You may find this information useful when loading your container.
Inspect the container carefully before loading anything inside. Be sure there are no holes in the container BEFORE you allow the driver to leave.
Start with the large and heavy items like appliances and load them on the floor against the front wall of the container.
Continue loading heavier items on the floor and towards the front of the container, placing lighter items on top.
Place mattresses along the sides of the container but keep one to load at the rear of the container in front of the doors
Pack the items tightly so nothing moves. Work your way along in tiers loading from bottom to top. Look at the spaces in the tier and then go and look for an item to fill that space. Sometimes you can use an empty box, pillows, blankets or even soft toys to fill in the gaps.
Packing and loading the container well is the key to getting your shipment in good shape the other end.
Put a box of things you will need at destination at the back so you get it first off when unloading. Things in this box may include a few toys for the kids, a knife to help you unpack, tea bags, coffee mugs, glasses, a radio, cleaning material and gloves.
Boxes are easy to carry and easy to stack; pack as many items as you can into boxes. Try to use newer boxes; reused cartons are more likely to collapse during shipping.
When in doubt, put another layer of packing material around your items, better safe than sorry!
You might find it helpful to write the contents on the outside of each carton. When you reach your destination you will know where each carton goes.
Use blankets, bubble wrap and cardboard to protect items from rubbing against each other. Blankets, bubble wrap and cardboard can also be used to fill in any empty spaces. It is important that everything fits in snug and tight so that nothing shifts during the ocean transit.
If necessary you can tie items to the sides of the container with straps. There are rings spaced throughout the container on the ceiling and floor, you will need to provide your own straps.
The floor of the container is made of wood. Feel free to make your own wooden braces to secure items within the container. You do not want any empty space in the container or your goods will shift during shipping.
There are two loading strategies:
Option 1:‘Floor Load’ the container, keeping everything low to the ground. If the floor of the container is covered goods will not be able to shift from side to side.
Option 2:Build a ‘bulkhead’. Load the container from floor to ceiling, and then build a wall to keep the goods from falling into the open space. You can build the wall using plywood sheeting and 4×4 wood.
