While most pickup services Valdosta GA are very reliable, shipping a package can cause you anxiety. Before reaching its destination, it may be handled several different times. Occasionally, something goes wrong, and a parcel gets lost or damaged along the way.

While there’s no way to guarantee this won’t happen when you ship a package, there are steps you can take to decrease the chance that it will meet with misfortune on its journey.

1. Address It Correctly

Your package should bear an address label with the information clearly printed or typed on it. You should include the return address as well as the recipient’s name and address. That way, if for some reason the package is undeliverable, it can be returned to you.

2. Indicate if Special Handling Is Needed

If you’re shipping something that’s perishable or fragile and you don’t give any indication of that on the package, you bear at least as much responsibility as the handlers if it breaks or spoils in transit. It’s not enough to simply mark the package as “Fragile” or “Perishable”; the marks have to be in the proper location. For example, a package containing something breakable should be marked “Fragile” on the back of the package, under the postage, and over the address so that it is unmistakable.

3. Choose Proper Packaging

The safe arrival of the parcel depends a great deal on the strength of the packaging. The container must not only be strong but appropriate to the material being shipped. Tubes, wooden boxes, metal cans, and corrugated cardboard are all examples of appropriate packaging materials for shipping a parcel. Paper wrapping is acceptable if the weight is less than five pounds.

Before attempting to send a package, make sure that it is safe to do so. There are reasonable shipping restrictions on potentially hazardous materials, such as poisons or flammable liquids.