Dunnage

The job of dunnage is to prevent cargo from shifting in transit. Even a few inches of movement can cause crushing, abrasion, or damage at the dock when the doors are opened. Properly placed dunnage absorbs the shock of starts, stops, and turns.

Materials vary: lumber for heavy bracing, inflatable airbags for filling voids between pallets, paper for lightweight cushioning, plastic and steel for repeated reuse. Wood dunnage used in international shipments must be heat-treated to ISPM-15 standards to prevent pest transmission.

Dunnage is sometimes a separate line item on a freight manifest, and sometimes bundled into the freight charge. Capturing it as a tracked cost rather than a hidden one informs decisions about which dunnage materials are worth standardising on.