Packaging Guideline
Our packaging guidelines – the right packaging counts!
These packaging guidelines should serve you as a general support on how to package your shipments the right way. Please make sure to carefully read the following packaging guidelines. Due to the diversity and disparity of the goods, which are to be transported by GLS, it is not possible to write a packaging guideline for each single type of goods because:
The type and manner of packaging has always to be chosen depending on the shipped goods, its weight and sensitivity!
To be able to provide you a high quality service at a favorable price, the transportation of parcels by GLS takes place in so called joint cargo loads. Furthermore, in the hubs and depots of GLS an automatic conveyor belt system is used for sorting the parcels. This all leads to a higher strain (i.e. in the form of jolts, vibration, etc.), which makes a good inner and outer packaging essential. The packaging guidelines give you valuable hints in order to make sure your shipment reaches its destination safely.
The packaging is formed of three basic parts:
- Outer packaging
- Padding / inner packaging
- Means of fastening
A good outer packaging is formed of a carton which is of high quality, moisture resistant and at least of double wall (with heavy shipments triple wall) corrugated cardboard. This must be extremely resilient and especially guarantee a secure protection of corners, surface and edges. Therefore used cartons should not be used again, as they often already have signs of wear and thus do not anymore have the stability of a new carton.
Inner packaging: inside the carton all hollow spaces are to be filled in with padding, so that the goods in the parcel cannot move around. The padding has to be chosen based on the type of goods which are going to be shipped and their weight and sensitivity. With heavy and sensitive goods fitting styrofoam parts are to be used. Basically the padding must be suitable to protect the parcels inside from jolts, pressure and movement, and no direct contact between the goods and the outer packaging should be possible.
A further important part is the means of fastening (i.e. tape). The heavier or the larger the parcel is, the stronger the means of fastening should be. A secure means of fastening is at the same time a transport insurance and a proof of authenticity. The parcel should in all cases be closed, so that no one can access the contents without leaving marks. Please use a well adhering tape (when possible with company logo) to close the parcel properly on all sides.
When shipping glass bottles we suggest to use special packaging specially intended for this use.
Visual Parcel Control
Remove all old parcel labels, router labels and other labels!
These types of labels are to be removed before the handover to GLS because their bar codes contain sorter information, which could lead to a false sorting. Consequently this type of double labeling can lead to delays in transit times.
Applying the Parcel Sticker
To be able to ensure a smooth processing of all parcels, as a basic principle all relevant parcel labels are to be attached to the largest side of the parcel.
Do not bundle parcels
Please do not send your parcels bundled, but always separately! Therefore it is essential to attach the necessary parcel label to each parcel. During the transport, bundled parcels can become loose, e.g. through vibration. In this case the clear allocation of the individual parcels is not ensured anymore.
