Pallet overhang, and why your cases crush
In short
Corrugated cases carry load through their vertical corners. When a case overhangs the pallet deck, its corner has no support beneath it and transfers weight onto the case below instead, which was not designed to take it. Stacking strength drops, and the loss compounds with every layer of the stack.
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Why a corrugated case cares
A corrugated box carries most of its compression strength in the four vertical corners. The panels contribute much less. Place a case so that a corner sits over the deck and it transmits its load straight down through the pallet into the floor or the rack beam. Place it so the corner hangs past the deck edge and that load has nowhere to go but sideways and down into whatever is beneath it.
In a stacked configuration, "whatever is beneath it" is the top panel of the case below, the weakest part of that box. The damage shows up a few layers down and looks like a case failure, which is why it so often gets reported as a packaging quality problem.
Spotting it
- Look along the deck edge at eye level. Any case that shades the edge is overhanging.
- Crushed corners appearing consistently on the same side of the load point to a pattern problem, not random handling.
- Damage concentrated in the bottom of a stack, worsening downward, is the classic overhang signature.
- If the stretch wrap shows a taut line along the pallet edge and slack above it, the load is wider than the deck.
- Ask receiving where the damage lands. They know, and nobody ever asks them.
What actually fixes it
| Situation | Fix | Not a fix |
|---|---|---|
| Load overhangs 48×40 by 1–3 in on the long side | Move to 48×48 or a custom footprint | Heavier corrugate |
| Load overhangs on all four sides | Purpose-built footprint sized to the load | More stretch film |
| Four drums on a rectangle | 48×48 square | Blocking and bracing |
| Bulk bag slumping past the edge | 48×48, or a bag restraint frame | Accepting it |
| Occasional overhang from mixed SKUs | Pattern change, or a top cap and corner board | Telling the loaders to be careful |