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Back to news... 31 July 2013 Parcel Packaging Under Scrutiny Again
The parcel delivery companies have a difficult balance to keep when considering packaging and there are thoughts that the present system has gone a little over the top. A good packaging regime is essential in order to protect the parcel and to make sure it's safe during the journey to its eventual destination - but modern techniques do use a lot of packaging and it is now considered to be too much at times with excessive bubble wrap and polystyrene bits sometimes at a level which is beyond reasonable. There is also a lot of security packaging which is very difficult to get into, introduced to prevent any unwanted tampering with the parcel.
The pressure is coming from the lobby, which is trying to cut down the Carbon footprint of the courier business as excessive packaging means that each parcel takes up extra room in the delivery wagon and each extra wagon that has to be used raises the Carbon footprint substantially.
Finding The Right Balance
The aim must be to get the balance right (And the couriers are trying to be environmentally friendly), if the parcel is incorrectly packaged, it's likely to take damage in transit. This will be simply due to the fact that the parcel needs to withstand potentially hundreds of miles in the back of a van, a plane, and so on. It's not an easy journey, hence why proper packaging is essential. However, an excessively wrapped parcel will take up far more space than it should do and besides the Carbon problems it will also cost more to send the parcel.
There is a standard costing system in the parcel delivery trade in which the parcel is charged either by weight or on its metric volume, whichever figure is the greatest. In excessive packaging, the metric volume will take over the costing system and give the sender a higher bill. This in turn can raise a separate issue, where customers may deliberately pack their parcel to as small a space as possible in order to reduce overall delivery cost.
One of the problems is that the good worldwide parcel firms have pushed the senders to make their parcels are secure and this has driven the market to the excessive levels which abound today, that it is a little difficult to get them now to be a more responsible with their packaging. The ideal thing is for the sender to consider just what is being sent and carry out the packaging to the correct level and if in doubt take advice. Much of the repeat business is well worth taking advice on and it is always worth asking the parcel delivery service for their advice if there is a doubt.
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