As Marjorie's husband I do the heavy lifting, loading, moving and re-taping of every box we ship to the Philippines. Over the years I have learned a few useful tips to help ensure your box will survive the long trip overseas.
1. LBC requires us (me) to re-tape each box we ship with special LBC labeled red tape. This tape isn't meant to replace the packing tape you have or serve as any extra structural fortification, just merely as a way to discourage and show if the box was tampered with. This tamper resistant tape covers the openings, on the top and the bottom. The overall tape area resembles a capitol I on the top and bottom of the box.
2. Don't write anything important on top or the very bottom of the box (where the openings are located), because each end of the box also must be stuck with a signature sticker. After the LBC red tape is placed on the box, the signature sticker covers from view everything below it.
3. Fill the box to the top. The boxes are stacked and rolled several times between the time we pick them up at your house and throughout the transit as they are loaded and unloaded. Even if you are just sending pillows and soft toys, it's still important to fill the box for the integrity of the box, since heavy boxes will be stacked on your box throughout the journey.
4. Avoid excessive crowning or overfilling of the box with stuff. This may result in you paying an additional shipping charge and does cause shipping issues with tight space tolerances. A simple guide or rule of thumb, when the box is closed try to keep the gap, where you tape the box flaps less then your thumb size.
5. Use packing tape, avoid duct tape. As I mentioned earlier, boxes are stacked and subject to friction and heat. Duct tape peels and curls very easy under this situation and more so with tropical heat. Most of the time duct taped boxes have their taped peeled and curled before it gets to the Portland warehouse for it's first stop. I strongly suggest using packing tape. If you already used duct tape, you will be better off to tape over the top and bottom portions of the box with masking tape.
6. Tape all seams and all edges. This will keep the box from splitting and emptying its contents along the way. Insurance won't cover missing items, only missing boxes.
1. LBC requires us (me) to re-tape each box we ship with special LBC labeled red tape. This tape isn't meant to replace the packing tape you have or serve as any extra structural fortification, just merely as a way to discourage and show if the box was tampered with. This tamper resistant tape covers the openings, on the top and the bottom. The overall tape area resembles a capitol I on the top and bottom of the box.
2. Don't write anything important on top or the very bottom of the box (where the openings are located), because each end of the box also must be stuck with a signature sticker. After the LBC red tape is placed on the box, the signature sticker covers from view everything below it.
3. Fill the box to the top. The boxes are stacked and rolled several times between the time we pick them up at your house and throughout the transit as they are loaded and unloaded. Even if you are just sending pillows and soft toys, it's still important to fill the box for the integrity of the box, since heavy boxes will be stacked on your box throughout the journey.
4. Avoid excessive crowning or overfilling of the box with stuff. This may result in you paying an additional shipping charge and does cause shipping issues with tight space tolerances. A simple guide or rule of thumb, when the box is closed try to keep the gap, where you tape the box flaps less then your thumb size.
5. Use packing tape, avoid duct tape. As I mentioned earlier, boxes are stacked and subject to friction and heat. Duct tape peels and curls very easy under this situation and more so with tropical heat. Most of the time duct taped boxes have their taped peeled and curled before it gets to the Portland warehouse for it's first stop. I strongly suggest using packing tape. If you already used duct tape, you will be better off to tape over the top and bottom portions of the box with masking tape.
6. Tape all seams and all edges. This will keep the box from splitting and emptying its contents along the way. Insurance won't cover missing items, only missing boxes.
