ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB Package Testing
The club store programme, run at an ISTA certified lab in Aurora, Ontario. Four package types, and whether your shipment is domestic or international changes almost every number in the sequence.
- On Our Accredited Scope: ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB sits on our A2LA ISO/IEC 17025 scope, so the report is accredited data.
- We Confirm Your Type Before You Pay: Four types exist and each one runs differently. Send the details and we will tell you which is yours.
- Domestic or International Changes the Test: Nearly every level in the procedure has two values. We ask where the shipment originates before quoting.
- Perishables Handled as Perishables: The cold chain type runs a deliberately fast sequence, and we schedule it that way.
Accredited package testing
ISO/IEC 17025
A2LA #5179.01
ISTA certified
Certified test laboratory
*Send the packed weight, the three outside dimensions, whether the product is perishable, whether it ships palletized or floor loaded, and where it originates. That is enough for us to confirm the type and quote it.
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What is ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB?
ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB is the club store programme in the ISTA 6 series, which is the family of retailer and carrier tests written by the retailer rather than by ISTA’s general committees. It covers the route a product actually takes to a club store: manufacturer, then distribution centre, then the store floor, with the final shipment usually travelling on a pallet.
It is one of the older and more stable procedures in the 6 series, which is a practical advantage. Programmes that get revised often leave suppliers holding reports against a superseded version. This one has not moved much.
ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB is on Megalab’s A2LA ISO/IEC 17025 scope, and we are an ISTA certified laboratory audited by ISTA. The work runs here in Aurora.
Which of the four types is yours?
The type is decided before anything is tested, and it changes the sequence rather than just the levels. Two questions settle it: is the product perishable, and does it ship palletized or floor loaded.
| Type | Applies to |
|---|---|
| Type A | Non-perishable, shipped palletized. Splits further depending on whether the club quantity is the pallet load unchanged. |
| Type B | Non-perishable, floor loaded, where the club quantity is a case or unit and the item counts as large. |
| Type C | The same as Type B, but where the item is small, meaning it does not meet the large thresholds. |
| Type D | Perishable, shipped palletized. A deliberately abbreviated sequence, see below. |
Large and small are defined by weight and by dimensions together, so an item can be pushed into the large category by a single long dimension even when it is light. If yours sits near a boundary, send the numbers and we will settle it rather than leaving you to guess.
Domestic or international is a severity setting
This is the part that catches people, and it is the first thing we ask.
Nearly every drop height, impact velocity and rotational drop height in 6-SAMSCLUB has two values, one for domestic shipments and a higher one for international. It is not a separate test or an optional add-on. It runs through the whole sequence, so the origin of the shipment effectively selects a different test severity from end to end.
A report run at domestic levels does not cover an international route. If your supply chain changes after testing, or if the same product ships both ways, tell us at the start so the programme is scoped for the one that governs.
Type D, the perishable route, works differently
Perishable product gets a shorter sequence on purpose, because every hour a chilled or frozen unit spends outside its condition is an hour that changes the thing being tested.
Two consequences worth knowing before you plan around it. Type D runs no vibration test at all, which surprises people who expect the full 6-series shape. And its compression step uses a very short hold rather than the long hold used everywhere else in the ISTA catalogue, again to protect the cold chain condition.
Conditioning comes first and is set by whether the product is cool, cold or frozen. Tell us which and we will build the schedule around your product arriving in condition rather than around ours.
What we need from you to quote it
Five things, and none of them require you to have read the standard:
- The packed weight and the three outside dimensions.
- Whether the product is perishable, and if so whether it is cool, cold or frozen.
- Whether it ships palletized or floor loaded.
- Whether the club quantity is the whole pallet or a case.
- Where the shipment originates, since domestic and international run at different levels.
From that we confirm the type, the sequence, the sample count and the schedule, then send a quote. If what you actually need turns out to be a different programme, we will tell you rather than quoting the one you asked for.
Related package testing
6-SAMSCLUB sits in the ISTA 6 series alongside the other retailer and carrier programmes: Amazon, FedEx and Costco package testing.
If no retailer programme has been named, the general procedures apply instead. Parcel shipments run ISTA 3A, less-than-truckload freight 3B, and a mixed retail pallet 3F. The full family sits at ISTA package testing, and where a specification names ASTM instead, start at ASTM D4169. Everything sits under package testing services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB testing.
It is the club store programme in the ISTA 6 series, covering the route from manufacturer to distribution centre to club store, with the final leg usually on a pallet. Four package types sit inside it, decided by whether the product is perishable and whether it ships palletized or floor loaded.
Two questions decide it. Is the product perishable, and does it travel palletized or floor loaded.
Non-perishable palletized is Type A. Non-perishable floor loaded splits into Types B and C by whether the item counts as large or small, which is defined by weight and dimensions together. Perishable palletized is Type D. Send the weight, the dimensions and how it ships and we will confirm the type with the quote.
Yes, more than most people expect. Nearly every level in the procedure has two values, one domestic and a higher one international, and it runs through the whole sequence rather than being a single extra step.
A report run at domestic levels will not cover an international route. If the same product ships both ways, say so at the start and we will scope the programme against the one that governs.
Because time out of condition is the thing that would invalidate the result. Type D exists to get a chilled or frozen unit through a meaningful sequence quickly, so it runs no vibration test and uses a much shorter compression hold than the rest of the ISTA catalogue.
It is a deliberate design choice in the standard rather than a gap. If your customer expects vibration data on a perishable item, that is worth raising with them before testing rather than after.
No. They are separate retailer programmes with their own requirements, and passing one does not satisfy the other.
6-SAMSCLUB is an ISTA procedure and sits on our accredited scope. Costco publishes its own packaging requirements separately. If you supply both, tell us and we will scope them together rather than running two disconnected programmes.