Source: From book: "Embalagem de papelão ondulado - Manual de transporte, moviment. e armazenam. de materiais. São Paulo, SENAI-DRD, 1993. 110p.

Stacking Packages on Pallets I

Although widely used, crisscross stacking reduces up to 45% of a boxs crush resistance; in other words you have to almost double the packaging specification in order to achieve the same results as in straight column stacking, which lets the box corners fit together. (See Stacking Corrugated Cardboard Packages I hint).
High specifications mean more raw material and higher costs to achieve the same result.
Observe the two examples of box stacking in the figure to the right: column on the left and crisscross on the right (three layers).
Crisscross stacking is used to avoid package shifting during transport, but the increased costs from higher specifications for boxes able to withstand the stacking are much more expensive than the use of cargo unit techniques available today.
But that is a subject we will cover in the upcoming hints!