In export the buyer often sets the box weight, pallet size, stacking height and label itself, because its warehouse and racking are built around those dimensions. For the exporter each item turns into a cost: a pallet or container has to be bought or hired, a size that fits the vehicle body badly leaves dead volume.
| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| How many rows of that pallet fit the body | Side-by-side layout decides the freight |
| Does loaded weight exceed the vehicle limit | Weight can fill before volume does |
Requests on food safety and traceability are not negotiable; pallet size, stacking pattern and container type usually are, and an arrangement that gives the same result in the buyer's warehouse gets accepted. Wooden pallets fall under ISPM 15: they get heat treatment (at least 56 °C at the core for 30 minutes) or fumigation and carry the treatment mark.
With reusable containers the empties have to leave the country and come back: a customs procedure, return freight, container tracking and a named owner for the empty return. The arrangement works on a regular, high-volume route and rarely pays on occasional shipments. For the Isotec TBX, payload is 500 kg on the 410-795 litre models on rollers and 700 kg on the 900-1500 litre models on pallet.
In a reusable set-up the container stays on the same route for years. Parts and replacements come through the GEBHARDT distributor for Türkiye for all that time.
