A wooden crate is one of the most versatile packaging solutions for businesses that need to safely ship, store, or transport products and equipment. From large industrial components and machinery to delicate equipment and trade show displays, wooden crates can be designed around the specific needs of what you're moving.
Wooden crates are durable, customizable, and reusable, making them a practical choice for a wide range of shipping and storage applications. Wood also offers flexibility that many off-the-shelf crate options simply can't match. A custom crate can be built to the exact dimensions of your product and designed with features such as blocking and bracing, interior cushioning, lifting points, casters, ramps, or specialized handling instructions.
Despite these advantages, there are still plenty of misconceptions about wooden crates. You may hear that they're too heavy, too expensive, or only necessary for oversized or industrial products. The reality is that the right wooden crate can often make shipping easier, reduce product damage, and provide protection that standard packaging can't.
So, before you choose a crate solution for your next shipment, it’s worth understanding what wooden crates can offer and when they make the most sense.
Take a look at some of the worst advice we’ve ever heard about wooden crates and why we’re pretty sure that it’s all wrong!1. Building crates in-house is better than buying from a supplier.
The truth is, when it comes to buying vs. building crates in-house, most manufacturers would prefer to buy their wooden crates from a supplier.
Building wooden crates in-house may seem like a way to control costs, but the labor and overhead can add up quickly. More importantly, it pulls your team away from the work that actually drives your business: manufacturing and production.
When you build your own wooden crates, you're also taking on:
- Labor costs for designing and building each crate
- Material costs for lumber, fasteners, and other crating supplies
- Administrative time spent sourcing materials, purchasing, and managing inventory
- Waste disposal costs for excess wood and materials
For many manufacturers, outsourcing wooden crate production can free up valuable time, reduce hidden costs, and let their team stay focused on what they do best.
Choose a supplier, and you will save time and money. Companies want your business, so they are willing to negotiate seriously to land your account. It’s that simple!
2. Virtually all other types of materials are cheaper than wood.
Not true. In fact, wooden crates are an ideal choice for companies on a budget or businesses that simply want to save money. Believe it or not, the purchase price for wood box is actually lower than the cost for many other materials including plastic, thermo-formed, and fiberglass.
One of the biggest advantages of wooden crates is their flexibility. Wood is readily available, relatively cost-effective, and can be built to fit almost any product or set of dimensions, even when quantities are small.
Unlike some alternative materials that require larger production runs, a custom wooden crate can be built for a single shipment or a small batch. That makes wood a practical option when your products vary in size, or you don't need hundreds of identical packages.
Wood is also a renewable and recyclable material, giving wooden crates another advantage when compared with some less sustainable crating alternatives.
3. There’s no need to customize the base of a wood box —you’ve seen one base, you’ve seen them all.
Not really the case. Not every product can sit on a standard crate base. Depending on the product, weight, dimensions, and shipping requirements, a custom wooden crate base may be needed to provide the right support and stability.
Options can include specialized skid configurations, plywood or dimensional lumber bases, steel-reinforced bases, custom tie-downs, saddles, and other engineered components.
The goal is simple: build the base around the product, rather than forcing the product to fit a standard solution.
