The load plan
How we pack
A van is not filled, it is loaded. Two facts about corrugated board decide the order of everything that goes in.
1 — Flutes up (it's directional)
The fluted layer glued between two liners is what carries the weight — but only edge-on, along the flute axis. A box packed flutes up bears the stack above it. Lay the same box on its side and it buckles well below the load it would otherwise shrug off. So every box goes in flutes up, and the packing service is built around it.
2 — Heavy-low (it's cumulative)
A box carries the summed weight of everything stacked on top of it. Put the heavy things on the deck where the load is highest and they bear it; put the light and fragile things up top where the load runs down to nothing. That is why white goods take the floor and the lamps ride last.
3 — Double-wall where it counts
China and glass go into double-wall cartons with cell dividers. A double wall takes the same load as a single wall and crushes barely a fifth as far — which is why the box under it survives.