Fittings are small, heavy and numerous. A single order can hold hundreds of SKUs, and a container fills up by weight long before it fills up by space. Good packing protects the product, but it also decides your freight cost per piece and whether the distributor can put the goods away on the day they arrive.
Plan by weight, not volume
- Steel fittings typically hit the container's payload limit well before the space is used. US road weight limits can be stricter still, so heavy 20' or 40' boxes may need special trucking or transloading — see transloading.
- Mix light and heavy SKUs to use both weight and space where the order allows.
- Spread the load evenly across the floor and avoid point loads from small, dense cases.
More on heavy cargo: loading heavy steel cargo.
Packaging by product type
| Product | Recommended packing |
|---|---|
| Carbon steel forged / butt-weld | Rust-preventive oil or varnish, VCI bags or film, ISPM 15 wooden cases |
| Stainless steel | Clean cartons or cases, no contact with carbon steel, thread and bevel caps |
| Malleable / galvanised iron | Strong cartons on pallets. Keep dry to prevent white rust on zinc |
| Copper and brass | Inner bags, dent-proof cartons, sealed container for theft prevention |
| Grooved couplings and gaskets | Separate cartons for gaskets, protected from heat and UV |
Protect what gets damaged most
- Butt-weld bevels: plastic or steel end protectors. A dented bevel means rework on site.
- Threads: plastic plugs or caps, especially for 3000# and 6000# NPT fittings.
- Condensation: desiccants in the container. The trip from tropical Asia into a North American winter causes heavy "container rain".
Distributor-ready labelling
- Each carton labelled with the buyer's part number, description, quantity, heat code and origin.
- Barcodes in the buyer's format, often UPC or a GS1 carton label.
- Pallets built to the warehouse's height and weight limits and wrapped tightly.
- A packing list that matches carton numbers to SKUs, so receiving takes minutes, not days.
Consolidation without origin mistakes
Consolidating several Vietnamese workshops into one container lowers costs. Keep each supplier's goods on separate, labelled pallets, with origin and HTS code per line on the invoice. Chinese-made fittings shipped through a Vietnamese port remain Chinese origin and must be declared as such. Mixing them unlabelled with Vietnamese goods is the fastest way to a CBP evasion inquiry — see origin rules.
Related: export packing and labelling for the US · FCL vs LCL · sea freight.