Pallets Move the World

Shipping pallets are used in virtually all industries where products are physically transported - automotive, chemical, consumer goods, food, paper, retail, metals and more. No matter what mode of transportation is used - trucking, freight trains, overseas ships or air carriers - pallets carry the load.

In the United States alone, more than 1.9 billion shipping pallets are used each year. The vast majority of these (about 95%) are made of wood. The rest are made of plastic (2%), wood composite (2%) or cardboard/corrugated (less than 1%).

It's estimated that in 1999, the North American pallet industry generated $7 billion revenues. The world pallet industry rang up $30 billion in revenues. In the United States, the industry consists of a fragmented network of about 4,000 pallet companies, most of which were privately held and serving customers within a limited geographic radius. Revenues were split between sales of new pallets and the repair of recycling of used pallets.

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