How to Reduce Product Damage with the Right Cart Design

Product damage is a silent profit killer in warehouse, distribution, and logistics environments. Whether you’re in food service, agriculture, cold storage, or general manufacturing, the cost of damaged goods adds up quickly—from lost inventory and slowed operations to strained customer relationships. While packaging and pallet racking often take center stage in damage prevention strategies, cart design is a critical, often-overlooked factor. Poorly matched or low-quality carts can contribute to product shift, impact, vibration, and human error. In contrast, well-designed material handling carts can significantly reduce damage risk while improving workflow efficiency.

Here are seven ways the right cart design can directly reduce product damage and what to look for when choosing or upgrading your fleet.

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1. Cart Size and Configuration Matters

One of the most common sources of product damage comes from using carts that don’t properly fit the load being transported. If a cart is too large, products may slide, shift, or collide with one another during movement. If it’s too small, operators might force items to fit, increasing compression damage or overloading the cart’s structure. That’s why cart configuration should always match product dimensions and fragility. For example, Matco’s egg carts are purpose-built to carry either 240 or 360 dozen eggs—ensuring a secure fit that minimizes shifting in transit. Similarly, plant carts designed for nurseries include layered trays and spacers to protect stems and foliage. A well-fitted cart means less product movement and far fewer instances of impact-related damage.

• Match cart dimensions to product size and fragility
• Avoid oversized carts that allow product shifting
• Use dividers, trays, or custom inserts for stability
• Design carts for specific product types (e.g., eggs, plants)

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2. Caster Quality Affects Stability

Casters are the unsung heroes of every industrial cart. Low-quality or improperly installed casters lead to vibration, jarring stops, difficulty in steering, and eventual wear and tear—not just on the cart, but also on the products riding inside. Upgrading to high-performance casters can significantly reduce shock-related damage during transport. At Matco, we recommend heavy-duty swivel casters with smooth bearings and shock-absorbing rubber or polyurethane wheels. For heavier or more delicate loads, casters with integrated brakes provide additional control during loading and unloading. Adding corner bumpers and reinforced base plates helps minimize vibration transfer, ensuring more stable movement across warehouse floors, trailer ramps, and uneven surfaces.

• Choose heavy-duty swivel casters for smooth movement
• Use shock-absorbing materials (rubber, polyurethane)
• Ensure proper caster spacing and weight distribution
• Add locking brakes for safe loading/unloading

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3. Protective Rails, Doors & Enclosures

An open cart may be convenient, but it’s often not safe for fragile or high-value goods. Carts designed with side rails, mesh walls, or folding doors offer better containment, helping prevent products from falling out during movement or while navigating tight warehouse aisles. Enclosures not only keep products secure—they also act as a protective barrier against forklifts, human traffic, or other equipment. Matco’s Prime Cart, for example, is engineered with fold-down doors and a towing hitch, offering both mobility and product protection when moving items in a train or across longer distances. For sensitive materials or high-density packing environments, full enclosures with lockable gates are worth the investment.

• Include side rails, mesh panels, or folding doors
• Prevent product falls during movement or turns
• Use lockable gates for high-value or fragile goods
• Add bumpers to absorb impacts from other equipment

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4. Designed for Environment-Specific Challenges

Every warehouse or distribution environment presents unique challenges that impact cart performance—and therefore, product protection. In cold storage environments, condensation and temperature changes can lead to slippery surfaces, rust, and weakened structural materials if the cart isn’t properly designed. In outdoor or greenhouse settings, UV rays and moisture require different coatings and materials. Matco’s carts can be built with stainless steel frames, drainage holes, non-slip surfaces, and weather-resistant materials that ensure product integrity regardless of the environment. When carts are designed for their working conditions, they last longer, protect better, and eliminate environmental damage risks that can quietly erode inventory value.

• Use stainless steel for cold or wet environments
• Add drainage holes and non-slip surfaces
• Apply UV-resistant coatings for outdoor use
• Customize materials based on humidity or temperature

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5. Ergonomic Design = Fewer Human Errors

Human error is one of the top causes of product damage in any facility. But smart cart design can dramatically reduce the risk. Ergonomic carts are easier to use, safer to maneuver, and help workers avoid mistakes that lead to product loss. Proper handle height, balanced weight distribution, and optimized shelf spacing all help operators move faster without compromising safety. Carts that reduce bending, lifting, or twisting minimize fatigue, which in turn lowers the chance of accidental drops or careless handling. Clear visual access, labeling options, and segmented shelves also support better pick-and-pack accuracy. When you make your carts easier to use, you make your entire operation safer—and your products better protected.

• Optimize handle height and shelf placement
• Reduce bending, reaching, or twisting
• Add visual guides or labels for accuracy
• Design for one-person operation where possible

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6. Carts Built for Transit & Trailer Optimization

Products aren’t just at risk in the warehouse—they’re often most vulnerable during loading and over-the-road transit. Poorly designed carts can shift inside trailers, tip over during sudden stops, or be inefficiently loaded, increasing damage potential and reducing load density. That’s why Matco offers cart designs specifically optimized for trailer transport, including models that can be towed in trains, locked into place with anchor points, or stacked side-by-side with zero wasted space. These features help ensure product stability and safety from dock to door, especially in high-volume or regional distribution environments. Investing in trailer-optimized carts means fewer breakages, faster load-outs, and better fuel efficiency due to smarter space usage.

• Build carts for tight trailer spacing and nesting
• Add tow hitches for grouped transport
• Use anchor points or locking wheels for in-transit stability
• Reduce product movement during loading/unloading

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7. Flexibility & Modularity Save Time and Reduce Waste

One-size-fits-all doesn’t work when your operation deals with multiple SKUs, seasonal variations, or changing order profiles. Carts that lack flexibility force workers to improvise, leading to overloaded shelves, unstable stacking, or repeated trips—which increases both labor and damage risk. In contrast, modular and adjustable carts offer options like removable inserts, adjustable shelf heights, and nesting designs for easy storage. Matco’s custom carts can be tailored with quick-change features that support multiple load types without sacrificing product safety. When the same cart can handle different tasks without compromise, you eliminate wasted time, reduce error, and improve product handling across every shift.

• Include adjustable shelves or removable inserts
• Design one cart for multiple SKUs or workflows
• Use nesting or stacking designs for storage
• Eliminate the need to switch carts mid-process

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Final Thoughts

Reducing product damage doesn’t always require expensive technology or sweeping infrastructure changes. Sometimes, it’s as simple as investing in the right cart. A well-designed cart that fits your load, protects it in motion, handles the environment, and supports your team’s workflow can prevent thousands of dollars in loss—and improve safety, efficiency, and morale in the process.

At Matco, we build custom carts for real-world operations. Whether you need egg and dairy carts for cold storage, nursery carts for delicate plants, or warehouse carts optimized for trailer packing, we engineer solutions that protect what you move.