KICK STOPS® Cargo Restraint Device

Mixed Load Using Airbags Challenge: -Costly & time consuming to load/unload -Inefficient use of warehouse space & costly disposal Load Profile: • Mixed-height pallets • Mixed-weight products Solution: KICK STOPS installation at the tail end on every outbound load Result: • Faster loading times -> cost effective • Freed up warehouse space -> ROI through recycling devices The product didn’t change. The packaging didn’t change. The restraint strategy did.

Mixed SKUs amplify forward surge. Here’s why: When uniform pallets brake, force distributes evenly across similar structures. With mixed SKUs: • Different case weights • Different pallet heights • Different packaging rigidity • Different center of gravity Energy transfers in stages. The first pallet stops. The second absorbs impact. The third reacts to the reaction. That chain effect increases product compression and carton failure. Uniform braking requires uniform restraint. KICK STOPS eliminate the delay between pallets by stopping movement at the rear before amplification begins.

Mixed-height pallets create unpredictable load behavior. In alcohol distribution, it’s common to see: • Tall spirits pallets • Shorter wine SKUs • Variety case builds • Layer inconsistencies When heights vary, forward energy doesn’t distribute evenly during braking. The tallest pallet absorbs force first. The shortest pallet shifts later. The load transfers energy unevenly. That’s where restraint matters. KICK STOPS are installed flush against the rear pallet and trailer floor regardless of height variation. Because instability doesn’t start mid-trailer. It starts at the rear.

A regional DC was moving 15–18 bottled beverage loads a week. Their pattern was predictable: Loads left perfect Arrived with front wall crush Rework at receiving 2–3 claims a month Nothing about the product changed. Nothing about the route changed. What changed was one decision: They made a minor tweak to their load patterns. Within the first quarter: Front-wall impacts dropped sharply Rework hours fell Claims tied to forward surge nearly disappeared Same beverages. Same trucks. Different outcome. Because damage prevention happens before the first mile, not after the last.

Bottled water looks stable. It isn’t. Uniform weight = uniform momentum. When a driver brakes: • Every pallet accelerates at the same time • Nothing “leans” into the next pallet • The entire load behaves like one 20-ton block of ice That’s forward surge. No mixed cartons to interlock. No voids to absorb energy. Just dense, smooth, identical units all trying to occupy the same space. Physics doesn’t care how tight the wrap is. It only cares what stops the motion. If the only answer is the trailer wall, you’re already too late.

Most bottled water loads fail at the back of the trailer. Not the middle. Not the front. The tail. Why? Because every brake event turns 42,000 lbs of perfectly stacked product into a single forward wave. The rear pallets become the last line of defense. Stretch wrap keeps cases together. Pallets keep layers square. Neither is built to resist thousands of pounds of horizontal force. Tail-end restraint isn’t an “extra.” It’s the only thing standing between a clean delivery and a claim photo. Stop the movement at the source. Stop the damage before it starts.

This was a fun one! Very light product, empty cans stacked 9ft tall. Practically told dont try, it will never work, the cans will sway and topple. With empties, pyramiding happens for different reasons than with filled cans: ➡️ Filled cans pyramid because weight shifts inside cases. ➡️ Empty cans pyramid because columns lose vertical alignment. The failure path is usually: micro vibration → columns lean → a few rows domino → front face bulges → whole stack slumps forward. Once one section moves, the rest follows quickly because nothing interlocks the layers. We love a challenge. Give us the lane or SKU with most damage reports and youll understand quickly why companies expand KICK STOPS to be utilized on all lanes. Heavy product or light as a feather, KICK STOPS keep freight unitized in transit resulting in OTIF.

Pyramiding starts with an inch you can barely see. A single finger-width gap between rows becomes: 📌 1–2 inches after the first hard brake 📌 3–4 inches after a few dock bumps ⚠️ A full lean before the receiver ever opens the doors Jars don’t fail because they’re weak. They fail because motion compounds. Millions are spent on better corrugate, thicker slip sheets, stronger stretch wrap, yet the real culprit is usually gaps. Close the gap → remove the momentum → OTIF

This is what pallets bumped tight is supposed to look like! No daylight. No wandering cases. No room for momentum to build. Most canned loads leave the dock looking perfect. The problem starts 10 miles later when vibration turns tiny gaps into movement, and movement into pyramiding. The goal isn’t to make pallets stronger. It’s to make gaps disappear between pallets. When pallets stay locked, gravity works for you instead of against you. 👉 If you ship canned beverages or food, zoom in on your next load photo, do you see lines or gaps?

A beverage manufacturer had a quiet problem. Pallets that leaned, loads that shifted, and claims that piled up. They wrapped more. They padded more. Still, bottles tipped during turns and stops. Then they changed one thing, how the load was secured. Pallets stopped moving. Gaps disappeared. Loads arrived exactly as shipped. Claims didn’t just drop. They stopped. Turns out, cutting toppling claims wasn’t about the beverage. It was about controlling the space between the pallets.