Shrink Wrap for Transport & Shipping
Military | Energy | Aviation | Commercial | Transportation | Marine | Historic Preservation
Shrink wrap for transport is another specialty of Atlantic Shrink Wrap. ASI is called upon from many different industries to protect their investments or products during transport. The harsh weather conditions that transport or shipping loads come in contact with can severely damage some items or even destroy others.
Shrink wrapped Acid Plant in Salem, VA for overseas transport to Argentina
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Year round, items have to be transported over the road, by rail or by sea and need to be protected. Shipping containers or crates are not always an option due to the items size, weight or especially cost; therefore, they are shipped and transported unprotected. This subjects the item to whatever Mother Nature throws its way during its trip. Winter weather elements like snow, ice and salt from our country’s highways are terribly corrosive for most products. Rain, mud and road grime at other times of the year are equally damaging. When it comes to shipping overseas it is especially tough to battle the salt water and salt air associated with that environment with an unprotected item. Shrink wrap can seal in clean treated air and seal out harmful salt air.
90’Long Industrial / Military Ship Crane shrink wrapped for transport from Baltimore, MD to Alabama
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When items get to a size that they have to be shipped on special trailers such as the photo above, shrink wrap is the very best way to protect the item. There is no way to successfully tarp an item of such great size and weight. Our shrink wrap can be formed and fitted to cover any item.
Robotic Machines shrink wrapped for transport from Culpeper VA, to Mexico
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Trucking companies will tarp items to try and protect them but the tarps are not water proof, wind proof, salt proof or any other “proof” for that matter. A tarp simply cannot seal an item up and protect it from the elements the way some items need to be. When the water, grime and salt penetrate the tarps, then it gets trapped under them and damage along with corrosion continue at a faster pace.
Industrial Methane Gas Compressor Skid shrink wrapped in Fredrick, Maryland for over the road shipping to California
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Not only does shrink wrap cover an item tighter and smoother than any tarp could, it alleviates the need for tarps all together. In fact, after an item is shrink wrapped it cannot be tarped. The tarps will move and tear the plastic causing total failure.
People Mover Train shrink wrapped for overseas transport from, Pittsburgh, PA, to Guangzhou, China
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Many companies don’t understand the cost behind shrink wrapping. Sometimes we are asked to explain how shrink wrap can cost more than other kinds of plastic protection, like stretch wrap, which is simply plastic wrapped time and time again around in item over lapping itself. The fact is that shrink wrap protects an item for open transport better than any other method, and this protection is not just putting plastic over something it is: “asset protection and a reliable solution to a plaguing shipping problem”. At ASI we know what it takes to professionally shrink wrap an item for transport. Our crews are professionally trained, our installation methods are tried and proven and our materials are the best in the world.
Now there is a major downside to shrink wrapping. Anybody can get photos off the internet, put them on a web site, and claim they can protect your assets. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Shrink wrapping takes years of knowledge and hands on techniques. Anyone may be able to make things look good at first, but on a lonely highway in the middle of a shipment, you can’t rely on someone’s word, you have to know things were done right.
In many cases damage from the elements gets adopted as part of the cost of doing business when shipping something large or heavy, and is considered the norm. No company likes to face down time and the cost to repair something that wasn’t broken or a problem when it left, which is now damaged because of what that item had to endure during its trip. Protecting the item from the beginning helps save dollars and makes sense.
Shrink wrapping of Mark 2 Helicopter in Hagerstown, MD for overseas transport to Egypt
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That’s where shrink wrap comes in. Shrink wrap can be installed from the beginning, protecting the item from the start. Atlantic Shrink Wrapping Inc. travels all over the country wrapping items for transport before they ever see the road. We install the proper wrap for task at hand. Most of our wraps are to protect the item 360 degrees and are 99.9% sealed. The exception to that 99.9% is the chains that tie the item down to the transport trailer. No matter what the size or weight, ASI can wrap it.
Shrink wrapped Electrical Load Bank in Dunkirk, MD, for overseas transport to South America
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When designing a shrink wrap project ASI takes into consideration many different factors.
- What is the shrink wrap tasked to do? Protect the item from the top down or encapsulate and seal the item completely?
- What kinds of weather conditions will the item face during its trip?
- What kind of padding will be required to protect both the item and the shrink wrap?
- What kind of shrink wrap is necessary?
- What size plastic and what thickness will be required?
- Does the item require desiccant inside the wrap to collect any interior moisture?
- Does the item need to be vented?
- Does the item require Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors to fight surface rust and corrosion?
- Will the item be moved from one shipping trailer to another?
- Will the item need lifting points left exposed?
- Will access to the inside of the shrink wrap be required?
- And many others!!
Through careful consideration of these questions, ASI can put together a plan to install the perfect wrap. In many cases we will start with pictures and measurements of the item. When necessary we will make arrangements to visit the customer’s location to view the item ahead of time.
Shrink wrapping may look easy but it is in fact an art that takes many years of experience to master. At ASI we pride ourselves on taking on any challenge and persevering. Drive down America’s highways or visit some of her ports, you will see shrink wrapped items of all shapes and sizes. Now being able to see the difference in the quality of the wrap is different. Many companies can install a shrink wrap that looks great when it’s first done, but can it hold up against the test of time and Mother Nature. Many do not. They rip and tear going down the road or even just sitting still. ASI has a 100% success rate on every commercial shrink wrap we have EVER installed! We have never had a failure!
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