Crating protects your equipment from impact. Shrink wrap protects it from weather. That's the honest version of this debate — and for a dense machine, the freight bill barely notices which one you pick. The real differences are speed, packaging cost, and what happens when a load is light for its size.

We wrap equipment for shipping across Ontario, so we have a side here — but most comparisons you'll find are written by crating companies, and they have one too. This is the version with the freight math actually shown.

What each method actually does

A wood crate is structural packaging. It takes forklift tines, shrugs off impacts, and carries stacked weight. A shrink-wrapped load on a skid is environmental packaging: 7–12 mil film heat-shrunk into a sealed skin that keeps out rain, road spray, dust and UV. Crating companies put it as "crate for impact, wrap for weather" — and they're right. The argument isn't about which is better; it's about which problem your load actually has.

The freight math, Kingston to the GTA

Here's the mechanic that decides the money question. Canadian LTL carriers bill the greater of actual or dimensional weight, with a floor of 10 pounds per cubic foot — that's Day & Ross's Rule 25 (effective March 2026), Manitoulin's Tariff 100 and Purolator Freight's rate guide (June 2026), all saying the same thing. Volume ÷ 1728 × 10: if that number beats the scale weight, you pay for the air.

Run a 1,500 lb machine, roughly 48 by 40 inches, down the 401. Film-wrapped on a steel skid it ships at about 1,650 lb over 53 cubic feet — 31 lb per cubic foot, far above the floor, billed on actual weight. Crated, the same machine is about 1,700 lb over 72 cubic feet — 24 lb per cubic foot, still above the floor, still billed on actual. The difference is the crate's tare: about 50 extra pounds on the bill, a dozen dollars before the fuel surcharge. For a dense machine, the freight line barely moves.

Now flip it. Put a 500 lb machine in that same crate and the package is about 700 lb spread over 72 cubic feet — 9.7 per cubic foot, under the floor. The carrier now bills 719 lb of dimensional weight for a 500 lb machine, and the crate's bulk is driving the invoice. Light-and-bulky is where the wrap wins the freight argument outright. One more trap: loads taking 10 linear feet of trailer or more get billed at 1,000 lb per foot — a crate that nudges a 9-foot load past that line is an expensive piece of lumber.

Flatbed is simpler: it's priced by distance and deck space, not density. Packaging changes a flatbed rate only when it pushes the load over-width or over-height into permit territory. If your machine ships flatbed, choose packaging for protection, not freight.

When crating wins

Honestly: often. Crate when the load is fragile or high-value with no tolerance for shock — machined surfaces, glass, calibrated instruments, exposed controls. Crate when freight will be double-stacked, and crate when it's riding LTL through multiple terminals: every extra touch is a chance to hit something, and industry surveys put LTL damage at roughly 1 in 80 shipments with an average claim near US$1,800. A box that a forklift can spear from any side deserves wood around it.

uShip's packing guidance tells LTL shippers to wrap units to the pallet and adds that "fully crating is encouraged" — for terminal freight with handling risk, that's fair advice, and we give it ourselves when the load calls for it.

When shrink wrap wins

Three situations, and they come up constantly.

The truck is booked for Thursday

A custom crate gets measured, designed and built — that's days, sometimes longer than the freight itself. A wrap happens on your dock in hours, the same day you call if the schedule allows. When the shipment date is fixed and the packaging isn't, the wrap is usually the only option that makes the truck.

The load doesn't fit a box

Oversized, irregular, or already on its own frame — film follows the shape instead of forcing a rectangle around it. That also keeps the footprint honest: no clearance inches, no lumber, no paying to ship geometry you added yourself.

The wood itself is the problem

For export, ISPM 15 obligations — heat treatment, stamping, paperwork — attach to solid wood packaging. A load wrapped in film on a steel skid carries no wood, so there's nothing to treat or stamp. Worth knowing the full rule: plywood-only crates are exempt too; it's solid lumber members that bring the regime in. CFIA's wood packaging guidance is the source to hand your customs broker.

And the two aren't enemies: on high-value exports we're often the second layer — a wrap over the crate, weather seal over the armour. Crating companies recommend the same pairing. For what the wrapping side of that equation runs, see our breakdown of what industrial shrink wrapping costs in Ontario.

What neither one does: secure the load

Neither a crate nor a wrap holds freight to the truck. Under Ontario's cargo securement rules, that job belongs to tie-downs with a marked Working Load Limit — and shrink film has none. On a flatbed, straps and chains go over the wrap; when we handle freight and cargo protection, we place edge protectors so the bindings don't cut the film. What the wrap contributes is protection and consolidation — the load arrives clean, dry and intact, which is what keeps claims off your desk.

1. Ask what you're protecting against

   Impact and stacking → crate. Weather, dust and road spray → wrap. Both at once → wrap over crate.

2. Check the density

   Heavy and compact ships the same either way. Light and bulky pays for the crate's air — dimensional weight starts at 10 lb per cubic foot.

3. Look at the calendar

   Days of lead time buys carpentry. Hours buys film. If the truck's already booked, that answer is made for you.

Frequently asked questions