This International Standard specifies three methods for carrying out a stacking test on a complete, filled transport package, or on a unit load, using a static load. Whichever method is employed, the test may be used to assess the performance of a package or a unit load, in terms of its strength or the protection that it offers to its contents when it is subjected to stacking. It may be performed either as a single test to investigate the effects (deformation, creep, collapse or failure) of stacking or as part of a sequence of tests designed to measure the ability of a package or a unit load to withstand a distribution system that includes a stacking hazard.

The test may also be used to investigate performance under particular conditions of loading, as, for example, when the bottom package in a stack rests on an open-decked pallet; or when the profile of the superimposed load is eccentric, as when it is supported on the bearers of a single-decked pallet which rests on a container. For such purposes, one of the three methods of carrying out the test may be more suitable than the others.