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| Brainstorming the Boxes URGENT REQUEST |
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| TerraHertz:
So this is sort of 'thinking outside the box', about how to buy 500 heavy duty cardbaord boxes, in Sacramento USA, asap. Background: Late 2021 I ebay-bought several thousand service manuals, stacked in a storage unit near Sacramento USA. Info: http://everist.org/dm/ (needs updating) The unit, which is 10' by 15' is all full like that. The volume of the raw pile is about 2/3 the volume of a 20' shipping container. And I'm trying to get them to Sydney Australia. This is hard. Status: I have a shipping quote, currently valid till 22nd Jan. That's for providing a container onsite to be loaded, then transporting it to Sydney. _Loading_ it, that's my problem. Should be possible right, just find some boxes and a crew to pack the manuals in them, and stack in the container. Ha ha ha... Funny thing is, I thought buying suitable boxes would be relatively easy. For instance here's a company with a huge range of boxes: https://www.uline.com/BL_418/275-Lb-Test-Double-Wall-Boxes What does 'suitable' mean? This is a typical manual. Because of the volume, I need boxes that will pack the manuals efficiently (or they won't fit), AND strong enough to allow box stacking to the container ceiling. Five layers deep. Books are heavy! The container will go by truck and sea, and the boxes have to stand up to shipping motion. Plus I will keep the boxes for storage. So the cardboard should be the strong '3 layer' type, 1/4" thick. Most of the manuals have a height of 11.8". And they must be stacked mostly flat in the boxes. So one of the box base internal dimensions should be 12". Critical to achieving space efficiency. The other base dimension can be 15" to 22" internal. Allows for outlier large manuals, and some placed upright to fill spare space. 18" is optimal; it allows two stacks of a common smaller size manual. Also results in a good fit to the shipping container width. (2414mm. Fits 5 boxes, final gap = 64mm) 22" allows two stacks of typical large manuals. But also fits the container poorly (4 boxes, 128 mm gap) and is getting into 'heavy to lift' range. The box height should be in the range 18" to 20". The ideal is to get as many manuals in a box as possible without ending up with a box too heavy to lift, or crushing items at the bottom, while still fitting well in the internal height of a shipping container. (2698mm) There's often going to be a bit of empty space at the top inside each box (due to thick manuals), and bigger boxes minimize that percentage loss of total space. Often can pad with thinner manuals, but they won't always be to hand. Plus for heavy duty boxes the top and bottom flaps thickness is significant; 1/4" x 4, an inch. An internal box height of 20", with 1/4" walls, gives an external taped height of 21" (533.4mm.) shipping container internal H = 2698mm. Stacking boxes 5 deep leaves just 1.25" gap at the ceiling. Close! This gives desired box internal dimensions (same order as the ULine online table): Length Width Height 15" to 22" 12" 18" to 20" Pref 18" Pref 19.5". NO GREATER than 20". And this, btw, is much like a typical 'house moving box'. The base is a rectangle approx 1 to 1.5+ ratio, and the height is at least 18". Roughly how many boxes? A 20' container internal length is 5898mm. A 12" box internal width plus walls = 318mm. Fitting 18 rows of boxes. Times 5 per row = 90 boxes per layer. Times 5 layers = 450 boxes. Say 500 boxes, to allow spares, some used flat as gap fillers, and maybe some for manuals that don't fit in the container and have to be shipped separately. But sadly and mysteriously ULine have *nothing* like that. Anything in their stock list with something like the desired base dimensions will also have too small a height. So I'm asking the Net. Does anyone know of a supplier of boxes on the US west coast, with a stock of suitable solid cardboard boxes close to that size? Who could deliver to Roseville CA this week or early next? Apologies if I don't reply for a while. Bit busy atm. So far others have suggested: Home Depot, Lowes, and U-Haul. Grainger (Grainger Industrial) may have more selection than Uline... whether they have stock might be another issue. McMaster-Carr or Global Industrial. |
| thm_w:
I don't know if I would bother with double wall: https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-4898/Corrugated-Boxes-200-Test/18-x-12-x-18-Corrugated-Boxes But I guess if it is stacked high thats an issue, without using strong filler in the boxes. Standard moving boxes seem to be 18x18x16 or 18x18x24 https://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Standard-Sized-Moving-Boxes/Medium-Moving-Box/?id=2793 |
| edavid:
A simple solution is to use standard 16x12x12 book boxes and stack them 7 or 8 high (are you sure your container will be a high cube type?). If you fill the boxes completely, they won't crush. Obviously you should stand the binders on end to help with that. You can buy these boxes readily from local Lowe's stores, in 2 strengths: https://www.lowes.com/pd/16-in-W-x-12-in-H-x-12-in-D-moving-box-Classic-Small-Cardboard-Moving-Boxes-with-Handle-Holes/3265367 https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lowe-s-16-in-W-x-12-in-H-x-12-in-D-Moving-Box-Classic-Small-Heavy-Duty-Cardboard-Moving-Boxes/50285945 |
| TerraHertz:
--- Quote from: thm_w on January 11, 2022, 09:59:59 pm ---I don't know if I would bother with double wall: https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-4898/Corrugated-Boxes-200-Test/18-x-12-x-18-Corrugated-Boxes --- End quote --- That's pretty good. Thanks. I didn't look through their 'thin cardboard' lists due to rejecting 'thin'. But given my poor range of choices, that's worth considering. Also, low cost is good. "200 lb" vs "275 lb" for the touger cardboard. Not a huge difference. >But I guess if it is stacked high thats an issue, without using strong filler in the boxes. There's not going to be any filler but the books. Logistics of loading... Maybe I can live with some crushing of lower boxes. --- Quote ---Standard moving boxes seem to be 18x18x16 or 18x18x24 https://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Standard-Sized-Moving-Boxes/Medium-Moving-Box/?id=2793 --- End quote --- Yeah, but that "not 12" dimension really messes things up. I've packed a few boxes of big manuals before, and that side gap is a pain to futz around trying to find things to fit. So many manuals have to be placed upright in the gap, and big ring binders don't transport well like that. The rings tend to pop open. |
| TerraHertz:
--- Quote from: edavid on January 11, 2022, 10:42:45 pm ---A simple solution is to use standard 16x12x12 book boxes and stack them 7 or 8 high --- End quote --- Works badly, because so many manuals are 3"+ thick, so packing flat in a 12" high box wastes a lot of space. --- Quote ---(are you sure your container will be a high cube type?) --- End quote --- Well spotted. No, it won't be. That was my goof. But using 18" high thin-wall boxes still works for a standard 20' container, which is 2380mm high inside. Phew. --- Quote ---If you fill the boxes completely, they won't crush. --- End quote --- Ringbinders, often not tightly filled. Yeah, they'll crush given enough force. --- Quote ---Obviously you should stand the binders on end to help with that. --- End quote --- Then with trucking vibration etc, the rings pop open and chew the pages. Currently trying to lease a 2nd small storage unit near the main one, to hold 4 bales of box flats for a week. 5' by 10' should do. Cost not too bad. But being overseas I can't take the lease myself, so have to get a US friend to do it. Can't order the boxes delivered till the unit is in hand.... |
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