Wrap the deck, not just the boxes
Film that starts at the lowest carton leaves the whole stack free to slide off the pallet on a turn. Take the first revolutions around the deck boards themselves, then work upward.
Freight materials
Stretch wrap belongs on a pallet, not on a parcel
Stretch film exists to hold a stacked load together on a pallet, and both UPS and FedEx treat it as a stabiliser rather than a fastening. On a single parcel it is worse than useless, because film is not a shipping container, it hides the corrugated a carrier wants to see, and it puts a shiny curved surface under your barcode.
Pallet rules quotedFilm price listedParcel readers redirected
Pallet or parcel, decided early
Anything past parcel limits routes to a freight review instead of a label.
What the carriers ask for on a pallet
Both freight documents say the same thing in different words: film stabilises, banding secures, and film alone is not enough.
Use a minimum of 60-gauge stretch wrap, five revolutions recommended: tie to pallet and across top to prevent shifting.UPS Packaging Guidelines, ups.com, read 2026-07-28
Designed to stabilize the load, not to secure it to the pallet. Strapping or banding should be used in conjunction with stretch wrap to secure the load to the pallet.UPS Packaging Guidelines, ups.com, read 2026-07-28
Make sure your freight shipments are banded and stretchwrapped to the pallet, with the bands running in both directions. Pallet loads secured with only stretchwrap are not acceptable.FedEx How to Pack guide, fedex.com, read 2026-07-28
Two practical details sit underneath those quotes. UPS says to capture the pallet when wrapping the bottom layer, meaning the film has to come down around the deck boards rather than stopping at the lowest carton. And FedEx says products should not overhang the pallet on any side, because film pulled tight over an overhang concentrates pressure exactly where the load is weakest. Our pallet guide walks the whole build.
Reading a roll of film
Gauge is thickness, and it is the only number on the box that changes how the film behaves. UPS names 60 gauge as its floor, which makes the common 80-gauge hand roll a comfortable step above the minimum rather than a luxury.
| Item | Specification as listed | Case | Listed price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uline S-2190 cast stretch wrap | 80 gauge, 18 in x 1,500 ft | 4 rolls | $21 per roll |
Five revolutions at the base, a spiral up the load, five at the top, and the roll above covers a lot of pallets. The listing states the film stretches up to 250 percent and is rated for loads up to 2,500 lbs, which is the sort of figure worth reading as a laboratory ceiling rather than a promise about your particular stack. Banding is still what holds the load to the deck.
If you arrived here holding a single box
Plenty of people reach for stretch film to wrap one carton, usually because the box looks tired or the contents are heavy. Three published rules say not to.
- Film is not a container. UPS lists a package that is not fully encased in corrugated cardboard among the triggers for its Additional Handling charge, and no dollar amount for that charge is published in the source we read, so treat it as an open cost rather than a known one.
- Film is not a closure. UPS tells shippers not to use string or paper over-wrap, and USPS asks you not to wrap a box in string, cord or twine because it gets caught in sorting equipment. A wrapped exterior belongs to the same family of ideas.
- Film ruins the label. A barcode under stretched, curved plastic reflects and misreads, and FedEx already says not to apply tape over the shipping label. Adding a layer of film over the whole box is a larger version of that mistake.
A 25 lb carton is the sort of parcel people most want to reinforce, so here is what one actually costs to send properly, in cardboard, with tape.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Transit window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $28.77 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $29.52 | 2-3 business days |
| FedEx | Ground | $41.48 | 5-6 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $43.48 | 5-6 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $46.73 | Not returned for this row |
If the box genuinely needs more strength, the answer is a heavier grade of corrugated or a second carton around the first, not film. Our box strength page shows which grade carries which weight, and the tape guide covers the closure. Loose gaps inside are a job for void fill.
Banding does the securing
Both carriers ask for strapping or banding alongside the film, and FedEx wants the bands running in both directions. Film keeps the stack tidy; the bands are what tie it down.
Parcel or freight is decided by the numbers
Once a shipment is palletised it stops being a parcel and needs a quoted lane instead of a label. Send dimensions, weight and both addresses through our freight review form and it gets routed that way.
Stretch film questions
Can I wrap a shipping box in stretch wrap?
It is a bad idea. UPS lists a package that is not fully encased in corrugated cardboard as a trigger for its Additional Handling charge, and tells shippers not to use paper over-wrap. Film also puts a curved reflective surface over the barcode, which causes scan failures.
How much stretch wrap does a pallet need?
UPS asks for a minimum of 60-gauge film and recommends five revolutions, tied to the pallet and across the top to prevent shifting. It also says to capture the pallet when wrapping the bottom layer rather than starting at the lowest carton.
Is stretch wrap enough to secure a pallet?
No. UPS describes stretch wrapping as designed to stabilize the load, not to secure it to the pallet, and FedEx states that pallet loads secured with only stretchwrap are not acceptable and asks for bands running in both directions.
What gauge stretch wrap should I buy?
At least 60 gauge to meet the UPS minimum. Uline listed an 80 gauge cast roll at 18 inches by 1,500 feet for $21 a roll in cases of four on 2026-07-28, which is a common hand-wrap specification a step above that floor.