Load Containment: A Shipper’s Guide to Stopping Freight Claims

When a pallet arrives damaged, the blame almost always lands on the carrier. The reality is that most damaged loads were engineered to fail the moment they were wrapped. Load containment, not film gauge, determines whether your freight makes it intact.

What is load containment?

Load containment is the radial squeezing force the stretch film applies to the load. It is measured in pounds of force using tools like the Highlight Load Scanner or similar containment gauges. Two pallets wrapped with the same film can have wildly different containment numbers depending on pre-stretch, wrap pattern, and film overlap.

The three failure modes

• Film relaxation: The film initially stretched tight but lost tension over time, especially with cheap or off-spec resins.
• Poor bottom bond: The load is not anchored to the pallet deck. Any lateral force slides the load off the pallet.
• Under-wrapping: Too few revolutions at the critical locking bands at the bottom and top.

How to measure containment force

You only need two things: a containment force gauge and a consistent test protocol. Wrap a representative pallet from your line, measure at four points around the load, and log the average. If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. We bring the gauge with us on every containment audit.

Why colored film wins claims

Carriers often deny claims by claiming the damage was pre-existing. Colored stretch film makes repair tape, tampering, and in-transit damage visually unmistakable. A clear tape patch on a blue or black pallet is indisputable evidence in a claim dispute.

Industry-specific notes

• Food & beverage: Uneven SKU mixes and cold-chain temperature changes make containment drift common. Measure at room temperature and at freezer temperature.
• Manufacturing: Awkward finished-goods pallets need engineered wrap patterns, not just more revolutions.
• Agriculture: Field-built pallets benefit from aggressive bottom wraps to tie the load to the deck.

Ready to audit your containment program? Talk to a specialist or request a delivered quote and we will benchmark your current film before we ever talk price.