Are You Overpaying for Stretch Film? Three Numbers to Check
Most buyers buy stretch film by the roll. They compare price per roll between suppliers, pick the cheaper one, and move on. The problem is that price per roll tells you almost nothing about what film actually costs you. The number that matters is cost per pallet wrapped.
Three numbers determine that cost. Here's what they are and how to check them.
Number 1: Gauge
Gauge is the thickness of the film, measured in gauge (ga) or microns. Higher gauge means thicker film. Thicker film costs more per roll and weighs more.
The mistake buyers most often make is defaulting to a heavier gauge than their load requires. Gauge should be matched to the load weight and the transit stress the pallet faces. Light loads on short regional hauls don't need the same film spec as heavy loads shipping across the country. What gauge stretch film do you need for your load?
| Application | Typical gauge range |
|---|---|
| Light loads, short regional haul | 60-70 gauge |
| Medium loads, standard transit | 80 gauge (most common) |
| Heavy loads, long haul, mixed freight | 90-120 gauge |
If you've been using the same gauge for years without ever checking whether it's the right one, it's worth asking. High-performance or engineered film uses newer polymers to give similar holding strength at a lower gauge, which means lower cost per roll.
Number 2: Pre-stretch percentage
Pre-stretch is how much the film is stretched before it's applied to the load. A machine film with 250% pre-stretch means one foot of original film becomes 3.5 feet on the roll. More pre-stretch means more coverage per roll, which means lower cost per pallet.
1 foot of film becomes 2.5 feet on the pallet. Lower coverage per dollar.
1 foot of film becomes 3.5 feet on the pallet. Roughly 40% more coverage per dollar at the same roll price.
If you're comparing two rolls priced the same but one has higher pre-stretch, the higher pre-stretch roll gives you more wraps per dollar. Price per roll is not the right comparison. You need to factor in what the pre-stretch percentage does to the yield.
Number 3: Film used per pallet
This is the one most buyers have never measured. How much film actually goes on each pallet? The answer depends on wrap pattern, pallet height, and how many passes the operator makes. An undisciplined wrap process uses significantly more film than a standardized one. A few extra passes per pallet across a high-volume operation adds up to hundreds of dollars a month. How much stretch film do you actually use per pallet?
Here's how to measure it:
- 1. Wrap 3-4 similar-sized palletized loads using your normal process.
- 2. Cut off the wrap from each pallet and weigh it on a sensitive scale (a kitchen scale or postal scale works — a shipping scale won't give accurate numbers).
- 3. Average the weights. That's your per-pallet film consumption.
- 4. Weigh a full roll, subtract the weight of the paperboard tube, and divide by your per-pallet average. That's how many pallets you get per roll.
This is also the best way to compare wrap use between workers, or to compare hand-wrap with machine-wrap. Most operations find that pallets wrapped by hand use 25-30% more film than a machine wrapper, and hand-wrapped pallets are usually pulled less uniformly tight.
Putting the numbers together
Most buyers who run this number for the first time find they're using 15-30% more film per pallet than they thought.
What does stretch film actually cost? A breakdown.
Atlas carries hand film and machine film in a range of gauges and pre-stretch levels. Schedule a visit and we can weigh your film and run the cost-per-pallet math with you.
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