Shipping server equipment is a process. A lot of mistakes can happen, and this can affect safety, sped, and of course costs. The damage claims have not only caused issues with the cost of things but also have indirect costs since it can jeopardize the shipments. In order to prevent this, here we’ll talk about the top five mistakes. Some of them do relate to the company at hand, while others relate to a more DIY approach.
First, don’t make the mistake that you hire a different company to handle the equipment. Outsourcing is really not the best thing, since it can put your equipment at risk. This is especially important if the equipment isn’t packed yet. Would you really trust one of the riskiest processes to a company you’re not even in direct contact with?
Don’t settle for the blanket mover either. For starters, you’re pro ably lowballing the real cost of it. That can mean they won’t take care of it and are more liable to damage it. This is very common, so you should make sure that these also have the full value insurance as needed.
With this, please make sure that you don’t’ just use pallets for this. you should use minimally double wall cardboard, if not ideally wooden crates. This is really good to prevent anything from being broken.
Also, never pack with Styrofoam foams. They don’t provide enough shock and vibration protection that’s needed with server equipment, but they also flake very well, and that can cause serious harm to the equipment, and potentially render it useless. Make sure that they are using polyethylene foam, since this is a shock absorber, and it protects the equipment from the rigors of the travel from one location to another.
Finally, know the limitations of the original equipment manufacturer packing. This is usually basic, and there are handoffs which happen, since it’s generally cheaper for them to pack about .1% of the items due to damage than it would be to overpack 100% of the shipments in an effort to achieve the near-zero damage rate. In the rough freight world, better protection is necessary. Before shipping out the equipment, you need to get a description of the different packaging methods to be used by the vendor or the staff as well. This is critical when looking at quotes from different venders. Make sure that you’re comparing the type of shipment and not just the prices either. You should especially be careful if you’re shipping small, fragile equipment via a ground service that has the roughest environment for handling. Items that are stocked, tossed to belts that sort it, and allow it to fall to various bins can affect the orientation, and it is incredibly important that you prevent this from happening.
Shipping does come with risks, but understanding the risks is very important for the success of the freight equipment.