Floor-Loaded Cargo Without Pallets: How to Unload and Count It

Not every container is packed with neat pallets. To save space and freight cost, many suppliers stack cartons or bags directly on the container floor, from the back wall to the doors, with nothing underneath. This is called floor loading, and it changes the receiving job completely: there is no forklift to drive in, the count is hidden inside walls of cartons, and the risk of damage is higher at the bottom and near the doors.

What to prepare before the doors open

A floor-loaded container is unloaded by hand, so you need people rather than machines.

• Enough labour and time. As a conditional example, if four people move about 120 cartons an hour, then 1,200 cartons take roughly ten hours.
• Empty floor space outside, close to the doors, for building pallets.
• Pallets and stretch wrap of your own, ready before unloading starts.
• Lighting, if the work may run into the evening.
• A count sheet, and someone responsible only for counting, not for carrying.
• Gloves and safety shoes, and a plan for sharp strapping edges or protruding nails in any timber.

Ask the driver or the terminal how long the container may stay at your site, since waiting time can cost money.

An estimate before you start

The wall of cartons behind the door is a count waiting to be made. Estimate the load from the first view: columns across the width, rows along the length, layers in height. If the stack is 6 cartons wide, 20 deep and 10 high, that is 6 × 20 × 10 = 1,200 cartons. Compare this with the packing list for a first impression, but remember that an estimate is not a count: walls often have gaps and uneven rows.

Unloading in a controlled way

1. Unload from the top of the wall downwards and from the doors inwards. Never pull cartons from the bottom.
2. Build pallets on the spot to a fixed pattern, for example 10 cartons per layer and 5 layers, so that each full pallet holds 50.
3. Label each pallet with a number and the count, and photograph it when it is complete.
4. Set damaged cartons aside on a marked pallet, with their labels visible.
5. Keep a running tally: pallets built, plus loose cartons.
6. If a stack leans or the wall of cartons starts to shift, stop and call the supervisor. The count can wait; a falling stack cannot.

With a fixed pattern you count pallets rather than cartons, and a gap in the numbering shows at once.

Where damage hides

In a floor-loaded container, damage collects in particular places. Cartons at the bottom bear the whole weight above them, so look there for crushed corners and bulging sides. Cartons near the doors can be crushed or torn when the load shifts. And the floor itself may be wet, which affects the bottom row first. Record the position of each damaged carton: "bottom layer, left side, 3 metres from the doors" is information that helps to explain what happened.

If the goods are bags rather than cartons, watch for split seams, spilled content on the floor and flattened stacks. Count bags with the same fixed pattern, and weigh a few from different layers against the stated bag weight.

Reconciling the count

At the end, add up: 22 full pallets × 50 = 1,100, plus 96 loose cartons, plus 4 damaged cartons set aside, which makes 1,200. If the packing list says 1,200 and your first estimate said 1,200, the count agrees. If it falls short, recount the pallets before writing anything down. A missing pallet label is more often the cause than a missing carton.

Keep the build sheet with the report: pallet number, count, who built it and at what time. It answers most questions before they are asked.

In short

Floor-loaded cargo takes longer, but the count and the condition can still be recorded properly if the unloading is organised in advance. CargoChek counts the packages twice during and after unloading, sets aside and photographs damaged cartons together with their labels, and gives you the figures set against the packing list.