Buyers usually see the export carton for the first time in a photograph, days before sailing, when the board is printed and the goods are packed. The carton spec is where freight cost and arrival condition are settled — and it is written months earlier, next to the product spec.
The short answer
An export carton spec fixes six things: external dimensions, units per carton, gross and net weight, board grade with a stack rating, closure and inner packing, and the marks. Put them on one sheet before the cartons are made, because each one changes the freight bill or the condition on arrival. Mats and pads start from 200 pcs per model.
Six fields, four audiences
A carton spec is read by people who never talk to each other: the forwarder prices from it, the loader stacks from it, the broker enters data from it, the receiver checks against it. A missing field gets invented somewhere along that chain.
| Field | What it fixes | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| External dimensions, packed | Cube, pallet pattern and container fit | Forwarder, loader |
| Units per carton | Units per cubic metre and pick counts | Warehouse, broker |
| Gross and net weight | Payload, handling and entry data | Carrier, broker |
| Board grade and stack rating | Stack height the carton can carry | Loader, receiver |
| Closure and inner packing | Product survival, moisture and pilferage | Receiver |
| Marks and barcode placement | Identification at every handover | Warehouse, customs |
The carton spec, the packing list and the commercial invoice have to agree. A gross weight that differs stops a receipt or invites a re-weigh, and the revised figure is billed.
Dimensions and weight: one convention
Write dimensions in one order — length, then width, then height — and say so on the sheet, because the same box can be described three ways by three people. Record the external dimensions of the packed, sealed carton, measured with a tape rather than calculated from a dieline; a few millimetres per side is a different cube across a container.
Weight needs two fields. Net weight is the product; gross weight is the carton as it will be lifted, including inner packs, board and any pallet. State the unit once and keep it in the booking. A carton re-measured larger at the terminal is billed at the larger figure.
Stack rating is a test result
Board grade and stack rating are different numbers, and buyers often accept one in place of the other. Grade describes the board — its edge crush or burst strength. Stack rating describes the finished carton under a column load, which also depends on the contents, the ventilation, the humidity and the time spent stacked.
Ask for the rating as a carton count under stated conditions, not a phrase like strong or export grade. Then respect it in the load plan: a stack that gains a layer to save space moves the risk to the middle of the column, where a crushed carton stays invisible until unloading. Textiles do not fail loudly; they arrive compressed, and compression is a retail defect. If the rating and the plan disagree, change the carton, not the plan.
Marks: printed, positioned, readable
Shipping marks belong in the carton spec, not at the printer. At minimum: model or SKU, purchase order, carton number and total, gross weight, destination and the handling symbols that apply. Where the market requires an origin mark, it sits in the same block.
Position matters as much as content. Print on two adjacent faces so a carton can be identified from either side of a stack; keep the barcode on a flat panel, clear of seams, tape and corners; never place a new label over an old one. Print rather than handwrite where the budget allows: adhesive labels lift in damp conditions, and a carton that arrives without its identifier gets opened or set aside. Where the receiver has its own label format, that format governs, as set out in delivery to a 3PL or marketplace warehouse.
Moisture, closure, and the handover to loading
Two failures account for most textile claims. The first is moisture: a carton that has absorbed water loses stacking strength before it shows a stain, and the product inside holds the smell long after the board has dried. Specify an inner polybag for absorbent goods, a liner or desiccant where the route crosses climates, and keep cartons off the container floor.
The second is closure. Agree the tape pattern: a continuous seal across the centre seam and both end seams, applied over a dry surface. A carton opened and re-taped is treated as tampered at a 3PL, whatever is inside.
Fixed fields make the load plan arithmetic: dimensions and count give the cube, gross weight gives the payload, stack rating gives the height. Change one after the plan is drawn and the plan is void, which is why the spec is locked before the container is booked. The loading sequence is in container loading for pet products; this article stops at the carton, the part a buyer controls from the quotation onward.
Questions we get asked
Who writes the carton spec?
We propose it from the product, the pack and the route, and you confirm it before production. The marks, the label format and the destination come from your side.
Do I need a stack rating if I palletise?
Yes. A pallet does not remove the column load; it concentrates it. The cartons still carry each other, and a warehouse may stack pallets on the load.
Can the carton be smaller to save freight?
Often. A carton built around the pack usually costs less cube and less board. The limit is protection: a carton that flexes will crush the product before it saves anything.
What if my receiver’s carton rules differ?
The receiver’s rules win. Send the routing guide before packing and we build the spec around it; where the guide is silent, the purchase order applies.
Send the model, the pack format and the destination, and we will come back with a carton spec you can hand to a forwarder: dimensions, units per carton, weights, stack rating and marks, with the sample timeline attached. The service page shows how the spec is confirmed before production, and the contact page reaches us directly — one business day for a reply.