Boxes
Choosing between a box, a crate and a pallet box
The three are not interchangeable, and picking the wrong one is the commonest mistake we see.
A container or crate is handled by people. Its size is set by what one person can lift, not by what the box can hold — a 400×600 crate filled with a dense product reaches an unsafe manual weight well before it looks full.
A pallet box is handled by a truck. It sits on a pallet footprint, takes a load measured in hundreds of kilograms, and is emptied by tipping, by reaching in through a door, or mechanically.
Three questions that settle the specification
Solid or perforated? Perforated walls let air through, which matters for produce that respires after harvest and for anything washed before packing. Solid walls contain powders, granulates and small components. Perforation is a feature for a specific load, not a general upgrade.
Rigid or folding? This is decided entirely by the return leg. A rigid box takes the same vehicle space empty as full, so if empties come back in volume, folding pays for itself. If the box stays on one site, rigid is stronger and cheaper.
Door or no door? A folding door turns a reach-down into a reach-in for the lower part of the load, which matters where staff empty boxes by hand through a shift. Any aperture is structurally weaker than a solid panel, so where boxes are tipped or emptied mechanically, fixed walls last longer.
Match the footprint to what it travels on
A box sized to its pallet wastes nothing. Overhang gets damaged in racking and in transit; a gap is paid-for vehicle space carrying air. Our Lite Box range is built to standard footprints for exactly this reason.
Tell us the filled weight, how the box is emptied and whether it comes back, and we will confirm the specification. Contact Beecraft.
