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Household Goods shipping

Packing your household goods can be troublesome sometimes. But, if you accomplish it the right way it could be enjoyable. Be careful when shipping your household goods overseas. You have worked so hard to acquire these household items, and if you don’t take proper precautions, these items could get damaged during shipment.

You could come across all types of different household items that vary in weights, shapes and sizes. And learning how to pack those items safely is an integral part of the shipping process. You should invest enough time and effort in packing your household goods to ease out the entire shipping process. We all know that improper packing is the main reason for breakage and damage. So here are some useful household goods packing tips for international shipping. With an array of experience, we recommend the following methods for shipping personal effects and household goods on the basis of the volume of your load size.

FCL- Full Container Load Shipping Service

If you have enough cargo to fill the container, FCL (Full Container Loads) is the best option for household goods shipping. Your goods will get a container of their own. We are expert in FCL shipping service and we provide you an affordable rate.

Details of the FCL shipping service:
Available Container Sizes for FCL:

  • 20′ Dry Cargo – 20’L x 8’W x 8’6″H approximate
  • 40′ Dry Cargo – 40’L x 8’W x 8’6″H approximate
  • 40′ Dry Cargo (HC) – 40’L x 8’W x 9’6.5″ approximate

How does it work?

  • Live Load: For live load, we drop off the container at your place. The driver will wait for you goods to be loaded. We provide you 2 hours free time for loading your belongings. If additional time is needed, it will be charged on the basis of an hourly rate. When the packing and loading is completed, the container will be sent to the shipping terminal.
  • Drop Off: If you have lots of cargo to load, we will drop off the container at your place of choice. We provide you 2 to 3 days’ time or until the weekend, to load and secure the goods in the container. When you’re done, we come back and take the full container to the shipping terminal. You can pack yourself or assign the packing responsibility to us, the choice is yours.
  • Warehouse/Terminal Loading: We also load goods from warehouses. You can deliver your goods to the closest warehouse from your home; we will receive it from there and take it to the shipping terminal.

LCL- Less than Container Load Shipping

If you don’t have enough volume for a full container, our LCL (Less than Container Load) service would be the best option for shipping personal effects. Your cargo is shipped in one of our own consolidated containers. Either you or we can pack the goods and we take them to export terminal for shipping. When packing the goods, don’t forget to label them and let us know the number of pieces you are shipping.

It is a smarter way of shipping worldwide. With just one call, we take care of everything from documents and transit arrangements to handling of your belongings. The cost of LCL shipping is based on the amount of cubic feet space that your goods occupy. When you have a shipment that consists of small items, your goods will be palletized, meaning everything will be secured with flat, clean, strong boxes, suitcases, trunks, and/or plastic bins. However, if you have big items or furniture to ship, then your furniture and big items must be crated.

Packing Tips for Shipping Household goods

When you want to pack your household goods, limit yourself to non-fragile items such as clothing, books, shoes, linens, replaceable items such as dishes, plates and small kitchen appliances. It will be easier to replace these items if damages than hiring professionals. For heavier items like mattresses, furniture, and other heavy appliances you can take the help of professionals. By handling most of the packing yourself, you can save a lot of money.

Quality Packing Supplies

No matter how well you pack, the safety of your household items will come down to the quality of your packing supplies. Use strong tapes and boxes that professional packers use, and make sure that your bubble wraps are in good condition. Low quality packing supplies could damage your items.

Preparing for Packing

Before you start packing you need to prepare the items properly, especially unusually shaped items. You need to wrap the goods well before putting it into the box. Try to line your boxes with a slight cushioning to minimize the chances of breakage or damage, in case someone drops the box during transportation. Take extra care to wrap each of the items carefully. You could use soft tissues and bubble wraps. Do not use newspaper to wrap your fragile item because they are not considered soft.

Use Appropriate Boxes

The boxes that you are going to use for packing your household goods are very important. Therefore, you should try to get the get the proper boxes with the right sizes and strengths. And in order to minimize the damages, make sure that you use suitable cartons for transporting your goods. Get enough wardrobe boxes for your fine clothing such as dresses or suits. And for your normal clothing you can use your suitcases or regular boxes.

Efficient Packing

Don’t try to fit everything into one box. When you are packing, make sure your boxes are neither too heavy, nor too light. If it is too heavy, it can break open and if it is too light, it can get crushed during transit as they get stacked. Use the smaller the boxes for heavier the items, and try to keep the weight under 50lbs. You should be able to lift the box easily. Remember! Never lift anything with your back use your knees.

When you are packing your items, it is important to distribute them according to their weight and size to make your unpacking easy. If you are using wardrobe box, you could save some space by packing your shoes at the bottom. But, be reasonable and don’t let the box become too heavy, otherwise your items will fallout from the bottom. Protect your fine china by using padded dish boxes with dividers. For non-fragile and replaceable items utilize the free boxes from the supermarkets and save some money.

Safe Packing

Try to use as few boxes as possible; for that you need to group items which tessellate well. It will be easy for you to pack books, but packing crockery could be difficult. To reduce the chances of breakage during transit, try to reduce the space between items within a box. Pack the glass objects and plates vertically, rather than stacking. Fill all the gaps between items and create a sturdy shape that will allow easy and safe stacking.

Label each box

Once you have packed all your household goods properly and safely, your job is not done until it reaches its destination safely and is unpacked. You need to ensure that unpacking is made as simple as possible upon arrival. Therefore, you need to label each box carefully. When labeling the box, make sure that everything is clear and is visible from different angles. Labeling properly will avoid confusion upon arrival and allow you or the receiver to unload the items in the right order.

Make sure you have a good plan

Packing your household items can be tiresome, complicated and even disastrous. However, with a little planning, packing can be a simple process. Efficient packing is one of the major elements in shipping household goods. Take the time to pack every item carefully. Take extra care when packing fragile items. Fill the empty spaces. If you organize your way of packing, it will definitely add to the shipping convenience.