Measurement and analysis of shocks to products packaged in pails in single parcel ground shipments

The objective of this study was to measure and analyse the shocks and impacts experienced by pails in the single parcel distribution environment, with and without a secondary corrugated shipper. The study was conducted in the FedEx Ground shipping environment in the USA. Instrumented 5 gal pails were shipped with and without an outer corrugated box, and with and without handling (precautionary warning) labels, from East Lansing, Michigan to destinations in California and New York. Data recorders were used to collect and analyse shock distribution data (drop heights, drop orientations and number of drops). The results showed that the precautionary labels had no effect in improving the handling or reducing the drop height levels for both corrugated boxes and pails in this environment. Pails without boxes experienced 10 drops per one‐way trip with an average drop height of 0.23 m (9 in). Pails with boxes experienced 18 drops per one‐way trip with a higher average drop height of 0.30 m (12 in), which amounted to 80% more drops at a 25% higher drop height level than pails without boxes. Impact orientations of pails without boxes showed that 60% of the drops occurred on the sides, and 40% on the bottom. Pails shipped in corrugated boxes showed 22% of the drops occurred on the bottoms, 34% on the side faces, 28% on edges and remaining 16% on the corners. The data collected was analysed to develop pre‐shipment package performance tests that can be conducted in a lab environment. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.