Pallets for wholesalers and importers: what comes off the container is not what goes out the door.

An importer handles three pallet sets every week: the mixed sizes that come off the container, the standard pallets the stock sits on in racking, and the one way pallets that leave with customers and stay there. Here is how each set is supplied, what the import pallets are worth and how the order follows the shipping schedule rather than the calendar.

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Or call Jayden on 0494 820 639, 7am to 5pm weekdays.

Quick answer

Which pallets does an importer or wholesaler need?

New or grade A hardwood standard 1165 pallets under stock that is repalletised into racking at the de-stuff, grade B for bulk floor stock, one way or grade C for despatch to customers who do not return pallets, and heat treated ISPM 15 stock for re-export. The import pallets that come off the container are sorted at the dock; sixty or more reusable pallets in Greater Sydney is a free pickup and a stack of one way import pallets is quoted as a clearance in writing. The order follows the arrivals calendar, not the month.

Three pallet sets

Which pallets does an importer or wholesaler need?

Where the stock sits	Pallet	Why
Racking, after the de-stuff	New or grade A hardwood standard 1165 x 1165	The import pallet is rarely 1165 and often does not span Australian beams. Stock is repalletised onto a rackable standard pallet at the de-stuff and stays on it until it is picked.
Bulk floor stock	Grade B standard 1165	Sound and square under a stack that sits on the floor and turns over inside the month.
Despatch to customers who do not return pallets	One way or grade C	Priced for a single trip, so a pallet that never comes back is not a grade A pallet lost.
Despatch to retail DCs on a pool	The customer's CHEP or Loscam account	Pool pallets stay in the pool count. Ours cover everything the pool does not: inbound, storage and the one way lanes.
Re-export and transhipment	Heat treated ISPM 15 softwood, or plastic	The stamp on an import pallet covered the trip it made, not the next one. A re-export goes out on stock stamped for it.

The import pallets themselves: Euro 1200 x 800, US 48 by 40 inch, Asian 1100 x 1100 and the odd sizes a shipper nails together for one load. A few are sound hardwood worth sorting and selling on. Most are light softwood built for one trip, and every one of them is taking up floor the stock needs.

The import stack

What happens to the pallets that come off the container?

01Sorted at the de-stuffSound standard size pallets go back into use on the floor. Everything else goes on the import stack by the dock, out of the racking aisles.
02Counted once the stack is worth sendingSixty or more reusable pallets anywhere in Greater Sydney is a free pickup, often on the run that delivers your standard pallets. A stack that is mostly one way import pallets is not reusable, so it is quoted as a clearance in writing before a truck is sent. Nothing is called free that is not.
03Sorted at PrestonsSound pallets go back to sale by grade, repairable ones are repaired, and the rest go to recycling rather than to a skip.
04Credited or cleared on the docketWhat the stack was worth is written on the docket against the delivery, so the pallet account is one line a month, not a drawer of dockets.

Timing

How do importers time pallet orders to the shipping schedule?

A container lands on the slot the shipping line gives, not on the first of the month, and the pallets have to be on the floor the day before the de-stuff. The pattern that works is a standing order set against the arrivals calendar: a weekly drop sized to the containers landing that week, with the count changed by one call when a vessel slips. How standing orders work sets out the pricing and the changes allowed inside one.

The count per container is arithmetic, not guesswork: how many pallets fit in a 20 or 40 foot container gives the floor loaded numbers for Australian standard, Euro and export pallets, which is also the number of standard pallets you need on the floor for the de-stuff if the stock is repalletised one for one.

Drop timed to the arrivals week, not the calendar month
Count changed with one call when a vessel slips
Standard pallets for the racking and one way pallets for despatch on the same truck
Import stack collected on the delivery run once it is worth sending
Published from-prices on the prices page, standing orders priced on the volume

Getting a number

Say what lands, what goes up and what goes out.

Tell us the containers a week, whether the stock goes into racking or onto the floor, and how much leaves on pallets that do not come back. The quote names the pallet and the grade for each, priced the same business day when you ask before 2pm, delivered from Prestons across Greater Sydney, Wollongong, the Central Coast and Newcastle.

Get a price on pallets for the warehouse How many pallets fit in a container?

Questions from importers and wholesalers

Can we keep using the pallets that come off the container?

On the floor for a few weeks, a sound import pallet is fine. In the racking, usually not: a Euro 1200 x 800 or a US 48 by 40 inch pallet does not span Australian beams the way a 1165 x 1165 does, and a light one way softwood pallet is not built to be lifted loaded more than once. Which pallets are safe in racking sets out the test.

Will you take the import pallets away?

Yes. Sixty or more reusable pallets anywhere in Greater Sydney is a free pickup, often on the delivery run. A stack that is mostly one way import pallets is not reusable, so it is quoted as a clearance in writing before a truck is sent, and anything sound in it is credited against the clearance. Outside Sydney the pickup is priced in the written offer.

Do you sell one way pallets for despatch?

Yes. One way and grade C pallets are priced for a single trip, for customers who do not send pallets back. Where a customer does return them, a grade B standard is the better buy because it comes back and goes out again. How pallets are graded has the grades side by side.

Can a standing order follow our shipping schedule?

Yes. A standing order is a set grade and count on a set day; for an importer the count is set against the containers landing that week and changed with one call when a vessel slips. It is priced on the volume over the term, not on each drop.

Do you move the containers as well?

A container on a skeletal trailer is a dedicated vehicle job, quoted by lane and vehicle on the transport side. Say where it is going and when the slot is.

Prefer to talk? Call Jayden on 0494 820 639. The container side of the same question: how many pallets fit in a 20 or 40 foot container. The other industry pages: food distributors, building products, 3PLs and manufacturers.

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