> question: Cannot truck haulers move barrrels of honey anymore
 > without putting onto wooden pallets? What happened to using barrel
 > trucks and barrel movers and just straight roping in where needed
 > space wise?

For small lots, pallets are safer, especially for liquid honey, since on 
the floor and handled singly, drums were routinely punctured or by 
careless handling or accidental dropping when hand carts are used.

Liquid honey in drums is much more vulnerable to damage enroute than 
granulated honey, so, given a choice, ship hard honey.

On pallets, blocking the drums in place with small wood strips held down 
with nails or drywall screws may be a good idea to prevent movement on 
the pallet in rough handling, especially if there is any overhang. 
Although shrink wrap is very strong if used generously, roping or 
strapping the drums together is an alternate way to reduce the chance of 
a drum topping off the pallet.

The best way to ship is in entire truckloads, since the whole load is 
blocked in place and goes from your gate to the buyer direct.  In LTL 
(Less Than Truckload), individual pallets can wander around the country 
and be loaded and unloaded several times before reaching a destination.

 > Wooden pallets  seem so unstable....................when did things 
change?

There are many varieties and qualities of wooden pallet. Be sure to find 
sound, sturdy pallets.  Pallets for roofing are very strong and work 
well for drums, but may be an off-standard size.  The standard seems to 
be 40" x 48" and larger pallets may be assessed a higher rate.  Honey is 
heavy enough, however, that the truckers should charge by weight, not 
volume.

The whole matter of shipping and finding a reliable shipper for a 
reasonable rate is a time consuming art.  The Internet has made the task 
easier, and harder, at the same time.

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