Plastic milk crates have long been used for transporting bottles of milk to consumers all over America. They are usually rectangular or square- shaped in size, and are stackable one on top of the other either, by simply piling them up, or through an interlocking mechanism between adjacent crates. This way the milk can be transported easily, using trucks or wagons, without fear of spillage, while driving from dairy farms to retail outlets, from where it can be acquired by consumers.
Initially, milk crates used to be made of flat pieces of wood, but since the rapid growth of the plastic industry, heavy duty plastic milk crates have become much more common. These are longer lasting, easier to clean, and usually unbreakable, and resist the impacts of accidental dropping or scraping against the ground. Plastic milk crates are therefore the best option for transporting and holding bottles of milk in stores and inside homes.
Other uses of plastic milk crates
Industrial grade plastic milk crates usually measure around 13 by 13 inches in cross section, and about 11 inches in height. This makes them convenient for holding average sized milk bottles (1 liter). Their height and size means that they can also be used for various other purposes, rather than just storing and transporting milk.
Common uses include:
creating innovative pieces of makeshift furniture, like chairs and shelves,
or storing garage tools, shoes, books, or soiled laundry
they can also be attached to bicycles to help carry groceries,
and can be used as ornamental flower pots if their inside is covered with paper or plastic and then filled with soil.
Because of such a variety of functions, plastic milk crates are very popular with home users.
Plastic milk crates cost millions
Hot stamping on plastic milk crates is used to emboss or imprint the name of a company or store, to which the plastic milk crates are to be delivered. This makes it easier to keep count of the number of crates being delivered to a particular owner, and to help identify different crates. Even then some milk crates that are left lying around outside one’s company, may be stolen by vandals, and end up in plastic recycling facilities. This spells a loss of millions of dollars every year for the company that owns and supplies the crates.
Recently, a hike in oil prices means that plastic products are getting more expensive to manufacture, including plastic milk crates. This may result in a consequential increase in the price of delivering milk in crates, and losing crates would be even more unfortunate for the company’s profit margins..
To overcome the problems of vandalism and rising prices, some leading stores like Wal-Mart have resorted to using square shaped jugs, instead of plastic milk crates to display and sell milk. These jugs are environmentally friendly as they are less demanding in terms of the raw materials required for their production, and can be conveniently stacked onto one another, rather like milk crates. By reducing the usage of plastic milk crates, companies and stores can save on the cost of having to purchase plastic, and on the water used to periodically wash the plastic milk crates.