The Cost of Packaging It was estimated that expenditures for all packaging materials, including expendable (one-way) shipping pallets, were approximately $100 billion in 1997. Of this total, about one-third was in the form of distribution packaging. - The largest single segment of distribution packaging is corrugated shipping containers, at approximately 20% of total expenditures and 60% of distribution packaging costs. - It has been estimated that although actual freight claims paid by carriers for damaging goods is approximately $2 billion, the actual cost to them and to shippers is really more than $10 billion per year. - Our goal in package design is to minimize the cost of both packaging and damage.The Cost of Packaging It was estimated that expenditures for all packaging materials, including expendable (one-way) shipping pallets, were approximately $100 billion in 1997. Of this total, about one-third was in the form of distribution packaging. - The largest single segment of distribution packaging is corrugated shipping containers, at approximately 20% of total expenditures and 60% of distribution packaging costs. - It has been estimated that although actual freight claims paid by carriers for damaging goods is approximately $2 billion, the actual cost to them and to shippers is really more than $10 billion per year. - Our goal in package design is to minimize the cost of both packaging and damage