Many consumer products companies are adopting new “green” product shipping packaging that is lighter, takes up less space and consumes fewer natural resources. From a sustainability perspective the benefits certainly seem clear.

Packaging engineering is at the forefront of helping companies reduce the overall carbon footprint from the manufacturing and distribution of products they sell.  There are many benefits: decreased overall cost, reduction of weight attributed to packaging, reduced amounts of used packaging which is recycled or goes into landfills, lower overall transportation costs, reduced product life-cycle carbon footprint, among others. These are all quantifiable and desirable benefits.

But in the real world of transportation – the networks of ships, trains, containers and trucks through which these goods physically are handled and moved from manufacturing plant to store shelf, what are the implications of this “less is better” strategy?   One of the primary purposes of shipment packaging is to protect the product while in transit.  So as packaging becomes smaller, thinner and lighter, unless great care is taken in the re-engineering, material selection and redesign of packaging, the “protection” role of product packaging can be weakened and compromised, increasing the risk of and exposure to damage.

Shipment packaging must meet approved specifications which are established expressly for the transportation of the commodities the packaging contains. If it is not, your transportation service provider may deny shipment damage claims that arise due to inadequate packaging.

Packaging specifications are available for review through the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) which runs the full gamut for all manner of materials and goods, including acceptable exceptions to those standards, as necessary, and provisions for the construction and integrity of the package. These are established to meet minimum requirements to ensure the product for which the packaging was designed will in fact be sufficiently protected during transport.

Inadequate shipment packaging creates problems for both the shipper and transportation provider.  In a multi-shipment, multi-commodity environment (such as LTL or parcel), an array of shipment sizes, weights and package configurations are co-loaded together, with the carrier loading them in a manner that seeks to protect the integrity of all shipments on a trailer.  When shipment packaging either 1) fails to provide adequate internal protection or 2) is not constructed in a manner that can withstand the loading and unloading of goods in a trucking operation, no one wins.  The carrier ends up with two dissatisfied customers: the shipper and the consignee.

While it is absolutely the right thing to do all we can to reduce the impact of product packaging on the environment, we cannot forget that effective package design also must meet industry standards and provide for adequate protection against shipping damage.  It’s part of the total product cost equation that, if inadequately addressed, will lead to more product waste – the opposite result of a true “green” objective.

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