How many transport boxes fit on one pallet?

Answer: A 1200×1000 mm pallet takes four of 600×400 mm per layer, so five layers is twenty at 1750 mm with the pallet.

Is a thicker wall always safer?

Answer: No. Sides at 5.5 mm and a base at 6.5 mm carry five layers of 28 kg; extra thickness only adds tare.

Should the drop test use a loaded box?

Answer: Yes, and cold. An empty drop tests the moulding; a loaded one tests lid and latches after four hours at −18 °C.

How much load should the handle take?

Answer: Thirty kilograms for an hour with 3 mm of set, plus 15 kg through 5000 cycles; rivets fail first.

What has to be marked on a transport box?

Answer: Batch number, load rating and stacking height, moulded at 5 mm or coded on a rib face, surviving fifty wipes.

How to Choose a Transport Box: Five Checks in Order

Quick answer: A transport box is selected by pallet module, wall thickness, drop test and handle load, with colour last. The pallet module is the step most often skipped, and a box that misses it is handled twice at every stop.

How to choose a transport box: five checks in order
External dimensions: fit the pallet module first
Wall thickness and tare weight: what the bottom layer carries
Drop and temperature: test both extremes
Handles, latches and marking
FAQ

1. How to choose a transport box: five checks in order

A transport box is defined by movement, not storage: it is forklifted and stacked far more often than opened. Work backwards from those moves — pallet fit, empty weight, one fall.

Reverse that order and the cost is specific. Buying on shape brings unribbed corners that bow at five high; buying on price loses the ribs that survive the first corner drop.

Check	Decide first	Typical	If wrong
Pallet module	pallet fit	600×400 mm, four per layer	200 mm lost
Wall and tare	stack height	5.5 mm side, 7.2 kg	walls bow
Drop and temperature	lowest service temperature	1.2 m at −18 °C	corner cracks
Handle and latch	loaded weight	30 kg static	rivets pull
Colour and marking	last	5 mm characters	number wears

One item is usually forgotten: the shut line. Above 1.5 mm the upper box settles into the lid recess and the stack rocks; below 0.5 mm the latch will not close in the cold.

2. External dimensions: fit the pallet module first

The outside of a transport box is set by the pallet: a 1200×1000 mm pallet takes four boxes of 600×400 mm per layer with 200 mm for film, while a 500×400 mm base fits six flush to the edge.

Transport box: a mustard-yellow body closed against a dark green gradient, two grey front latches, a round lock port at centre

Five layers of a 320 mm box is twenty units; on a 150 mm pallet the load stands 1750 mm, inside the 1800 mm beam height of most racking. At 360 mm it reaches 1950 mm and stays on the floor.

Base	Per layer	Five layers	Clearance
600×400	4	20	200 mm
500×400	6	30	almost none
400×300	9	45	140 mm

3. Wall thickness and tare weight: what the bottom layer carries

Thickness follows the stack. One loaded transport box weighs 28 kg, so at five high the bottom unit carries 112 kg on its lid. Design to 336 kg held for 24 hours, with the lid centre deflecting no more than 2 mm.

A rotomoulded body at 5.5 mm sides and 6.5 mm base splits thick where it carries load and thin where tare matters. Injection moulding of the same volume runs 2.8 mm over a rib grid at 4.6 kg, 2.6 kg lighter and 52 kg per pallet. Three base ribs at 120 mm centres bridge the pallet boards.

4. Drop and temperature: test both extremes

Most drop tests run warm, empty and once; all three flatter the result. The real event is a box sliding off a tail lift on a winter morning.

Transport box: olive-green body with black corner bumpers, two black latches clamped on the lid, black side handle, gasket line visible under the lid edge

Condition at −18 °C for four hours, drop a corner 1.2 m onto concrete within 90 seconds, then repeat at 1.5 m warm. Judge a through-crack, a released latch and a shut line past 2 mm.

Heat needs the same rigour: four hours at +55 °C cuts modulus by thirty percent, so 112 kg deflects the lid twice as far.

5. Handles, latches and marking

The handle carries the most concentrated load. Thirty kilograms for an hour with 3 mm of set, and 15 kg through 5000 cycles without a loose rivet, is the line.

Latches measure 60 to 90 N to open, workable in gloves, with under fifteen percent clamp loss after 2000 cycles. Below that they release themselves; above it someone finds a pry bar.

Moulded characters 5 mm high wear with the box; ink-jet codes belong on a flat rib face. Acceptance is fifty alcohol wipes and a readable batch.

Conclusion

The sequence: base size to the pallet module, wall thickness from the stack, drop and compression cold and hot, handle and latch sized to the load. Count how many fit on a pallet first, because those numbers decide whether a transport box earns its place.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.