In technical usage in the shipping industry, a pail is a type of cylindrical

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...

with a capacity of about . It can have straight or slanted sides and usually has a handle or

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

. The non-technical usage of ''pail'' is identical to '' bucket''.

Construction

Pails can be made of *Steel, tinplate *

Aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

* Fibre,

paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 points) than paper and has certain superior attributes ...

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...

s Pails are either "open head" with removable lids (covers) or are "tight head" with sealed heads and a screw closure. Pails made of wood, and later metal, were originally used to transport

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

, before the introduction of the milk churn.

Uses

Pails are used for a variety of fluids and flowable materials. When properly constructed and certified, they may be used for

dangerous goods Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...

shipments. Pails are

s that are shipped individually, shipped as secure

unit load The term unit load refers to the size of an assemblage into which a number of individual items are combined for ease of storage and handling, for example a pallet load represents a unit load which can be moved easily with a pallet jack or fork ...

s on pallets, or shipped in

corrugated fiberboard Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugate ...

boxes.

References

Books, general references

* Soroka, W, ''Fundamentals of Packaging Technology'', IoPP, 2002, * Yam, K. L., ''Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology'', John Wiley & Sons, 2009, *

ASTM ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, an ...

D4504—Specification for Molded Polyethylene Open-Head Pails for Industrial Shipping of Nonhazardous Goods {{packaging Containers

Construction

Uses

See also

References

Books, general references