Cold Weather Shipping Preparation for Your Packaging and Supplies

Cold weather damage rarely gets blamed on the cold. When a box arrives crushed or a seal has peeled open, it's common that a claim gets filed as rough handling. However, in many cases, the temperature on the truck was the actual issue. 

The cold changes how tape, corrugated boxes, and stretch film behave. Your products face the same cold once they are loaded on a truck.  

This article explains how cold weather affects your packing materials, how to protect products in transit, and how to store supplies throughout the season. 

3 Ways Winter Threatens Your Shipping Operation 

Cold weather causes trouble in three parts of your operation: 

1. The materials you pack with. Tape stops sticking and corrugated turns brittle in the cold.
   
   
2. The products you send into transit. Water forms inside sealed boxes and temperature-sensitive items freeze on unheated trucks.
   
   
3. The supplies waiting in storage. Tape and board lose condition before anyone packs with them. 

How Cold Temperatures Affect Tape and Adhesion 

Packing tape works because the adhesive is soft enough to flow into the surface of the box. Cold temperatures stiffen that adhesive, so the bond never fully forms, and the seal starts out weaker than it looks. 

The problem gets worse when the box has been sitting in the cold. Tape applied in an unheated room can hold fine at the packing station and then lift or peel hours later once the package is moving. 

Two changes fix most tape failures. Cold-rated tape uses an adhesive built to bond at low temperatures, and letting boxes warm up before you seal them improves the bond even with the tape you already stock. 

Cold Weakens Boxes and Packing Materials 

Corrugated board turns brittle as the temperature drops. A box that absorbed a drop in July can crack or split in February, because cold fiber has less give. 

Moisture does slower damage. Cold air is usually dry, but moving boxes between a freezing dock and a heated warehouse pulls water in and out of the board, and repeated swings leave it soft.

Stretch film has its own weak point in the cold, losing cling and stretch until pallet loads work themselves loose. A material that performs fine in summer can become the weakest part of a winter shipment. 

Keep Condensation Away from Moisture-Sensitive Shipments 

Condensation forms whenever a cold package reaches warm air. A box that spends the night on an unheated trailer will collect water on the inside once it sits in a heated house. 

Electronics, paper goods, textiles, and anything that stains or warps when damp can be ruined without a mark on the outside of the box. 

A moisture barrier keeps the water off the product. Poly bags and liners block it; desiccant packets absorb what gets through, and sealing the item before it goes in the box protects it through the whole trip. 

Which Shipments Need Insulated Packaging 

Insulated packaging costs more than standard materials, so it belongs on some shipments and not others. You need it when: 

• The product fails below a set temperature. Liquids freeze and split their containers, cosmetics separate, and electronics and adhesives stop working.
  
  
• The shipment sits on an unheated trailer or dock overnight. Hours in freezing air do more damage than the cold at either end of the trip.
  
  
• Transit runs more than a day or two in winter. Longer routes give the cold more time to reach the product.
  
  
• The product is worth more than the packaging. One replacement usually costs more than insulating the whole order. 
  
  

Insulated liners and panels slow how fast the inside of the box changes temperature, and heat packs extend that protection on the longest routes.

How to Store Packaging Supplies in Unheated Spaces 

Supplies stored cold will not perform when you need them. Here is how to store each material through winter: 

• Keep tape in the warmest space you have. Rolls lose tack in freezing air, so let them reach room temperature before use.
  
  
• Store boxes off the floor and away from doors. Concrete and dock openings are where cold and moisture concentrate.
  
  
• Keep corrugated boxes covered. Humidity swings weaken the board before it is ever packed.
  
  
• Rotate winter stock first in, first out. No pallet should sit through three months of cold before it ships. 
  
  

Get Winter-Ready with AM Shipping Supplies 

At AM Shipping Supplies, we carry cold-rated tape, insulated liners and panels, moisture barriers, and corrugated boxes that hold up in winter conditions. We help you sort out which changes your operation actually needs, whether that means a different tape formula or insulation for temperature-sensitive products. 

Steady supply through the cold months keeps your shipments on schedule and your damage claims down. 

Ready to winterize your shipping operation? Contact us at info@amshippingsupplies.com to find the cold-weather materials that fit your products. 

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