Garment trims have a counter-intuitive habit at sea: low in value, yet often the first part of the container to be damaged. Hang tags are paper, packaging bags are film, boxes and header cards hate compression and moisture, and metal fasteners and hooks have hard edges — one crush or one damp crossing can mean reworking a whole batch. So container loading is not just quoting a number of cubic metres: carton style, pallet, stacking height and moisture protection decide whether the trims are still usable on arrival.
This guide covers how to specify outer cartons and pallets, what limits the stacking height, how to estimate loading for the three common container types, what to watch when sharing a container with finished garments, the practical side of moisture and compression protection, and how responsibility is divided when goods arrive damaged. The last section lists the six items to hand over before loading.
1. Why Light Trims Suffer Heavy Damage
- Paper fears moisture: over a 25 to 35 day sea crossing in high humidity, hang tags, header cards and paper bags take on water, wrinkle and curl at the edges. Lamination and moisture-proof packing reduce the risk markedly.
- Film and bags are volume cargo: for the same weight they occupy several times the space of garments, so estimating container space by weight will be wrong. With trims, volume comes first.
- Hard and irregular pieces: metal fasteners, eyelets and plastic hooks punch through neighbouring cartons and need their own inner packing or a divider.
- Stacking load: a carton's edge crush strength falls noticeably as humidity rises, so the higher the stack, the more likely the bottom carton collapses — and trim cartons are usually thinner than garment cartons.
2. Outer Cartons: Grammage Is Not the Whole Story
- Carton style: a regular slotted container is the most economical; paper bags and gift-set parts suit a two-piece lid-and-base; flat hang tags do better in shallow cartons that limit movement and corner wear.
- Corrugated grade: single-wall is fine for short domestic lanes; export by sea is better on double-wall (AB or BC flute) or a high-performance single wall. The criterion is edge crush strength, not the number of walls itself.
- Size and void fill: leave only 3 to 5 mm of allowance; where the void is larger, add kraft paper or air pillows, or the carton walls bow inward under stacking.
- Print coverage: avoid large solid dark areas, which show water marks after absorbing moisture, and heavy coverage slightly weakens the board itself.
3. Pallets and Stacking: Crush First, Fit Second
| Pallet size | Common dimensions | Typical load per pallet | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Euro pallet | 1200 × 800 mm | About 0.4 to 0.6 m³ | Common to Europe; two fit side by side |
| Standard pallet | 1200 × 1000 mm | About 0.5 to 0.8 m³ | Common to Asia and South America |
| US pallet | 1219 × 1016 mm (48 × 40 in) | About 0.6 to 0.9 m³ | The North American receiving standard; not interchangeable |
| Square pallet | 1100 × 1100 mm | About 0.6 to 0.8 m³ | Common to Japan, Korea and some chemical lanes |
- Total height with pallet: sea freight is commonly held between 1.8 and 2.2 m; above 2.2 m some carriers restrict or surcharge. A 40HQ gives about 2.69 m of internal height, so leave handling clearance.
- Derive the stack from the bottom carton's ability to survive, not from space: light goods such as hang tags and paper bags usually stack five to eight high, but need corner boards and at least three wraps of film on the pallet.
- Heavy low, light high: put the heavy paper stock at the bottom of the pallet and film bags or irregular items on top, so hard edges cannot punch into the cartons below.
- Isolate the pallet: put film or a sheet between the pallet feet and the container floor so a wooden pallet does not take on moisture and pass it up into the cartons.
4. Estimating the Load: Volume First, Then Fill Rate
| Container | Internal volume (approx.) | Theoretical load | Practical load for trims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20GP | About 33 m³ | About 28 m³ | 22 to 26 m³ |
| 40GP | About 67 m³ | About 58 m³ | 45 to 52 m³ |
| 40HQ | About 76 m³ | About 68 m³ | 52 to 60 m³ |
- Loose loading usually beats palletised by 8 to 15 per cent, so prefer it on short lanes and where the customer's warehouse allows; palletise when the crossing is long or the customer shelves by pallet.
- Counting pallets is more intuitive: at 1200 × 1000 mm, a 20GP takes about 10 to 11 and a 40GP or 40HQ about 20 to 21; double stacking allows more, subject to crush limits.
- When quoting a container, give carton dimensions, gross weight per carton and total carton count together; a bare cubic-metre figure usually falls apart on loading day.
- Secure the load: dunnage, airbags and straps as needed, especially for loose trims, since sliding and toppling in transit are harder to claim than crush damage.
5. Sharing a Container with Finished Garments
- Loading order: garments and heavy goods go deep inside the container, light trims near the doors, so the trims come off first without digging through the whole load.
- Zone and separate: put a divider or dust bag between dark hang tags and printed matter on one side and light-coloured garments on the other, to avoid rub-off and paper dust.
- Against crushing: never stack garment cartons on top of palletised trims; if space forces it, put a full-size sheet between them to spread the load.
- Receiving rhythm: confirm with the garment factory that the trims arrive before the garments, so they do not sit outside or get shunted into a damp corner.
6. Moisture, Compression and Who Pays
- Size the desiccant by container volume: commonly 100 to 200 grams of calcium chloride or silica gel per cubic metre, increased in the rainy season or on crossings beyond 35 days.
- Container rain: day-to-night temperature swings make the roof condense and drip. A moisture barrier under the roof or hanging desiccant bags makes a visible difference to paper trims.
- Moisture-proof packing: wrap hang tags and paper bags in PE before they go into the carton and add moisture-resistant paper inside. Laminated products carry far less risk than unlaminated ones.
- The three claim documents: loading photos including the seal number, the packing list and a record of the securing work. Without photos, responsibility tends to fall back on the shipper even when the damage happened in transit.
- Inspect on arrival: sample by carton number, photograph any crush mark or damp patch immediately and notify the other side. Claims raised after the receiving window closes rarely stand.
7. Six Items to Provide Before Loading
- Item and specification: material, size, unit weight, and whether metal or hard edges are involved.
- Carton dimensions, units per carton and gross weight.
- Total quantity, planned shipping date and whether it falls in the rainy season.
- Whether pallets are needed, which size, and the receiving requirements at destination.
- Container type (20GP, 40GP or 40HQ) and whether it will be shared with garments.
- Destination, delivery term (FOB, CIF or DDP) and whether in-container securing and desiccant are required.
💡 Tip: the step most often skipped and most often regretted before loading is taking one photo: how the cartons are stacked, how the load is secured, what the seal number is. That photo saves an argument when the container arrives. Two sentences to remember: light goods can still be crushed, and heavy goods can still be ruined by moisture.
Related Articles
- Trims FAQ: all articles
- Trims Freight Modes: Sea, Air, Express and Consolidated Containers
- Shipping Mark Guide: Marks, Barcodes and Carton Labelling
- Moisture-Proof Garment Packaging: Desiccants, Barrier Bags and Mould Prevention
- Garment Packaging Guide: From Inner Pack to Master Carton
Sending trims in a full container or consolidated with garments, and unsure how to stack or whether to palletise? Send the specification, carton sizes, total quantity and destination — we will return a loading proposal covering carton style, pallets, stacking and moisture protection, with photos before departure.
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