AbstractLong corrugated boxes were supported at both ends and bent by a concentrated force applied at the middle. Boxes with different lengths, cross‐sectional shapes, flute directions and board strengths were tested, using a standard compression tester with a fixed platen in accordance with ASTM D‐642. An equation was developed to relate compression strength to the various properties of the box. The correlation coefficient R2 for the fit to actual data was about 0.4. Boxes having the flutes run around the box had a 20% higher compression strength than with horizontal flutes. The most significant factor was found to be the board edge crush strength. The results suggest that failure of boxes in bending is due to localized crushing at the point of application of the load, rather than whole‐box collapse. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.