The future of pallet shipping – prices are becoming almost astronomical

Did you know that there are roughly 5 billion pallets in use worldwide – enough to go two-thirds of the way to the Moon if stacked on top of each other?

Perhaps one of the unsung heroes of the shipping industry the pallet is finally getting some attention now prices are skyrocketing even further due to timber shortages, increased
demand since the pandemic started and a lack of people to do the hard graft constructing them.

Costco is looking to produce more plastic options but costs are prohibitive.

Marshall White, a Virginia Tech professor emeritus and a developer of pallet-design software, said it’s reasonable to expect plastic could reach 10 per cent of the market over the long term, from about 5 per cent to 6 per cent now.“Wood pallets will continue to dominate until the time that we find the physics to dematerialise toilet paper at Procter & Gamble and rematerialise it in my house with some magic device,” he said.

Sending a pallet load?

Some items require packing inside wooden crates or cases before they are sent. At PACK & SEND we specialise in building tailor made wooden crates and plywood cases. This protection can give you peace-of-mind when sending highly fragile and valuable items. Find out more or get a shipping quote.