But don’t just take our word for it. Last year, Tom Vanderbilt wrote an article for Slate.com titled “The Single Most Important Object in the Global Economy, The pallet.” Mr. Vanderbilt’s article is a great explanation of the importance of the pallet.
So why do we at Nelson like this article? Let's ask our team!
Which line of the article is the most important to you and why?
“The pallet is one of those things that, once you start to look for it, you see everywhere: Clustered in stacks near freight depots and distribution centers (where they are targets for theft), holding pyramids of Coke in an “endcap display” at your local big-box retailer, providing gritty atmosphere in movies, forming the dramatic stage-setting for wartime boondoggles (news accounts of the Iraqi scandal seemed obsessed with the fact the money was delivered on pallets, as if to underscore the sheer mass of the currency), being broken up for a beach bonfire somewhere, even repurposed into innovative modern architecture.”
David Caltrider, President
“Of course, nothing in supply chains is so simple: To be effectively used in containers, pallets would have to become thinner — “you want to max the cube,” White says, i.e., fill the container’s volume with as much product as possible, and current pallets would take up valuable space. But creating thinner pallets, he says, would require changes down the line in the way companies store products. Warehouse rack storage, he says, would have to be retrofit to accommodate the newer designs.”
John Clarke, Technical Director
“Some 80 percent of all US commerce is carried on pallets”.
Rich Reiher, Vice President
“The pallet, that humble construction of wood joists and planks (or, less typically, plastic or metal ones) upon which most every object in the world, at some time or another, is carried.”
Pete Caltrider, Chairman of the Board
“The second factor in the rise of the pallet was World War II. Logistics—the “Big ‘L’,” as one history puts it—is the secret story behind any successful military campaign, and pallets played a large role in the extraordinary supply efforts in the world’s first truly global war.”
Mike Cunneen, Director of Sales and Marketing