Sheet 04 · at the bench

How a parcel is packed

A box is chosen for the line, not for the shelf it came off. This sheet covers the outers held at the bench, what goes in the gap, what gets double-boxed, and the volumetric arithmetic a carrier applies to the finished parcel.

Outers

Choosing the box at the bench

The rule at the bench is the smallest outer that still leaves a fill gap on every face. A line rattling in a large box is a damage claim waiting to be raised; a line pressed hard against a wall is a crushed corner.

Satchel: Soft, flat, non-crushable lines only. Nothing with a corner that can be bent goes in one.
Single wall: Light lines with their own rigid retail carton. The outer protects the carton; the carton protects the line.
Double wall: Heavier lines, anything with a point load, and any parcel built from several lines of different weights.
Double boxed: Glass, ceramics and liquids: an inner box, fill, then an outer box with fill again, so no fragile face touches an outer wall.
Multi-parcel: Where one box would be too heavy to lift safely, the order is split and each parcel carries its own consignment and its own packing note.

The gap

Void fill, corners and tape

Void fill is kraft paper, crumpled at the bench rather than laid flat, because a flat sheet carries no load. Corners take a folded pad: a corner is where a dropped parcel lands and it is the part of a box that transmits an impact straight into the line.

Loose fill is not used. It migrates in transit, so a line that started in the middle of the box finishes against a wall, and it empties across the floor at the far end when the box is opened.

Tape goes on in an H across the centre seam and both edge seams, top and bottom. The label sits on the largest flat face, clear of seams and clear of tape, because a scanner reads a flat label and a crease can cost a sort.

Sheet that calculates

Volumetric against the scale

Divisor comes off the carrier rate sheet, not from here.

A carrier charges a parcel on the greater of two figures: what it weighs, and the space it occupies. The second is worked out from the outer measurements and a divisor the carrier publishes. Type the outer, the divisor and the weight on the scale, and each step prints below.

Length, cm Width, cm Height, cm Carrier divisor

Weight on the scale, kg Gross: the line, the box and the fill together.

Outer measured on the bench, longest face first.

40 × 30 × 25 = 30000 cubic cm

Divided by the divisor on the carrier rate sheet.

30000 ÷ 5000 = 6.00 kg volumetric

Gross weight of the sealed parcel on the bench scale.

4.20 kg actual

The volumetric figure is larger: the box holds more space than weight.

6.00 > 4.20 kg

Difference between the two figures.

1.80 kg

A carrier rates the consignment on the greater figure.

Charged on 6.00 kg (volumetric)

A guide worked from the five figures above. Divisors differ between carriers and between services, so take yours from the rate sheet you are working to. Nothing here is a rate or a quotation.

The arithmetic is also the reason the bench reaches for the smaller box. Dropping one dimension by a few centimetres can move a parcel back onto its scale weight, and that is a packing decision rather than a sales one.

Paper in the box

The packing note

Every parcel carries a note listing the lines and quantities packed into that parcel, the order number, your own reference if one was given, and the initials of whoever packed it. On a multi-parcel order each note covers only its own box, so a count can be made per box rather than across the floor.

The note is the document a shortage claim is checked against, which is why it is worth keeping until the order is complete. Sheet 09 sets out how that check is done.