A lidded thermobox with a flat base can be stacked, but the number of layers is set by the load the bottom box and its lid can carry, not by the shape of the box. Empty and loaded stacks are calculated separately: an empty box is light, while in a loaded column the bottom box carries the weight of every box above it.
The lidded GEBHARDT Thermobox EPP measures 600 x 400 x 320 mm outside and holds 46 litres; that footprint puts four boxes on each layer of a 1200 x 800 mm Euro pallet. As an example, if each box holds 12 kg of product, in a five-layer column the bottom box carries the 48 kg of the four boxes above it plus the lids. We take the permitted number of layers from the model data: ask Aris Makina and we obtain it from GEBHARDT and pass it on.
In a vehicle the column moves. Annex III of EU Directive 2014/47/EU requires cargo securing to withstand 0.8 times the cargo weight forward and 0.5 times sideways and backward, and to prevent tilting. The column is therefore strapped on its pallet or supported at the sides. On the empty return the boxes must be clean, dry and undamaged; a box with a cracked lid does not go at the bottom of a column.
