In recent years there has been a very significant increase in parcel delivery shipments all over the world. Moreover, this mode of delivery, in some cases, is facing a very intensive flow of goods, such as in annual festive seasons or, for instance, in situations like COVID-19 when personal purchase of goods is strictly limited in malls. This often means that delivery vehicles operate at almost full capacity, and many same or different kinds of packages are therefore stacked in small delivery vehicles. In this study, we measured and analyzed the vibration levels that occur in smaller stacks of packages in parcel delivery shipments, paying particular attention to those circumstances such as stacking layers and free movement spaces that can affect the vibration in different layers of packages. The goal of this paper was to provide information about the vibration levels that occur in smaller stacks of packages that are not unitized and fixed, as is common in parcel transportation. The recorded vibration events were analyzed in terms of power spectral densities (PSDs) and supplied with statistical data of acceleration events to provide an understanding of the variability of intensity. Based on the results of this study, PSD spectra were developed for various free movement conditions, as well as spectra for each layer in the stacked parcel package shipment. The results showed that the vibration level increases in the stacked load upwards and with an increase of free space of possible movement. The results of this study can be used to simulate the measured vibration conditions in laboratory tests conducted on courier express parcel shipments.

Measuring the vehicle vibration environment is essential to understanding and simulating the adequacy of a packaged-product system and its ability to ensure protection from transportation hazards. In the transportation industry, various vehicles are used to perform shipping tasks, including light commercial vehicles that became the most popular vehicles in single unit and lightweight package transportation. In this study, the transport vibration levels in vans were measured as a function of payload and number of leaf spring sheets used. The vans consisted of one with a 20 % payload of total capacity and another with an 80 % payload. The vans were divided into two groups: those with a single leaf spring and those with a double leaf spring. The measurement conditions were the motorway and speed between 110 and 130 km/h. The results revealed that transport vibration levels are affected by payload and the number of spring sheets. A low payload and single leaf spring contributed to the highest transport vibration levels. The power density level peaks were between 1.5 and 3.5 Hz, then around 15 Hz.

Corrugated cardboard boxes are generally used in modern supply chains for the handling, storage, and distribution of numerous goods. These packages require suitable strength to maintain adequate protection within the package; however, the presence and configuration of any cutouts on the sidewalls significantly influence the packaging costs and secondary paperboard waste. This study aims to evaluate the performance of CCBs by considering the influence of different cutout configurations of sidewalls. The compression strength of various B-flute CCB dimensions (200 mm, 300 mm, 400 mm, 500 m, and 600 mm in length, with the same width and height of 300 mm), each for five cutout areas (0%, 4%, 16%, 36%, and 64%) were experimentally observed, and the results were compared with the McKee formula for estimation. The boxes with cutout areas of 0%, 4%, 16%, 36%, and 64% showed a linear decreasing tendency in compression force. A linear relationship was found between compression strength and an increase in cutout sizes. Packages with 0% and 4% cutouts did not show significant differences in compression strength (p < 0.05). Furthermore, this study shows a possible way to modify the McKee estimation for such boxes after obtaining empirical test data since the McKee formula works with a relatively high error rate on corrugated cardboard boxes with sidewall cutouts. Utilizing the numerical and experimental results, a favorable estimation map can be drawn up for packaging engineers to better manage material use and waste. The results of the study showed that the McKee formula does not appropriately estimate the box compression strength for various cutout sizes in itself.

In modern logistics, companies and packaging engineers have to make decisions to find the optimal sustainable product-packaging system with adequate protection. The decision most often involves a decision option between disposable (single-trip) and reusable (returnable) packaging solutions. In practice, in most cases, this decision is based on historical data and traditions and only considers the packaging material and investment expenses. Although cost is an important factor, it is not the only one needed to find the optimal solution. Several other alternative factors further complicate the situation. Traditional (two-valued) logic is not able to model this problem. This study presents a novel technique to help the decision-making process using the application of fuzzy approach. The authors used three different fuzzy signatures connected by fuzzy rules to model the packaging decisions, which were based on logistics expert opinions. Practical examples are presented concerning both customer packaging (primary packaging) and industrial transport packaging (secondary packaging) as well.

Due to the global expansion of transportation and handling companies, the distribution and supply chains of both raw materials and finished products now requires a better understanding of the shipping environment. This international shipping and handling information describing the physical and climatic conditions provides packaging engineers the required technical information to design better packaging to provide protection to products in various segments of the supply chain. In these global supply chains, products emerging from Central Europe also play an increasingly important role today. From this region, the truck and vessel combination is the most dominant transportation mode for non-time sensitive shipments between continents, mainly for shipments not exceeding the volume of a full container or truckload. Most previous studies mainly focused on regional or domestic measurement, using a single shipment mode that was dependent on the dynamics of a single transport vehicle. This study however focuses on measuring the transportation environment effects (vibration levels, shocks, changes of temperature and relative humidity) in a less-than-truckload shipment using multiple modes of transport in trucks and vessels between two companies and continents, originating from Hungary and ending in South Africa over several weeks. This study aims to provide results for this distribution environment while traveling from the northern hemisphere in Eastern Europe to the southern hemisphere in South Africa.