How a pallet is built

Nothing is tipped into a box. Each consignment is loaded by hand, case by case, in an order decided by what is in it: dense and rigid at the base, fragile wrapped and carried on top, nothing bearing a load it was not built to bear.

Small items go into boxes before they go onto a pallet. Loose pieces are what get lost at a transhipment, and a boxed piece has an entry on the packing list.

The build, step by step

Sort by bearing. Position by weight and rigidity, heaviest and squarest at the base.
Wrap the fragile. Cushioned, then carried at the top of the stack where nothing sits on it.
Strap. Banding across and around, so the stack behaves as one object under a forklift.
Corner-bind. Corrugated board on edges and corners where the load justifies it.
Shrink-wrap, opaque. Black film does two jobs. It keeps the weather off, and it stops anyone reading the load from across a yard.
Palletise. On the pallet the consignment can be forked, stacked and manifested as a single unit.

Opaque wrap is a security measure, not a finish. A consignment nobody can identify from the outside is a consignment nobody selects.

Bullion consignments

Metal is packed to a separate standard: pieces individually identified against the schedule, seals numbered and recorded, and the outer packaging carrying no indication of what is inside. The schedule travels with the consignment and a copy goes on the file.