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Ecommerce brands
Pallet freight for ecommerce brands shipping from a 3PL.
Your stock sits in a 3PL. The orders that leave by the pallet, to a retailer's distribution centre, a marketplace warehouse, a second 3PL or a wholesale customer, are where the freight bill and the chargebacks live. This page is what to ask for, what a DC turns away at the door, and how the two freight options are priced side by side.
Or call Jayden on 0494 820 639, 7am to 5pm weekdays.
Quick answer
How do I move pallets from my 3PL to a retailer DC without chargebacks?
Give the carrier the 3PL's despatch hours, the receiver's booking window and reference, the pallet count, the weight and the height; the quote names the day, the window and the vehicle, and the driver carries the paperwork. Most rejections at a DC door come from pallet grade, height over the limit, the wrong pallet type or a missed window, so order grade A or B pallets at the 3PL, keep the product inside the 1165 footprint and ask the receiver which pallet it takes before the order is picked. Shared freight suits one to ten pallets a week; a DC that books vehicles needs a dedicated truck, and the quote prices both side by side. A quote asked for before 2pm is answered the same business day.
The job
What does pallet freight from a 3PL involve?
A pallet run out of a 3PL has three parties and the brand is the one paying: the 3PL that picks and wraps, the carrier that moves it, and the receiver that books a window and checks the pallet at the door. The brand usually never sees the pallet. That is where the cost hides, because a pallet that misses the window or fails the receiver's check comes back, gets re-booked, and is charged twice.
- Tell us the 3PL's despatch hours and the receiver's booking window; the quote names the day and the window, and the driver has both.
- Give the pallet count, the rough weight each and the height. A pallet over 1.4 metres can count as two positions, and a receiver with a height limit will refuse one over it.
- Say whether the receiver takes shared freight. Some DCs book the vehicle, not the consignment, and want a dedicated truck at the dock.
What a DC rejects
Why do retailer DCs turn pallets away?
The reasons repeat. Each one is a cost the brand wears, not the 3PL or the carrier.
| Reason at the dock | What stops it |
|---|---|
| Pallet grade: a pallet with a broken board or nails up fails the receiver's check | Grade A or B pallets under the load, named on the 3PL's pallet order (the grades) |
| Height over the receiver's limit, or product overhanging the pallet | The height and footprint on the booking; nothing wider than 1165 on a standard pallet (packing a pallet) |
| Wrong pallet type: a pooled pallet where the receiver wants a plain one, or the reverse | Ask the receiver which pallet they take before the order is picked; a pooled pallet belongs to the pool (CHEP and Loscam) |
| Missed window | The window on the booking, a vehicle that fits the dock, and a dedicated truck where the DC books vehicles rather than consignments |
| No paperwork at the door | The consignment note and the receiver's booking reference travel with the driver; the proof of delivery comes back to you with the receiver's name and the time (what a POD is) |
Shared or dedicated
Shared freight or a dedicated truck from the 3PL?
One to ten pallets a week to a DC in the same city usually goes as shared freight: you pay for the positions you use on a vehicle already running that way. A full load, a receiver that books vehicles, or a run with a firm time at the dock goes on a dedicated vehicle. The quote prices both together so the crossover is visible rather than guessed; it moves with the pallet count, the weight, the distance and the access at both ends (what moves the price).
Regular volume to the same receiver is priced as a committed lane rather than trip by trip, and a return leg (empty pallets or returns coming back to the 3PL) is priced into it when there is freight to bring back.
The pallets themselves
Who supplies the pallets the 3PL ships on?
Usually the 3PL, charged back to the brand on the invoice as a pallet fee. If the fee is a line you have never looked at, the 3PL pallet page is what a contract warehouse should be asking its supplier for, and the pallet spend calculator puts a yearly figure on it. Where the brand buys its own pallets for the 3PL to use, we deliver them to the 3PL by grade on a schedule and collect the empties on the same run.
Getting a price
Send the 3PL's suburb, the receiver's suburb, the pallet count and the weight.
Shared freight and a dedicated vehicle come back priced side by side, with the window and the vehicle named. A quote asked for before 2pm is answered the same business day.
Questions from ecommerce brands
Can you pick up from my 3PL without me being there?
Yes. The 3PL despatches against the booking; the driver carries the consignment note and the receiver's booking reference, and the proof of delivery comes back to you by email with the receiver's name and the time.
My receiver books vehicles, not consignments. Does that change the price?
Yes. A DC that wants the vehicle at a booked slot needs a dedicated truck rather than shared freight, and the quote shows it as its own line beside the shared option so you can see the difference.
Can the same run bring returns or empty pallets back to the 3PL?
Yes. Returns and empties on the way back are priced into a dedicated run when you tell us about them; on shared freight they are a separate consignment.
What if the DC rejects a pallet at the door?
The driver photographs the pallet and the reason, the photo reaches you with the proof of delivery, and the re-delivery is priced before anything is re-booked. Most rejections come from grade, height or paperwork, which the booking is built to prevent.
Do you move single pallets from a 3PL?
Yes. One pallet goes as shared freight or by pallet courier inside Sydney; the pallet courier page covers the metro option.
Which pallets will a retail DC accept?
Most take a sound standard 1165 timber pallet, grade A or B, with the product inside the footprint and under their height limit; some specify pooled pallets. Ask the receiver before the order is picked, then order that grade from the 3PL.
Prefer to talk? Call Jayden on 0494 820 639. Lane pages: Sydney to Melbourne, Sydney to Brisbane, Sydney metro.
Related questions
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- When do I need a tailgate truck?
- Forklift unload or hand unload: what to tell us
- When is a pallet pickup free?
Page updated 16 October 2026. Facts on this page are kept in step with the facts page; terms are explained in the glossary; the suburbs we stop at are on the areas page. Written by the team at 360 Operations Group, Prestons NSW; follow 360 on LinkedIn.