Damage In Transit

Damage in transit is rarely a mystery. Products arrive cracked, bent, scuffed, or misaligned, not because people were careless, but because the packaging system was never properly engineered for movement. Packaging gets blamed. Carriers get blamed. In reality, the failure usually lies upstream in how products are handled, spaced, and stabilized once they leave the line.

The Challenge

Across manufacturing and distribution environments, the same patterns repeat: 

• Products shift or collide inside cartons, totes, or racks 
• Hardware holds statically but fails under vibration or shock 
• Packaging is overbuilt to compensate for weak internal restraint
• Damage appears downstream—at the DC, retailer, or customer site

The longer the transit path, the more these weaknesses compound. What survives the first shipment often fails on the second or third.

Why Packaging Components Get Misapplied in Transit

Transit failures rarely come from weak hardware. They come from hardware selected without regard for motion.

Many components—standard or custom—perform exactly as designed. The problem emerges when they’re chosen as if transit were static. Vibration, shock, changing load directions, and tolerance interaction introduce forces that storage conditions never see. When those forces aren’t accounted for, movement goes unmanaged.

Non-specialist suppliers treat hardware as interchangeable. Allen Field treats it as load-bearing infrastructure. When motion isn’t controlled internally, packaging is forced to compensate—and it usually can’t.

This is not a packaging problem. It’s a load-control problem.

What Changes When Components Are  Designed for Movement

When packaging components are designed around transit conditions instead of shelf conditions:

• Products are secured at the source, not buffered later
• Load paths are controlled instead of being absorbed randomly
• Packaging complexity can be reduced without increasing risk
• Damage prevention becomes systemic, not reactive

The goal is not “stronger packaging.” It’s a predictable behavior under motion.

Products That Solve This

Clips & Connectors

• Box connecting clips
• Panel locks
• Stabilizers
• Reinforcement clips
• Reclose inspection clips (for repeated access without damage)

Carrying Solutions

• Handles that reduce strain on packaging walls

Custom Options

• Reinforcement designs for weak corrugated areas
• Anti-load-shift custom components

Case Studies

Replaced Styrofoam to Save Labor, Space, and Increase Yields Per Truckload by 60%
Allen Field replaced bulky foam packaging with a hardware-based restraint system that stabilized the product during transit while improving truck density.

Using Box Connecting Clips to Enhance Packaging Integrity
Custom connecting clips prevented cartons from opening and shifting during repeated handling across the supply chain.

Use the Plastic Display Kit to Avoid Packaging Damages
A reinforced hardware kit protected heavy, sharp products from damage during transport and retail handling.