Patent ID: 7735647

Claim:
A shipping cradle for transport of trays of seedlings, the shipping cradle comprising: a body made of a thin sheet of polymer material having generally constant wall thickness; the body including at least first, second, third, and fourth upwardly extending generally parallel walls with a first tray support surface extending between the first and second walls to define a first tray support area, a second tray support surface extending between the second and third walls to define a second tray support area, a third tray support surface extending between the third and fourth walls to define a third tray support area; at least one tray of seedlings disposed on a selected one of the first, second, and third tray support areas; and wherein: the at least first, second, third and fourth walls each include a main wall section and an offset wall section to permit nesting of vertically adjacent cradles of substantially identical configuration to said shipping cradle when vertically adjacent cradles have the same orientation, and for stacking of cradles in a spaced-apart configuration when vertically adjacent cradles are oriented 180° opposite one another; and wherein the first tray support area includes an upwardly-facing tray support surface defining a tray support height; each of the upwardly extending walls has a pair of thin webs and an upper edge portion extending transversely between the thin webs to form U-shaped cross section that opens downwardly, and wherein each of the thin webs has a lower web portion at about the same height as the tray support height and an upper web portion connected to the upper edge portion, each thin web further including a central portion extending between the upper and lower web portions.