Failing to pack your pallet properly can be a costly business – if you wish to deliver an engine by pallet courier, you’ll need to take the necessary precautions. The main reason for damaged freight is a lack of careful, secured packaging. In fact, an engine that is not correctly palletised or prepared may even be refused collection – and with good reason, as it can potentially cause damage to the vehicle or other loads.
So it pays to make the extra investment at the initial stage, spend a little extra time, and so safely deliver your engine:
- Firstly, conduct full drainage of all the engine’s fluids. Expect the pallet courier driver to check for oil as this is can spill and damage other freight – so make sure that there is access for him or her to do this
- To further protect against possible fluid damage, dust sheets or an equivalent absorbent material should be used to cover the pallet
- Ideally the engine will be flat against the pallet surface, so if the engine’s shape means that this is not possible, it may require some extra containment to help safely fix it to the pallet
- The engine should be properly secured to the pallet with a ratchet strap or equivalent fixing, leaving a minimum of 4 inches (10cm) of pallet free around the engine on all sides
Unfortunately, accidents do occasionally occur in the transit of heavy goods and our only measure against this is to properly prepare and secure all articles to the best of our ability.
In a worst-case scenario, your engine could be damaged, but because of a failure to package the item correctly, the freight company exercises its legal right to deny a claim. So, irrespective of the short-term inconvenience, if you want a pallet courier to deliver your engine safely…. drain and restrain!