Effect of Packaged Product Size, Weight and Shipping Location on Mean Drop Heights in the Small Parcel Shipping Environment

Abstract

This project evaluated the effects of package weight and size on the equivalent free fall drop height of instrumented packaged products traveling through the small parcel supply chain. To evaluate the relationship between package weight and drop height, the package size was kept constant and the weight of the overall system was varied. To evaluate the relationship between package size and drop height, the package weight remained constant and changes were made to the dimensional size of the container. A total of 13 round trip shipments were performed where the instrumented packages were shipped via small parcel Ground transport. Results from the study showed package dimensional size does have an affect the average drop height of a packaged product (P 0.05). The results from this study indicate current package test standards should incorporate package dimensional size as a factor when determining the test drop height for a packaged product.