Better shipping boxes?

[dizzyfish]

I been getting a few orders of fish in these boxes lately. They would probably work well for koi. I think they would have extra cushioning if the box got dropped.

The inflatable box that fits inside a cardboard box is called the AirLiner. It is manufactured and distributed by Cargotech situated in San Diego, CA. http://www.cargotech.com

Mitch

[bekko]

I owe ya' Mitch and have already requested more info from the company. Do you receive through FedEx or UPS in these, or only air freight? Couriers are a bit pickier about the container specifications and I think they have been demanding molded foam in cardboard.

-steve

[dizzyfish]

Steve,
IIRC it was UPS. I think they would all accept these. I understand the EU is pressuring to get styrofoam taken off the market and this is a more environmentally friendly form of insulation. I think Reed Aquaculture ships to Europe in these.
Mitch

[bekko]

Mitch,

Do you know if your supplier is using the AirLiner with regular 200 lb.test boxes or are they the heavy weight 275 lb.test box? Is the outside of the cardboard box printed "AirLiner" or are they buying the cardboard elsewhere? The people I was buying cardboard from locally don't have sizes compatible with AirLiner so I need to figure something else.

Thanks,
-steve

[dizzyfish]

Quote: Originally Posted by bekko Mitch, Do you know if your supplier is using the AirLiner with regular 200 lb.test boxes or are they the heavy weight 275 lb.test box? Is the outside of the cardboard box printed "AirLiner" or are they buying the cardboard elsewhere? The people I was buying cardboard from locally don't have sizes compatible with AirLiner so I need to figure something else. Thanks, -steve

Steve,
I'm not sure. These boxes appear to be fairly new and I have only received 2 or 3 shipments in their boxes. I can't even remember exactly who shipped to me in the Airliner boxes. I know I liked the bouncy cushioning effect and the ease of breakdown, with very little to go into the dumpster/landfill compared to styrofoam boxes. It is my feeling these boxes would be very good for shipping koi so I tracked down the supplier by posting a question on a marine BB.

To make the story short they found out about the post and contacted me. I don't have much need of many of the boxes, but I'm enough of a tree hugger that I would like to see these gain favor over styrofoam of which I am no big fan.

So Kevin Streva (Cold Pack Systems) wants to talk with me about the potential of koi industry. If anyone else is interested in these please let me know and I will ask Kevin to contact you.
Mitch
PS
I'll ask him which size boxes they make liners to fit and if they can beef up the cardboad they sell. Perhaps if there is enough interest they can design sizes for shipping larger koi more safely. Sure would be good for the show circuit.
M

[PapaBear]

Tree hugger or not, it looks like an outstanding product. If I was shipping Koi I would definitely have to give it a serous look. From your conversation with them what is the per unit cost comparison to styrofoam? Shipping is an obvious cost saver and storage space would be virtually nil by comparison.

[dizzyfish]

Larry,
Kevin is going to call me later today and I will post the pricing after we speak. Since they are located in San Diego I am going to suggest that he goes to the SD koi show and hand out some Airliners to the exhibitors. I'm all for finding a better way for people to receive their koi in the best possible condition.
Mitch

[dick benbow]

Mitch, you get an atta-boy today.Continue to keep us informed please.....

[Richard Rombold]

Thanks Mitch,

Very interested in finding out more. Styrofoam inserts run me about $4.00 a box. That's not too bad but they take up a tremendous amount of room to store when bought in bulk and their insulation value isn't fantastic. Not to mention the environmental aspect or that they would be gentler for the fish. Keep us posted.

[dizzyfish]

The cost for the Airliners is a little higher than styrofoam. The size we discussed was approximately 27"x 14" wide x 11" height. They cost about $6.00 each in a case of 70, verus $4.00 for styro per Richard. The case of 70 will fit into a box about 9"x14"x27" so Richard it is a big avantage over storing styros in terms of required space.

It costs a lot to ship stryofoam to South Pacific islands, and they have been working with a couple of live coral exporters from Solomon Island and Fiji. They have been testing shipping boxes of coral weighing about 50# using single walled carboard, but are going to switch to double walled cardboard for this purpose. We discussed the 27x14x11 as being an odd size and he said they are working on one 24"x18"x12" which is a more univeral size Steve Hopkins. They also have a 42" length box, but I didn't ask pricing on this size.

Shipping koi would be a new market for them, but I think Kevin is very receptive to making a product that will work well for the koi industry if the interest is there. I mentioned the San Diego show and he was interested in giving out some samples. I sent him the contact information for Tom Graham so hopefully they can work something out.
Mitch