Providing Customers with Shipping Options

Posted on: 6 December 2021

A big cardboard pyramid or cone on top of boxes on a pallet should be a giant signal to not place anything on top of those boxes, especially if the cone has words like "Do Not Stack" on it. Still, in the confusion of a busy warehouse, especially when everyone is rushing to repair the supply chain, a cone that blends in with the background is at risk of being missed – and the boxes crushed. If you need to add do-not-stack pallet cones to pallets, try to make them as obvious as possible.

Try to Get a Bright Color

Please look for bright colors. While colors won't help everyone see the cone more easily, they will help it stand out for most people. A white cone with light-colored writing on it can blend in with a bunch of brown or grayish boxes covered in stretch plastic wrap, but a cone with a bright red border or a cone that's made from caution-tape yellow will stand out a lot more. Ensuring the cone is noticeable is a multi-stage effort, and using colors that stand out is your first step.

Should It Be Multilingual?

You can get cones where the do-not-stack message is just in English on all sides, in English on one side and another language on the others, in two or three languages on each side, and so on. This can be a very good idea, and really, a necessary one if you're shipping internationally. But you want to be sure the languages are suitable for the region you're shipping to. You might want English and Spanish for most of the U.S., for example, or English plus Spanish and Portuguese for something going to South America. But it makes no sense to send cones that have the message in Spanish and French on a pallet going to Japan or Thailand, for example.

Tape or Strap Down? Tape AND Strap Down

These cones come with flaps at the base that help the cone sit level on the pallet. You also use these flaps to secure the cone with either tape or straps. For the best security so that the cone doesn't topple over use tape and strap them down. If by some chance people in the warehouse still haven't seen the cone, they'll notice it quickly enough when they keep hitting it when they try to add something to the top of the stack. The tape and straps help stop the cone from being knocked over.

Chances are people will see the cone very quickly; experienced warehouse and shipping workers know these cones exist. But because your shipment might be handled partly by new workers, you need to make these cones as visible as possible to better ensure your shipment's safety.