Six packing layers, one pallet mark and four photographs. The routine that prevents bent panels, scuffed faces and missing pallets.
Signs ship on edge, not flat, on a fumigation-exempt pallet, with interleaving between panels, corner protection, and a stretch-wrap plus strapping that keeps the bundle square. Film faces go inward so the reflective surface never touches another panel. Mark every pallet with the contract number and pallet number, photograph the pallet loaded, wrapped and closed, and keep the photos with the packing list. That set of habits prevents the three complaints that arrive after a sea voyage: bent panels, scuffed faces and a missing pallet.
A sign panel is thin, wide and finished on one face. Those three properties decide the packing: thin means it bends if it is loaded flat, wide means it needs support along its whole area rather than at two points, and finished means the face has to be protected from contact. Everything else is standard export packing.
A panel lying flat has its stiffness in the wrong plane. Any load placed on top — another bundle, a pallet above, a sling during handling — bends it through its weakest direction. Stood on edge, the same panel carries load through its stiff direction and the bundle acts as a wall.
The bundle then needs to stay square. That is what strapping and edge protection do: not to hold the panels down, but to stop the stack from leaning and taking a set. Two straps around a bundle of panels on edge, with corner boards under the straps, is the standard arrangement.
| Layer | Material | What it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| Pallet | Fumigation-exempt board or plywood | ISPM 15 treatment delay at destination |
| Base support | Timber bearers running the full panel width | Point loading and a bowed bottom panel |
| Interleaving | Paper or foam sheet between panels | Face-to-face abrasion in transit |
| Corner protection | Board or plastic corner pieces | Corner deformation and strap marks |
| Strapping | PET strap, two per bundle | The stack leaning and taking a set |
| Wrap | Stretch film over the whole pallet | Water, dust and the pallet coming apart |
A pallet that looks over-engineered in the loading photo is usually the one that arrives intact. The cost of the layers is small against the cost of replacing a face on site.
Contract or PO number, pallet number and total, gross and net weight, dimensions, and the destination port. Add the heat or batch reference if the order carries a certificate, so an inspector can connect the physical pallet to the document. Marks should be readable without opening the wrap — a label under three layers of film is not a mark.
The mark is also the unit of traceability. If one pallet is damaged or short, the claim is "pallet 4 of 12" against a photograph of pallet 4, not a general assertion that something went wrong somewhere in the container.
Two different problems get called moisture damage. Container rain is condensation forming on the roof and dripping onto the cargo as the container passes through climate zones; it is handled with desiccant and with a container in good condition. White rust is the powdery aluminium oxide that forms on bare aluminium in a humid, poorly ventilated space; it is cosmetic but it is the first thing a customer photographs.
For signs, the practical measures are a dry container, desiccant sachets sized to the volume, interleaving that keeps faces apart, and wrap that keeps liquid water off the bundle. Ventilated packaging helps against condensation and hurts against rain, so which one applies depends on the route — ask before assuming.
Every pallet: loaded and interleaved, strapped, wrapped, and marked. The four photos go with the packing list. It is the cheapest insurance in the whole shipment, because it settles the question of whether the damage happened before or after the container left.
Wood packaging material moving in international trade is regulated under ISPM 15, "Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade", adopted under the International Plant Protection Convention and published by the International Organization for Standardization as part of the ISPM series. Processed wood — plywood, board, veneer — is outside the treatment requirement in most implementing markets.
Sources: IPPC / ISO, Geneva. Cited 30 October 2026.
Solid wood does. Board, plywood and processed wood packaging are exempt under the ISPM 15 rules in most markets, which is why sign exporters use them — it avoids a treatment certificate and a possible hold at destination.
It depends on panel size and thickness rather than on weight, because signage is a volumetric cargo. Work out the stack height the pallet can carry, then divide by panel thickness plus interleaving — a 1200 × 900 mm pallet of 3.0 mm panels reaches the practical height limit long before it reaches a weight limit.
Inward. Faces against interleaving or against each other will abrade; putting the finished face inside the bundle means the only thing touching it is the interleaving you chose.
Possible for small quantities or for sites that cannot handle a pallet. A crate adds volume and cost and does not improve protection for flat panels — it mainly helps when the cargo will be handled many times before installation.
Specification questions are answered by the same person who quotes the job.