Better packaging, fewer claims, lower cost.
How your freight is packed decides how much of it arrives intact — and how much you pay to ship it. RS Group’s packaging consulting cuts damage claims and dimensional cost together, from a single problem SKU to a full packaging program, using your real freight data to target the biggest wins.
Your packaging consultants
Packaging is the quietest line item in your freight budget — and one of the most improvable. It sits between your product and the network that carries it, and when it is wrong the cost shows up twice: as damage claims when it fails, and as inflated freight bills when it wastes space or misses its freight class.
Most shippers never look at it closely because packaging feels solved — the box has always been the box. But the box was often chosen years ago, for a product that has since changed, and it is now shipping thousands of times a year at a cost no one has re-examined. That is exactly the gap a packaging review closes.
RS Group approaches packaging as a freight problem, because that is what it is. We already move your freight, so we can see where it is being damaged and where it is being overcharged — and turn that into a packaging plan with a measurable return.
What is packaging optimization?
Packaging optimization is engineering the way a product is packed to survive the freight network at the lowest total cost. It balances two forces that pull in opposite directions: protection, which pushes toward more material, and cost, which pushes toward less. Over-pack and you waste material and dimensional space; under-pack and you invite damage. Optimization is finding the line between them for each product.
Crucially, it treats the box, the internal dunnage, the pallet pattern and the load plan as one system rather than four separate decisions. A box that is perfect on its own but palletizes badly still wastes trailer space; protection that survives a drop test but not the vibration of a long haul still fails. Getting the whole system right is what turns a packaging change into real, repeatable savings.
The full packaging practice
Packaging consulting runs from the first design sketch to the purchase order — six connected disciplines, applied to the depth your freight needs.
Packaging optimization
The core of the practice: right-sizing and re-engineering how your product is packed so it survives the freight network at the lowest total cost. Over-packing wastes material and dimensional space; under-packing invites damage. Optimization finds the line between the two.
Design & development
From a blank sheet or a problem SKU, we help design and develop packaging that fits the product, the pallet and the trailer — the box, the dunnage, the pallet pattern and the load plan, developed as one system rather than bolted together after the fact.
Damage & cost reduction
Two problems, one root cause. Better packaging cuts damage claims and, by shrinking the shipped cube and getting the freight class right, cuts cost. We use your real claims and freight data to target the SKUs where the savings are biggest.
Compliance & performance testing
Packaging can be tested against recognized transport standards — drop, compression, vibration and environmental testing that predict how it will hold up in the real network. We help you validate a design before it ships at scale, and meet carrier and regulatory packaging requirements.
Packaging procurement
Once a design is proven, it has to be bought well. We help standardize specifications, consolidate suppliers and manage procurement so the optimized packaging is sourced consistently and at the right price — not re-invented plant by plant.
Lifecycle analysis
Packaging has a footprint beyond the shipment — material, reuse, recyclability and end-of-life. Lifecycle analysis weighs those alongside cost and protection, so your packaging decisions account for sustainability goals as well as damage rates.
What our customers say
- Inc. 5000 · #799 America's fastest-growing private companies (2024)
- TSA IAC Indirect Air Carrier status
- 6,200+ Vetted carrier partners
- 18,500+ Shipments moved to date
I have been working with Brent and his team for almost a year and the experience has been nothing but positive.
The best part of working with RS Group is the customer service you can expect to receive.
RS Group, to me, represents the pinnacle in customer service.
Packaging consulting questions
The questions shippers ask us most about improving their packaging.
How does packaging consulting save money?
Two ways, usually at the same time. First, better packaging cuts damage claims — every load that arrives intact is a claim you did not file and a customer you did not disappoint. Second, right-sizing shrinks the shipped cube and helps get the freight class right, which directly lowers what you pay to ship, since LTL freight is priced heavily on space and density.
Because we broker your freight, we can point the analysis at real data — your actual claims history and shipping profile — so the work targets the SKUs where the return is largest instead of guessing.
What does the packaging review process look like?
It starts with the problem: a SKU that keeps arriving damaged, a freight bill that seems too high, or a new product that needs packaging from scratch. We look at how the item is packed today, how it moves through the network, and where it fails — then design, develop and, where it matters, test an improved approach before it rolls out.
From there it extends into procurement and standardization, so the better design is actually bought and used consistently. The depth is scaled to the need — a single problem SKU or a full packaging program.
Do I need testing, or just a better box?
It depends on the stakes. For a low-risk change, an experienced redesign is often enough. For high-value, fragile or regulated freight — or a change rolling out across thousands of shipments — validating the design with transport testing (drop, compression, vibration) before it ships at scale is cheap insurance against a wave of damage claims.
We help you decide how much rigor a given change warrants, so you are not over-testing a simple fix or under-testing a critical one.
Losing money to damage or dimensional cost?
Tell us the product and where it keeps going wrong — we'll review how it is packed, design a better approach, and put a number on what it saves.