Dunnage

Last updated January 30, 2024

Dunnage is inexpensive or waste material used to load and secure cargo during transportation; more loosely, it refers to miscellaneous baggage, brought along during travel. The term can also refer to low-priority cargo used to fill out transport capacity which would otherwise ship underweight.

In the context of shipping manufactured goods, dunnage refers to the packing material used as protective fill inside the carton, box or other type container used to prevent the merchandise from being damaged during shipment. These materials include bubble wrap; wadded, crumpled or shredded paper; styrofoam; inflated air packs; and other materials.^[1]

International laws

When unloading a ship, sometimes there is a problem with what to do with the dunnage. Sometimes the dunnage cannot be landed because of customs duties on imported timber, or quarantine rules to avoid foreign insect pests getting offshore, and as a result often the unwanted dunnage is later furtively jettisoned overside and adds to the area's driftwood problem. According to U.S. and International Law (MARPOL 73/78) it is illegal for ships to dump dunnage within 25 nautical miles (46 km) of the shore. Currently, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), an international regulatory agency, mandates its 134 signatory countries to comply with the ISPM 15, which requires all dunnage to be heat-treated or fumigated with pesticides and marked with an accredited seal. There are several instances in which foreign insects have entered by land and caused devastation to the ecosystem, even ruining crops.^{[ citation needed ]}

Construction

In construction, dunnage is often scrap wood or disposable manufactured material whose purpose is to be placed on the ground to raise construction materials to allow access for forklifts and slings for hoisting, and to protect them from the elements.

Dunnage can also refer to a structural platform for mechanical equipment. Typically, these are open steel structures located on the roof of a building, consisting of steel beams supported on posts or bearing walls. They are used to raise equipment off the roof for various reasons, including maintenance access to both the roof surface and equipment itself, or to provide clearance to keep equipment out of any snow or rain that may collect on the roof. In this use, the dunnage is typically a permanent part of the building structure for the life of the equipment being supported.^[2]

Dunnage bags

Dunnage bags are air-filled pouches that can be used to stabilize, secure and protect cargo during transportation. Dunnage bags are placed in the voids between the cargo items. Dunnage bags can be used in all modes of transportation; road, railway, ocean or air.^{[ citation needed ]}

Dunnage bags can be used to protect and secure parts, but also as a cushion. It is more widely used in the automotive, aerospace, electronics industry, etc.^[3]

Originally rubber bags were used to brace pallets inside trucks. They evolved into kraft paper bags with a plastic-bag interior. As metal strapping has become less popular, many companies now use polyethylene- or vinyl-based bags because of their low cost. It is important to match the size of the bag to the void.^{[ citation needed ]}

Starting in the 1950s, several US railroad freight carriers began rostering boxcars equipped with load-securing devices to prevent shifting during transit. These cars were usually labeled "Damage Free" or simply "DF". The interior equipment helped to eliminate the need for customer-supplied dunnage.^{[ citation needed ]}

In the 21st century, Amazon began air-filling dunnage bags on site during packing in order to minimize environmental impact, shipping weight, and cost of packing materials.^{[ citation needed ]}

Ships

Dunnage for securing cargo in holds of ships has evolved from wooden boards forming "cribs" to modern mechanical, spring-loaded post-and-socket systems, exemplified by the "pogo sticks" used on US Navy Combat Logistics Force (CLF) ships which provide underway replenishment of stores, spares, repair parts, ammunition, ordnance, and liquids in cans and drums. Dunnage segregates cargo in the hold and prevents shifting of the cargo in response to ship motions.

Shipbuilding

During the shipbuilding process, dunnage is commonly used to describe items such as welding machines, hoses, ladders, and scaffolding which are not part of the ship and will not remain aboard after it is completed.^{[ citation needed ]}

Miscellaneous uses of term

Outfitters and mule packers use the term dunnage when they transport freight, such as camping gear and food supplies, but do not carry passengers. In fishing net products "dunnage" may refer to a reinforcement of the edges of the net. It has historically been widely used in the United Kingdom for a sailor's personal belongings, as in, "Stow your dunnage and report to the First Mate". Many manufacturing facilities use the term dunnage to refer to the containers and packaging used for their finished goods. This can be anything from wood boxes or steel bins to wire baskets and plastic trays. Commonly this packaging is designed specifically to hold the product being manufactured and is proprietary to that manufacturing facilities requirements. On some vessels, it is used as a euphemism for human waste.

Related Research Articles

Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers. Containerization, also referred as container stuffing or container loading, is the process of unitization of cargoes in exports. Containerization is the predominant form of unitization of export cargoes, as opposed to other systems such as the barge system or palletization. The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container ships, rail transport flatcars, and semi-trailer trucks—without being opened. The handling system is mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes and special forklift trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.

An intermodal container, often called a shipping container or ISO Container, is a large standardized container designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – such as from ships to trains to trucks – without unloading and reloading their cargo. Intermodal containers are primarily used to store and transport materials and products efficiently and securely in the global containerized intermodal freight transport system, but smaller numbers are in regional use as well. These containers are known under a number of names. Based on size alone, up to 95% of intermodal containers comply with ISO standards, and can officially be called ISO containers. Many other names are simply: container, cargo or freight container, shipping, sea or ocean container, container van or sea van, sea can or C can, or MILVAN, SEAVAN, or RO/RO. The also used term CONEX (Box) is a technically incorrect carry-over usage of the name of an important predecessor of the international ISO containers, namely the much smaller prior steel CONEX boxes used by the U.S. Army.

Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation, without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damage and loss, and allows freight to be transported faster. Reduced costs over road trucking is the key benefit for inter-continental use. This may be offset by reduced timings for road transport over shorter distances.

In transportation, freight refers to goods conveyed by land, water or air, while cargo refers specifically to freight when conveyed via water or air. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in case of goods in the cold-chain, because the perishable inventory is always in transit towards a final end-use, even when it is held in cold storage or other similar climate-controlled facilities, including warehouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerrycan</span> Robust pressed steel liquid container

A jerrycan or jerrican is a fuel container made from pressed steel. It was designed in Germany in the 1930s for military use to hold 20 litres of fuel, and saw widespread use by both Germany and the Allies during the Second World War.

Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells. In many countries it is fully integrated into government, business, institutional, industrial, and for personal use.

A drum is a cylindrical shipping container used for shipping bulk cargo. Drums can be made of steel, dense paperboard, or plastic, and are generally used for the transportation and storage of liquids and powders. Drums are often stackable, and have dimensions designed for efficient warehouse and logistics use. This type of packaging is frequently certified for transporting dangerous goods. Proper shipment requires the drum to comply with all applicable regulations.

A pallet is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a front loader, a jacking device, or an erect crane. Many pallets can handle a load of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). While most pallets are wooden, pallets can also be made of plastic, metal, paper, and recycled materials.

Intermediate bulk containers are industrial-grade containers engineered for the mass handling, transport, and storage of liquids, semi-solids, pastes, or solids. The two main categories of IBC tanks are flexible IBCs and rigid IBCs. Many IBCs are reused or repurposed.

Package cushioning is used to protect items during shipment. Vibration and impact shock during shipment and loading/unloading are controlled by cushioning to reduce the chance of product damage.

A Salvage Drum is an outer container used for shipping a leaking, damaged or non-compliant drum containing hazardous materials.

A flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC), jumbo, bulk bag, super sack, big bag, or tonne bag is an industrial container made of flexible fabric that is designed for storing and transporting dry, flowable products, such as sand, fertilizer, and granules of plastic.

The term unit load refers to the size of an assemblage into which a number of individual items are combined for ease of storage and handling, for example a pallet load represents a unit load which can be moved easily with a pallet jack or forklift truck, or a container load represents a unit for shipping purposes. A unit load can be packed tightly into a warehouse rack, intermodal container, truck or boxcars, yet can be easily broken apart at a distribution point, usually a distribution center, wholesaler, or retail store for sale to consumers or for use.

In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, is goods that are stowed on board ship in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading that list them by different commodities. This is in contrast to cargo stowed in modern intermodal containers as well as bulk cargo, which goes directly, unpackaged and in large quantities, into a ship's hold(s), measured by volume or weight.

The UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods are contained in the UN Model Regulations prepared by the Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). They cover the transport of dangerous goods by all modes of transport except by bulk tanker. They are not obligatory or legally binding on individual countries, but have gained a wide degree of international acceptance: they form the basis of several international agreements and many national laws.

An inflatable air cushion is a bag of fabric or plastic that can be inflated to provide cushioning. Unlike bubble wrap, inflatable air cushions have a check valve to allow the cushion to be inflated or sometimes deflated.

A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of international shipping trade, "container" or "shipping container" is virtually synonymous with "intermodal freight container", a container designed to be moved from one mode of transport to another without unloading and reloading.

Dunnage bags, also known as airbags, and inflatable bags, are used to secure and stabilize cargo.

Load securing, also known as cargo securing, is the securing of cargo for transportation. According to the European Commission Transportation Department “it has been estimated that up to 25% of accidents involving trucks can be attributable to inadequate cargo securing”. Cargo that is improperly secured can cause severe accidents and lead to the loss of cargo, lives, and vehicles, or cause environmental hazards.

Packaging waste, the part of the waste that consists of packaging and packaging material, is a major part of the total global waste, and the major part of the packaging waste consists of single-use plastic food packaging, a hallmark of throwaway culture. Notable examples for which the need for regulation was recognized early, are "containers of liquids for human consumption", i.e. plastic bottles and the like. In Europe, the Germans top the list of packaging waste producers with more than 220 kilos of packaging per capita.

References

↑ Kiesling, Thomas (July 2008). "Packaged Goods: The Ins and Outs of Packaging". Multichannel Merchant. Penton Media. 4 (7): 40–41. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
↑ "Mechanical dunnage: not as simple as it seems". Civil + Structural Engineer magazine. February 19, 2014. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
↑ "What Is Dunnage?". Semi Trailers Manufacturer, Semi Trucks for Sale - Three Horses Trailer. 10 March 2023.

External links

Dunnage

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[1] Kiesling, Thomas (July 2008). "Packaged Goods: The Ins and Outs of Packaging". Multichannel Merchant. Penton Media. 4 (7): 40–41. Retrieved 24 June 2020.

[2] "Mechanical dunnage: not as simple as it seems". Civil + Structural Engineer magazine. February 19, 2014. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.

[3] "What Is Dunnage?". Semi Trailers Manufacturer, Semi Trucks for Sale - Three Horses Trailer. 10 March 2023.

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