Loading Drums on the Floor vs. on pallets, that is the question.
Many chemical transportation shippers load drums differently into trucks. Some have a policy of loading on the floor without pallets. Others, have a policy of loading on pallets. Here are the pros and cons of both approaches.
Chemical Transportation of Drums On the Floor Pros:
- There is no danger of the skid breaking and the drum toppling over
- There is no danger from puncture due to a loose nail, etc.
- Pallets are expensive
- Pallets are heavy and you can save about 1000lbs of pallets. This means you can fit more product on the truck.
Chemical Transportation of Drums On the Floor Cons:
- Takes longer to load/unload.
- Cannot be moved around easily.
- If load is LTL drums can easily be punctured by the fork truck when loading other material on the truck.
- Very hard to cross dock and increases likelihood of damage.
Chemical Transportation On Pallets Pros
- Easy to cross dock and transfer
- Faster to load the truck
- Protects drums from most puncture damage from fork trucks when loading other skids
Chemical Transportation On Pallets Cons
- Pallets are expensive
- Labour required to load on pallets
- Pallets can collapse
- Weight of pallets costs money to ship
Recommendation:
To get the best of both worlds, safety and economy, I usually recommend to my customers to load full loads on the floor for their chemical shipments and LTL on pallets. Full loads of chemical shipments are unlikely to be cross docked, and without pallets you can take advantage of filling the truck to maximum weight with product. When shipping LTL, your product is protected better and easier to cross dock. When shipping LTL the weight of a few extra pallets is not significant in pricing.