balsa wood

Shipping Damage

When we get containers of balsa from Ecuador they try to fit as much balsa as possible into the 40' container.  They would rather not use pallets for cost reasons and not being able to get as much balsa into the container making for a 5-6 hour unloading by hand.  Due to how hard it is to unload tightly packed containers balsa does get a few dents but most dents happen in Ecuador while loading.  Our balsa containers are commonly stopped by US customs as do a large portion of other foreign containers.  They may unload and reload the container before sending it to us.  When inspecting the balsa, Customs personnel hit a good portion of the balsa blocks on the end with a hammer to check for hollow blocks, pull the bundles apart from their strapping, and drilling large holes in the balsa.  The bundles that we get normally have ~1/2x20 balsa sheets that protect the balsa bundles corners from being seriously damaged from the straps.  We try to be very careful with the blocks but we are not in control for most of the chances for damage.

When we ship a package we usually use double cardboard and either small or large bubble wrap to protect the balsa from damage.  If shipping a small crate we will use double or triple cardboard on a pallet and put straps around it with corner protection.  For large crates we use chip board on a pallet with the inside lined with insulation foam board and use straps around the outside.