus on:

• Pallet and Packaging Specifications 
  What are the packaging specifications, and are the current pallets built to those specs? Is the pallet the best solution for the system? If the pallet and packaging specifications are a mismatch, this can lead to costly product damage.
  
  
• Material Handling Equipment 
  What are the types of equipment this unit load will experience? Is there one piece of equipment that is causing issues and that might be bypassed? We see many examples of one chain conveyor or one palletizer infeed device that determine a pallet design. A modification can sometimes have a very fast ROI.
  
  
• Shipping and Freight 
  How are the units currently shipped? Is there a way to do this more economically or efficiently? Freight is often one of the most expensive costs for a delivered product. There are times when a different size pallet may save on LTL costs or a different size corrugated carton would allow a denser container cube. When we find these freight opportunities, they can offer huge savings and offset pallet and packaging costs.
  
  
• Client Input 
  This sounds simple, as we always have a point of contact that gives us the project overview. But we also ask for input from as many contacts within a packaging system as possible. Many times a long-term forklift driver has very good insight into lost opportunities. They see the problems every day and may have even mentioned them before, but most of us are busy with our day-to-day issues. Asking for input in a fresh project can bring out excellent insight and opportunities to implement solutions from the field.

Before beginning your next project, consider what a Tech Center Evaluation can provide you. These four areas of assessment could help you tackle your biggest industrial packaging challenges. The Tech Center Evaluation could help you eliminate damage in transit, save on material costs or reduce freight costs, and even save valuable warehouse space. 

So what are you waiting for? Schedule your Tech Center Evaluation today.

Post by: John Clarke, Technical Director

Switching to kiln-dried pine can be an easy fix for hardwood pallet mold problems. The not-so-easy part is making sure the pine supports handling requirements with the same strength and durability.  

Problem
A customer identified a mold problem using hardwood pallets.

Design Limitations
Due to end-user requirements, the pallet had to remain a standard 48 x 40 size.

Strength Analysis
Running a PDS (pallet design system) analysis on the design, we replaced the hardwood with kiln-dried pine to address the mold issue. When switching the species to a less dense material such as pine, strength is sometimes an issue. In this case, strength numbers were close and we proceeded by testing a few sample pallets.

Sample Testing
Testing several pallet samples revealed issues with the design while using pine. The leadboards on the pallets were being pulled off or pushed back after just a few uses. We reviewed the pallet handling environment and discovered the customer's product didn't fit the perimeter of the pallet. This left 8" exposed on either the front or rear of the pallet. With no weight on the exposed leadboard, a forklift easily pulled the board off when not raised properly.

Redesign
We next tested more samples with butted leadboards to help support the product near its edge and prevent the leadboards from being pushed back. Unfortunately, the boards continued to be pulled off the pallets. After further study, a fourth stringer was added to the pallet to provide more nails. Samples were provided and they fixed the durability issues.

Results
In this particular case, the kiln-dried pine lumber was strong enough to hold the weight of the product while sitting on the floor (a static load). When the product was being transported on conveyor systems, forklifts or racks, the dynamic capacity of the pallet was under requirements and necessitated a modified pallet. The new pine pallet design has successfully reduced damaged caused by mold and handling issues.

End users often require product or raw materials to arrive on standard 48 x 40 wooden pallet even though it may not be the best fit. Problems such as over-hang or under-hand can damage product and pallets. Has this happened to you?

Ask us how pallet redesign could help solve your handling problems. Add your story in the comments below.

Post by: Jonathan Haynes, Sales Representative

Load ratings on manufacturers brochures MAY be accurate but are often times they are misleading because they are tested with ideal unit loads. Obviously, the load you are using could be drastically different than what they tested.

We recommend taking the following steps before using a new pallet in a racking application to be sure your pallet is safe for your rack application.

• Lower-stiffness pallets, whether they are plastic, lightweight wood or corrugated, should be tested with the actual load and conditions in which they will be used.
  
  
• Field tests can narrow the options and laboratory pallet testing with actual product can verify the best pallet for your application.

We want to hear from you. How do you determine if a pallet is safe for your rack application? Let us know by commenting below. 

Post by: John Clarke, Technical Director 

What is a Tech Center Assessment?

Don’t you hate hearing “this is just the way we've always done it”? So why not consider a technical resource assessment? 

The Nelson Technical Center assessment includes the evaluation of pallets, packaging and material handling systems. The main goal is to review current practices in order to recommend improvements.

Top Reasons for an Assessment

• Cost Savings
• Damage Reduction
• Consolidation 
• Optimize Warehouse and Freight Capacity
• Eliminate International Regulations Challenges

The assessment will range from a few hours to a few days, depending on the facility complexity. The Nelson Company will walk the plant, speak with key people from forklift drivers to plant managers and look for cost savings and process improvement opportunities. The typical assessments find average cost savings of 5-10%.

The Tech Center Assessment includes:

• On site assessment and evaluation of current systems
• Documenting the current pallet specs and unitization procedures
• Recommendations to ensure best industry practices
• Cost savings suggestions, when applicable
• A final report outlining findings and recommendations

Overall, the assessment allows everyone involved to re-evaluate designs and processes. This provides you the opportunity to ‘ask why’ and evaluate the procedures. An assessment could help with find solid answers to the question “why do we always do it this way?”

Think an assessment is the next step for you? Leave us a note below and we will set up your tech center assessment.

Post by: Kent Longardner, Technical Sales Manager