This was an every day occurrence at the Safeway warehouse I worked at. We'd get heavy loads like that, stacked on cheap pine pallets like those, then the fucking computer system would slot them in top racks instead of a bottom rack. Over a period of time the pallet would give in to the weight and when the fork went to pull them, they'd just come apart. Pallets of cooking oil were loads of fun and the cleanup would take hours.
I'm surprised a load like that would not have been wrapped in the stretchy-film stuff to keep it together.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was in shrink wrap, but was torn off when the pallet brushed up against the rack or the pallet behind it. Happens all the time.
DeleteI had a skid with 4 drums of chrome break, dumping 2 of them onto each of my legs. The video shows me getting thrown 8 feet over the top of a tub, and onto the ground.
ReplyDeleteI still have the scars on the front of my legs. Each drum had 661# of pure electrolytic chrome in them.
They were held on the skid with a steel band, and when I cut the band, there was no front board so 2 drums fell over hitting me.
The company blamed me, by the way, for not checking to be sure that all the board were in place. After I came back to work, and after they had assured me that such a problem would never be allowed to happen again. Meaning when they talked to the lawyers.
From the looks of everybody watching, and the clapping at the end, it appears that it was expected.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a material handler many years ago, it was common to place a good pallet under the crappy one before placing it on the racks. Still didn't always stop the mess, but helped the odds.
ReplyDeleteOur computer system slotted pallets by height for the most part, so 4 out of 5 times a double pallet would be a couple inches too tall for the racks. They'd do it for sure if it was a top rack though.
DeleteThe last few years I worked there I saw more and more product come in on Chep pallets. Chep makes an outstanding heavy duty pallet and I don't think I've ever seen one fail due to weight.