Pallets

Wooden Pallet

Pallets

We now sell and rent plastic pallets. We also have a pooling system for wood and plastic pallets (UK standard and Euro). The more members we have, the lower the cost! Join us!

Types Available

Material

Wood

The majority of pallets are made from wood.

Advantages:

Lower cost than most other materials
Can be repaired/renovated
Can be painted and easily printed on
Stickers can be easily removed
Their popularity allows them to be used universally

Disadvantages

The dimensions can vary slightly
Can be distorted through rough handling
Contain metal parts (nails) which could interfere with metal detection (some now are made without nails)
Need to be maintained
Can become contaminated with unwanted bacteria or pests. Export pallets need to be heat treated.
Weight can fluctuate due to wood variations and level of absorbed moisture
They can be prone to splintering or have loose nails
Wooden pallets are not fully washable
They cannot be nested in each other when empty

Plastic

Advantages:

Precise and consistent specifications
Do not absorb humidity
Some can be moulded so that that can be nested when empty
No sharp edges, loose nails or splinters
Can be cleaned effectively
Very low maintenance required
Can be manufactured from recovered material
Can be lightweight (depending on density)
Long life if handled correctly
Washable and not prone to infection or infestation

Disadvantages:

High purchase cost
Cannot be repainted
Stickers may not be easily removed, leaving bug harbouring and unsightly residue
There are no universal standards, reducing the possibility of pooling and swapping

Fibreboard

Advantages:

Lightweight
Very low cost
Bespoke designs are possible within a limited budget

Disadvantages

Can become unusable when wet or if damaged
Can't be maintained nor washed
Can become contaminated with unwanted bacteria or pests
Weight can fluctuate due the level of absorbed moisture
There are no universal standards, reducing the possibility of pooling and swapping
Have a limited load bearing capacity

Metal

Advantages:

No loose splinter/nails
Long life if handled correctly - can withstand rough treatment
High load bearing capacity (depending on specification)
Washable and not prone to infection or infestation
Low maintenance requirement

Disadvantages:

Can be warped through mis-use
Heavy
Stickers may not be easily removed, leaving bug harbouring and unsightly residue
Very high purchase cost
There are no universal standards, reducing the possibility of pooling and swapping

Sizes

Although pallets can come in all shapes and sizes, there are two main European sizes, 800mm x 1200mm ("Euro" in the UK) and 1000mm x 1200mm ("Standard" in the UK).

There are two-way entry and four-way entry pallets.

Pallet Operations

Dedicated Pool Operators

Most companies that use pallets belong to one or more pallet pools. This may be a managed pool or the general pool that exists informally between most users.

Managed pools may be discreet operations operated amongst a few members of a supply chain or may be a pool run by a dedicated pool operator. Chep, with its world famous blue pallets, is by far the most popular managed pallet pool operator in the UK, not to mention many other countries around the world. There are others though, such as LPR (red pallets).

Dedicated pool operators can offer a myriad of deals to suit the user's needs. Generally, a low volume user would pay a much higher unit cost than a higher volume user. They have dedicated depots that are used to renovate and store pallets. They also use supermarket/large wholesalers' regional distribution centres (RDCs) as de facto storage points.

White Pallet Pool

At a very rough estimate there are 90 million white (unpainted) pallets in circulation in the UK and 800 million in the EU.

White pallets can belong to just one company, or be part of a discreet pool. White pallet quality varies widely, from so called "one-way" expendable pallets, to the robust versions designed for several trips.

White pallets are seen by many users as freely swappable. This can be a grey area. Many, if not most, companies will swap "like for like", i.e. a one-way trip will be swapped with other one-way trip pallets or simply not swapped at all (since, in theory they have no value). Higher quality pallets will be swapped with equally higher quality pallets. This is OK, but quality is in the eye of the beholder. Despite many guides that provide criteria for pallet quality, a judgement has to be made at the swapping point and the decision of what quality of empty pallet is to swapped back to the delivery vehicle is often a very subjective one and a decision made under pressure of time.

Anyway, who "owns" a white pallet at any given time? Is it the company who originally made it? Often, "property of xxxx" will be branded onto the pallet; this means nothing if the pallet has since been swapped.

The reality is that some companies are constantly feeding good new stock into the system and not getting them back. There is also a lot of theft in the industry.

However, there is much to be said for the white pallet system. It can be relatively cheap, pallets can be re-used and refurbished many times over and it requires minimal administration. Yes, there are rogues out there, but there are also many very respectable white pallet traders and manufacturers.