There are more warehouses scattered throughout the U.S. right now than ever before. At the moment, there are about 20,000 of them—and that number is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.
You could obviously make the argument that there are so many warehouses going up throughout the country because of the e-commerce boom. But you could also argue that the invention of the wooden pallet almost 100 years ago made this boom possible.
Warehouses are filled with pallets that are loaded up with boxes. Today, we’re going to touch on how warehouse workers load pallets to keep these boxes safe, both when they’re on forklifts and when they’re on trailers.
It’s important for warehouse workers to stack boxes in the right way to ensure even weight distribution and pallet stability. Continue reading to learn how they need to go about loading pallets to guarantee safety.
Warehouse Workers Carefully Inspect Pallets Prior to Loading Them
Before warehouse workers begin to load pallets with boxes, they need to take a quick look at them to make sure they’re in good shape. They should not stack boxes on top of pallets that appear as though they might be broken.
Because of the way in which they’re built, pallets are usually very durable and sturdy. But they’re often reused over and over again, so they can start to fall apart over time.
A careful inspection of a pallet should reveal any potential deficiencies with it. If there is even a small chance that a pallet might not be able to bear the weight of the boxes put on top of it, it should be taken out of the rotation right away.
Warehouse Workers Use the Proper Techniques to Load Pallets
Once warehouse workers have evaluated pallets and given them the OK, they can begin to stack boxes on top of them. They should use one of two techniques to get this part of the job done.
When stacking boxes on pallets, warehouse workers can either:
- Stack the boxes on top of each other in equal rows
- Stagger the boxes while stacking them
Both of these approaches will put warehouse workers in a position to take full advantage of the space available to them on top of pallets. They can use either method to successfully stack boxes and keep them safe.
Warehouse Workers Shrink-Wrap the Boxes Placed on Pallets
Regardless of how warehouse workers choose to stack boxes as they load pallets up, they should always finish this portion of the process off by shrink-wrapping the boxes.
No matter how careful warehouse workers might be with pallets while moving them around, there is always a chance that the boxes might shift around. In fact, it’s perfectly normal for this to happen.
For this reason, warehouse workers should put shrink-wrap all around the boxes. It’ll hold the boxes in place to some degree and prevent them from toppling over at any point.
Warehouse Workers Utilize Forklifts to Move Pallets Around
After warehouse workers are done loading pallets up with boxes, they can then work on moving these pallets to wherever it is that they need to go. It’ll be impossible for them to do this on their own, so they’ll need to utilize forklifts to do it.
Fortunately, pallets are specifically designed to be picked up and carried around by forklifts. So warehouse workers shouldn’t encounter any struggles when they’re transporting pallets.
It will, however, be important for them to use high-quality forklifts that are capable of picking up even the heaviest pallets. Visit 99lifts.com to find some forklifts that are up for the challenge.
Warehouse Workers Place Pallets on Trailers Properly
More often than not, warehouse workers will load pallets up with boxes so that they can be shipped to another destination. When this is the case, they’ll need to take the pallets that they’ve loaded up and place them right on trailers.
There are several different methods that they can use to place pallets on trailers properly. Here are the methods that will work best:
- Side by side loading, which is the quickest way to load pallets on a trailer
- Turned loading, which is the safest way to load pallets on a trailer
- Pinwheeled loading, which is the most efficient way to load pallets on a trailer
In a perfect world, warehouse workers should attempt to use either turned loading or pinwheeled loading to make the most of the space on a trailer while keeping pallets safe. But if they’re in a pinch, side-by-side loading is also an acceptable method.
Warehouse Workers Avoid Overloading Trailers With Pallets
No matter which method warehouse workers use to load pallets on trailers, they should always make it a point to avoid overloading them. They should find out how much weight trailers can hold and adjust their pallet loads accordingly.
They should also steer clear of stacking pallets on trailers and keep them all on the same level when possible. It’ll prevent pallets from tipping over during transport and breaking many of the boxes that sit on top of them.
It’s Important for Warehouse Workers to Load Pallets as Safely as Possible
If warehouse workers don’t load pallets properly from the start, it can cause huge headaches down the line. It starts with warehouse workers inspecting pallets and ends with them putting these pallets onto trailers in the right way.
Use all of the tips that we’ve talked about here to load pallets in the safest way possible. They should help you to keep pallets and everything that is put on them in one piece while you’re in the process of moving them around.
Get more great safety-related tips by browsing through our other blog articles.
