Transit damage on a bulk print run: cartons, corners, wrapping and what to check when the pallet arrives
A print run is perfect when it leaves the bindery and is judged on how it looks when the carton is opened. In between it is stacked, strapped, forklifted, driven, unloaded in the rain, and sometimes left on a loading dock overnight. Most of the damage a print buyer sees is transit damage: crushed corners on a stack of brochures, a scuffed top layer on every carton, a pallet that leaned and creased the bottom row, booklets that arrived wavy because the shrink-wrap trapped humidity. It is avoidable with packing chosen for the piece and a receiving routine that catches problems while the driver is still there. This guide covers how print should be packed for the journey, what to specify, and how to check a delivery in the five minutes you have before signing.
How damage happens
- Crushing: cartons stacked too high, heavy cartons on top of light ones, or a pallet loaded with a mixed footprint so the top layers bridge a gap and collapse.
- Corner and edge damage: the carton is dropped or bumped on a corner, and the corner of every sheet inside is bent. Board and laminated pieces show this worst.
- Scuffing: pieces move inside a loose carton and rub against each other; matte laminates and dark solids show it as glossy streaks.
- Moisture: paper absorbs humidity through a carton and waves; shrink-wrap applied to a warm stack traps it. Rain on a dock does the rest.
- Curl and set: a stack left leaning, or a strap over-tightened, sets a curve into the pile that does not come out.
Each has a packing answer, and none of them is expensive relative to a reprint.
Packing that works for print
| Element | Specify | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Carton | Double-wall corrugated for anything over 10 kg; single-wall for light cartons | Single-wall crushes under a pallet stack |
| Carton weight | 12 to 15 kg maximum | Heavier cartons are dropped; lighter are stacked too high |
| Fill | Cartons packed full, with a filler pad if not | Loose contents scuff and shift |
| Inner wrap | Shrink-wrapped packs of 50 to 250 inside the carton, wrapped cold | Keeps stacks square, stops scuffing, resists humidity |
| Pallet | Standard 1200 x 1000 or 1100 x 1100; cartons column-stacked, not interleaved, for print | Column stacking keeps carton corners over each other and carries load |
| Height | Under 1.5 m loaded, and under 1 m for delicate board pieces | Tall pallets lean and topple |
| Corner boards and top cap | Cardboard or plastic angles on all four vertical edges, a top sheet | Spreads strap pressure; protects the outer carton corners |
| Stretch wrap | Several turns, including the pallet base | Ties the load to the pallet; without the base wrap the load slides |
| Labelling | Contents, version, quantity, carton X of Y, "this way up" | Receiving can check without opening every carton |
For foam board, rigid signage and laminated pieces, add a sheet of board top and bottom of each stack inside the carton and a "fragile, do not stack" label; a forklift driver will stack anything that looks square. How the different freight options handle a pallet is described in our article on freight, courier or pallet shipping.
A small but common case is the carton that arrives fine and is then damaged in the receiving warehouse: stacked six high on a shelf, or put under a heavier pallet. Print cartons should be stored no more than the stacking height marked on them, and a "top load only" label on cartons of board or laminated pieces is worth requesting for any run that will sit in a shared warehouse.
Humidity in transit and at the destination
Print packed in an air-conditioned bindery and delivered to a warehouse without air-conditioning goes through a climate change on the way. Paper takes on moisture through the carton over a few days, and if the stack was shrink-wrapped warm, the condensation forms inside the wrap. The remedy is to shrink-wrap after the stack has cooled, to keep cartons closed until the stock is used, and not to leave a pallet in a container or on a dock in the afternoon sun. The longer-term storage side is covered in our note on storing a bulk print run; the transit part is the first three days.
Checking a delivery in five minutes
The signature on the delivery note is the point where transit damage becomes the receiver's problem, so the check has to happen before it. A routine that fits in the time a driver will wait:
- Count the cartons or pallets against the delivery note and the packing list.
- Look at the pallet as a whole: is the wrap intact, is the load leaning, is there any water staining on the lower cartons?
- Look at the corners of the outer cartons on each pallet, top and bottom layers. Crushed or bent corners on the outside mean bent corners inside.
- Open one carton per version or per pallet, from a corner that looks worst, and look at the top piece and the piece at the bottom of a stack.
- Photograph anything wrong before it is moved, with the delivery note in the frame.
- Sign "received, damage noted, cartons X, Y, Z" rather than clean, and email the photos to the printer the same day.
A clean signature followed by a damage claim two days later is a weak claim; a noted signature with photographs is a strong one. For a large run where a press check was done (see our guide to press checks and sign-off), the receiving check is the second half of the same discipline.
Who pays
Responsibility depends on the terms. If the printer arranged the transport, the goods are usually the printer's responsibility until signed for, and a noted delivery leads to a replacement of the damaged cartons. If the buyer's own carrier collected, the risk passed at collection and the claim is against the carrier, which is why the printer's packing spec should be agreed in writing beforehand and the carrier's driver should sign for an undamaged pallet at the bindery. Insurance on freight is cheap and usually only covers what the carrier's standard liability does not; for a run worth more than a few thousand dollars, ask the printer or the forwarder to declare the value.
Packing and delivery on our bulk runs
Bulk runs from our print services ship on the packing spec above as standard: double-wall cartons at 12 to 15 kg, cold shrink-wrapped inner packs, column-stacked pallets under 1.5 m with corner boards, a top cap and base wrap, and carton labels showing contents, version and carton number. Rigid and laminated items get board protection and a no-stack label. Our delivery notes include a packing list per address, and our drivers wait for a corner check on every pallet. If a delivery arrives with transit damage on our transport, the noted cartons are replaced from the overs or reprinted, and the claim is ours to handle with the carrier, not yours. For a run going to your own warehouse or to branches, tell the team on the contact page how the goods will be stored and stacked, and the pallets will be built to suit.
