Requirements for dangerous goods packaging are well known, whatever version are used. The testing circumstances are strictly defined for each transportation method (road, rail, air, sea). But nowadays it is becoming a practice that courier express operators transport dangerous goods as single package. This parcel delivery method means a higher risk for all kind of logistics participants. By this service the packages are delivered fast, but handled more roughly than in comparison to LTL (less than truckload) or FTL (full truck load). Naturally, the parcel delivery sector uses its own suitability testing methods, which are also well defined. These procedures are coming from various standards such as ASTM, ISTA or corporate (FedEx) standards. This paper compares the most common parcel delivery testing conditions concerning the drop test requirements of DGR (Dangerous Goods Regulation) using packaging such as paper bag, corrugated fibreboard box, steel drum and plastic jerrycan, respectively. Then the test results were analyzed to present the differences.

In the 21st century, the role of electronic gadgets has reached an unexpected limit where they can literally support every aspect of our lives. Not only have the variety of their knowledge-base and the services they provide reached surprising high levels which are now able to support mobility around the globe, but also these gadgets have created new possibilities to measure, collect and save data. The purpose of this article is to present current packaging methods, but also to investigate and specify the actual stress on our products so that we can quantify the real exposure we want to avoid. The importance of this investigation is that if we could find a method to measure and quantify the correct data of the actual stress, it would provide a effective base for reducing the quantity of the packaging materials used. This is especially the case of those products transported on pallets and therefore we could significantly reduce not only the quantity of the base material used for packaging but also the amount of the left over waste resulting from packaging material globally. As an addition to all the above mentioned factors, the topic also gives an interesting perspective on how the savings on the packaging materials could reduce the cost of these products and so provide companies a way to serve their clients in a more cost effective way and an option to offer their products for a much cheaper price and hence gain a larger market share. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.

Carrying handles of packagings have a great importance in the comfortable and safe handling of packed products. Producers and consumers have to face occasionally damaged carrying handles that considerably increase the possibility of the damage of the product. These carrying handles are of a wide variety, depending on the package size, packaging material, weight, etc. The main reason for frequent product damages is due to the fact that producers lack the sufficient knowledge of stresses. In this paper we analyze the stresses and propose a measurement process for packaging with a carrying handle. We measure the stresses via a range of standard equipment (cameras, accelerometers, shaker table). In addition, we provide a general framework and the description of a test environment for the accurate reproduction of the logistic stresses appearing in packaging with a carrying handle.