Palletized Freight materials and tools

Owned by Joey Houy (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Apr 12, 2023Version comment

When Exxact issues a System RMA, Exxact will encourage and aggressively push for your shipment to be shipped back via Palletized Freight.

Below is an example of a complete Freight Shipment, complete with an appropritely sized box that is securely strapped to the pallet.

Exxact ships workstations, servers, and clusters to a wide variety of businesses and individuals. Some recipients may have a dedicated shipping and receiving staff and area, while some may have never used a pallet for shipping before. If you do not have any resource at your site to assist you with Palletized Freight Shipment, then hopefully this article may provide some useful information to ensure the safest shipping for your System to Exxact.

What is Palletized Freight?

Palletized Freight from our standpoint is shipping your system strapped/secured on a pallet. Packages that are not palletized are expected to be tossed around or mishandled like any other that go through any distribution center staff and conveyer belts.

What you will need:

  1. A box, to safely package your system
  2. A pallet
  3. Strapping/fastener tool(s), which can be either (but prefer to use both):
    • Pallet Strap
    • Shrink Wrap
  4. Dimensions and Weight

System Box

You can generally use any box to package a system, with the obvious requirement that the box is larger than the system. That said, our systems are rather large, and not many customers keep their very large original system box around (although it is highly encouraged and stated in your System Info Fliers that is included in your initial shipment contents).

Pallet

The Pallet used must be larger in Width and Length than the System Box. Failure to meet this pallet condition will result in Freight pick-up rejection from the Freight pick-up driver (rescheduling a pick-up date will result in additional costs).

  (Wooden and Plastic pallet)

If you need to acquire a Pallet

Ask your shipping/receiving department/area for obtaining a pallet, or to assist with the freight shipping process overall. If you do not have access to these resources, then you may need to purchase a pallet.

If you need to purchase a Pallet (locally)

Pallets come in many materials and costs ($30-$150). Here are some options:

  1. Quick search online for anyone local to you that can sell INDIVIDUAL pallets; most searches may result in bulk-sales
  2. Call or inquire with local hardware stores

Notes:

  • Material doesn't matter too much, a pallet is needed to meet minimal requirement for scheduling Palletized Freight pick-up/shipment services. What mainly matters is how safely the box is strapped to the pallet to prevent any unnecessary movements or shifting to the system and the components installed within during shipment.

Straps and Fasteners

Exxact does not sell straps, shrink wrap, or any sort of fastener tools.

Below is an example of a disposable Pallet Strapping method used for a majority of our Palletized Freight Shipments. We use cardboard corner guards and 'do-not-stack' stickers/deterrents to keep the box in perfect condition even when securely strap the box tightly to the pallet.

Highly recomended tools and methods:

These materials and tools can be obtained online or at your local hardware store.

  • Shrink Wrap (~$20 for a single roll)
  • Pallet Strap Kit (~$200)

Alternatives:

  • Rachet tie-down straps (~$20-$50)

    Strap may loosen during shipment

Dimensions and Weight

Dimensions

Dimensions is Length x Width x Height" of entire shipment including box AND pallet

 Example dimensions and weight shipping an empty box on a pallet

Dimensions: 46” x 35” x 23”

Weight: 52 lbs.

Weight

If you do not have access to a floor/industrial weight scale, then you will need to estimate the total pallet weight. Wildly incorrect weight will result in costs for the shipping company to re-weigh or skip freight pick-up.

Note (some items and measurements for reference):

  • 4U form factor boxes (~37 x 28 x 13" - ~20lbs)
  • 4U form factor system (empty) (~80-100lbs)
    • Each 3.5" Hard Disk Drive (HDD) installed adds ~1.5-2.0 lbs/ea
    • Each 2.5" Hard Disk Drive (HDD) ~0.3 lbs/ea
    • Each 2.5" Solid State Drive (SDD) ~0.1-0.2 lbs/ea
    • Each Graphics Card ~3-5 lbs/ea
  • Wooden pallet (45 x 32 x 6" - ~25 lbs)
    • Not all pallets are made the same, different material and sizes will result in different weight (i.e. plastic, metal, cardboard)


 Services no longer offered.

If you need a System Box

The box dimesions is roughly ~37 x 28 x 13" - ~20lbs. Exxact may provide fitted foam protection depending on availibility (we want the best protection for the system as well); large quantities of air pillow/bubbles may be sent to you if no fitted foam is available at the time.

The box used for your initial shipment is typically the chassis manufacturer's box. Exxact does not produce these boxes. If you absolutely need a box from Exxact, one may be quoted and sold to you at a cost depending on availibility (~$100-$150 + shipping). You may request this on your Support or RMA ticket, but it may take multiple days for an Exxact representative to provide you a quote process payment to start this process.

Exxact does not provide pallets alone. Pallets are provided to us from a local wholeseller and are ONLY for outgoing system shipments (e.g. newly built systems, or returning System RMA's). Exxact is not allowed to ship ONLY pallets.

If you absolutely need a pallet, then you can request a quote for BOTH a Box and Pallet from Exxact at a cost (~$400-$800 Domestic-US; Pallet, Box, Freight Shipping depending on location). Costs are significantly higher, and only on case-by-case approval (due to different country laws/standards/procedures), for international.

Availibility for pallets and large system boxes is not guarenteed, we may deny this request at our discretion.