Shipping Heavyweight & Oversized Items: 4 Challenges & Solutions | Worldnet International

Shipping large and heavy items isn’t a job for just any shipping carrier. There are nuanced challenges that come with shipping these items, and a premium logistics company is the only provider who has the solutions. In this post, we’ll review four common challenges and how you can overcome them by partnering with a premium logistics company.

Shipping oversized items like a couture gown, custom-made furniture, a surfboard, or expensive camera equipment is no small task. And when your job depends on getting everything to the destination on time – and in one piece – you can’t rely on the average logistics company to get the job done.

Partnering with a premium logistics company is truly the only option in this scenario. These experts specialize in getting oddly shaped, heavy, unwieldy shipments across the country (and the world) as quickly as possible and without damage.

Let’s review some common oversized shipment challenges and discuss how a premium logistics provider can solve them.

#1 – Oversized Packaging Difficulties

 No one wants fragile equipment or merchandise to arrive at a destination damaged.

That’s why packing requires skill and expertise. To get everything ready for transport, premium logistics providers ensure that:

The container is sturdy and durable enough to support the weight of what’s inside. You don’t want your contents to fall through the bottom of a package when being lifted. At the same time, if someone stacks heavy items on top of your package, you don’t want them to crush you’re the outer packaging, along with what’s inside of it.

Premium logistics experts know how to create customized packing solutions to ensure your shipment travels safely, lowering the risk of damage.

#2 – Humans Can’t Lift These Heavy Items

Some packages weigh hundreds of pounds. Humans could never lift them – which is why the specialized equipment that premium shipping providers use is so crucial.

Moving heavy items from point A to point B requires a whole universe of specialized materials and equipment, including:

Crates: These do more than protect your package contents. They can also be securely lifted on and off trucks, ships, trains, and planes, without damaging your merchandise.

Pallets: These portable platforms support the load of heavy-weight items. They’re constructed from wood, plastic, and metal and come in various sizes and styles. The best pallet for your shipment will depend on your package dimensions, weight, and destination.

Pallet Jacks: These industrial tools allow shipping providers to lift and move heavy pallets without breaking a sweat.

Large Trucks: It might go without saying, but a large shipment will require a truck with a lot of storage space.

Liftgate: This piece of hydraulic or electric equipment comes installed on the rear of a truck. The gate will raise shipments from the ground to the truck’s tailgate. From there, providers can use a pallet jack to maneuver a crate inside the truck.

So, what if you don’t own any of the above equipment? It’s not a problem when you hire a premium logistics company. These experts make sure that the equipment you need is available when you need it to ensure the pick-up or drop-off runs smoothly.

#3 – Complex Destinations

Solving destination challenges – like the absence of an elevator at a high-rise building, for example – requires time and planning. To increase success in these nuanced shipping situations, premium logistics providers schedule ahead of time. They work closely with you and your business and gather all relevant information about the item and its destination, so the right equipment is reserved for the pickup and drop-off.

Providing your premium logistics provider with the following information is key here:

• Clearly describe what you’re transporting. Send measurements of your shipment (in length x width x height) and photos of the item(s) and accurate descriptions of the product.
• Supply other important information that may affect the transport of your item. For example, if there’s no elevator at the destination, let the provider know.

#4 – Airline Scheduling

Getting heavyweight items loaded onto an aircraft requires a lot of planning.

You need to find the right size aircraft that has space for the item– and also departs at the time you need for the goods to arrive and be delivered on time.

That’s a lot—and it’s why premium logistics providers are the experts. These companies make decisions on the following factors:

• Unique regulations that vary from one airline to another. Take wardrobe boxes as an example. These are usually five feet tall and considered “oversize” for some airlines. Logistics experts are familiar with these regulations. They know how to get oversized shipments onto planes that will accept them.
• The size of any given aircraft. Bigger aircrafts are a better solution for oversize items and shipments Narrow-bodied aircrafts have limitations on weight and size of your shipments.
• The destination. This will affect the aircraft options available. Airlines tend to schedule smaller aircrafts for domestic flights and uncommon locations and larger aircrafts for popular international locations. If most domestic aircraft options are too small, premium logistics providers can solve the problem by shipping large items somewhere close to the destination and then driving them the rest of the way.

Ship with Peace of Mind

Shipping large or heavy items across the country or world doesn’t have to be an anxiety-inducing experience. With just a little information about the weight, dimensions, and product you are shipping, we’ll know exactly how to package it, the equipment we’ll need to move it, how much space is required, and the best airlines for getting it from point A to point B.

Worldnet specializes in shipping logistics for a reason: To take the stress off you. When you partner with a logistics company like ours, you can feel confident that your heavyweight will be packed carefully, transported safely, and shipped to your destination on time and without damage.

Need to ship an oversized or heavyweight item across the globe? Contact Worldnet today.