Why Pallet Selection Matters for Manufacturers
For many manufacturers, pallets are treated as a straightforward shipping expense. The pallet is purchased, loaded, shipped to the customer, and usually never seen again. There is no reuse value, no resale value, and no direct way to recover the cost once the shipment leaves the facility.
That makes it understandable when purchasing decisions focus heavily on unit price.
But the lowest-cost pallet is not always the lowest-cost choice in practice. A pallet still has to perform before it disappears. It has to support the product during loading, survive handling, protect the unit load in transit, and arrive in a condition that does not create unnecessary work for the customer.
Pallet standards and testing methods recognize this. ASTM D1185 evaluates pallets based on strength, stiffness, safe working load, durability, and performance under specified load, support, handling, and shipping conditions [1]. Virginia Tech’s Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design makes a similar point: special-purpose pallets should be tested using the actual product the pallet is designed to carry, and changes to packaging, containment, or load arrangement can make prior test results no longer valid [2].
In other words, a pallet is not just a size and a price. It is part of a unit load system.
The Pallet Affects the Manufacturer Before It Affects the Customer
Pallet problems do not always begin at the customer’s dock. Sometimes they begin on the manufacturer’s own floor.
In one heavy bagged-material operation, the purchasing decision favored lower-cost Southern Yellow Pine pallets. From the purchasing side, the reason was easy to understand: the pallets were cheaper. But the floor supervisor responsible for moving and loading product saw a different reality. Pallets were breaking during loading. Workers would discard failed pallets and continue until the load could finally be shipped.
That kind of cost does not show up clearly on the pallet invoice. It shows up in the operation.
It can mean:
- Additional forklift handling;
- Wasted pallets;
- Interrupted loading;
- Extra time from floor personnel;
- Employee frustration;
- Possible product damage;
- Less control over the condition of the shipment leaving the facility.
This is not an argument that Southern Yellow Pine pallets are always wrong. Softwood pallets can be a good fit when they are designed correctly for the product, load weight, handling method, and support conditions. The issue is whether the pallet being purchased actually works in the environment where it is being used.
Forklift handling is not a minor consideration. A 2022 study on forklift-pallet interaction found that forklift type, pallet design, entry speed, and top load all influenced measured horizontal shock impacts during handling [3]. The study did not claim that every measured shock results in product damage, but it does reinforce a practical reality: pallets experience real stress before they ever reach the customer.
If a pallet is already failing during loading, the cost has already begun.
The Customer May Not File a Claim, But the Experience Still Matters
Many pallet-related problems never become formal claims. A customer may receive a load on a damaged pallet, unload it carefully, repalletize it, take pictures, make a note, or simply move on. Even if product damage occurs, it may be difficult to determine whether the fault belongs to the pallet, the shipper, the carrier, an intermediate handler, or the receiver.
But the absence of a claim does not mean the shipment created no cost.
A bad pallet can create friction for the customer’s receiving team. It can slow unloading, create safety concerns, damage packaging, or require extra handling. Even when the product itself is usable, the condition of arrival affects how the customer experiences the supplier.
The pallet also affects more than the wood underneath the product. It can affect the packaging above it. Research on pallet-package interaction has found that the stiffness of wooden pallet top deck boards can affect corrugated box strength by up to 37% when boxes are asymmetrically supported [4]. That does not mean every shipment will see that level of impact. It does mean pallet stiffness can matter to the way the product and packaging perform as a unit load.
For manufacturers, this matters because the customer is not only receiving the product. They are receiving the shipment as prepared by the supplier.
A load that arrives stable, clean, and easy to handle reinforces confidence. A load that arrives on a broken, unstable, or poorly matched pallet may not result in a chargeback, but it can still affect the customer’s perception of the supplier’s standards.
Recycled, Combo, and Softwood Pallets Have Their Place
This argument should not be overstated.
Recycled, repaired, remanufactured, combo, and softwood pallets all have legitimate uses. For light, low-risk, forgiving freight, a lower-cost pallet may be the practical and responsible choice.
There are also environmental reasons to take recycled and repaired pallets seriously. A 2022 life-cycle assessment of the U.S. wood pallet repair and remanufacturing sector notes that repairing and remanufacturing pallets can extend service life and improve environmental performance by keeping pallets in use longer [5].
The technical picture is also mixed in a useful way. A USDA Forest Service summary of research comparing new, repaired, and remanufactured GMA-style pallets found that repaired and remanufactured pallets can perform adequately in some conditions. It also found that bending strength and stiffness declined, and performance variation increased, as repair quality decreased [6].
That is the important point. The question is not whether recycled or lower-cost pallets are always bad. They are not.
The question is whether the pallet is appropriate for the product, the handling environment, the customer’s requirements, and the level of risk the manufacturer is willing to accept.
Where New Appalachian Hardwood Pallets Fit
New Appalachian hardwood pallets should be considered in that context, not as a universal answer.
Appalachian hardwood is also not one single material. The Appalachian region spans 423 counties across 13 states [7], and Appalachian hardwood supply includes multiple commercially important species, including ash, basswood, beech, birch, cherry, hickory, hard maple, soft maple, red oak, white oak, poplar, and walnut [8].
That variety matters. A good pallet decision still depends on pallet design, species group, component dimensions, fasteners, moisture condition, and intended use. For example, the USDA Wood Handbook notes that nail withdrawal resistance depends on wood density, nail diameter, depth of penetration, and nail surface condition [9].
So the case for new Appalachian hardwood is not simply “hardwood is better.” The better case is that new Appalachian hardwood pallets can provide a more controlled starting point when the shipment calls for one.
They may deserve serious consideration when:
- The product is heavy;
- Load distribution is difficult;
- Pallets are failing during loading;
- Packaging condition matters;
- The customer has strict receiving expectations;
- The shipment is high-value, fragile, or difficult to replace;
- The customer’s handling equipment requires a more specific pallet design;
- Prior pallet performance has already created internal or customer-facing problems.
In these situations, the comparison should not stop at the pallet unit price. It should include the cost of loading problems, wasted pallets, customer friction, rework, product damage, and the time spent dealing with issues that could have been addressed through a better pallet specification.
The Pallet Manufacturer Matters Too
Pallet needs are not always fixed.
Products change. Load patterns change. Packaging changes. Handling equipment changes. Customer requirements change. A pallet that worked well under one set of conditions may need to be adjusted when those conditions change.
This is where the pallet manufacturer has value beyond quoting a price.
Blackberry Pallet evaluates your pallet needs based on conditions of use, including uniform or concentrated loads, handling requirements, and we maintain open communications with our customers to ensure that the pallets that they receive meet their needs. That approach reflects what many manufacturers learn in practice: pallet performance depends on how the pallet is actually being used.
We have seen this directly. One customer needed a modification to a regularly ordered pallet because changes in load distribution and handling equipment required a different design. We made the change and reworked pallets that had already been delivered so they would fit the customer’s current needs.
That kind of responsiveness matters. It helps prevent a pallet issue from becoming a recurring operations issue, a customer issue, or both.
A Better Way to Think About Pallet Cost
For manufacturers using one-way pallets, price will always matter. It should. But price should be evaluated alongside performance.
A more complete pallet decision asks:
- Does the pallet survive loading consistently?
- Are employees sorting, discarding, or working around failed pallets?
- Does the pallet match the product’s weight and load distribution?
- Does it support the packaging well enough?
- Does it work with the customer’s receiving and handling environment?
- Has the customer ever reported pallet quality, load stability, or receiving problems?
- Can the pallet manufacturer respond when the application changes?
New Appalachian hardwood pallets are not the right answer for every shipment. But for manufacturers shipping products where load stability, internal efficiency, customer experience, and supplier reliability matter, they deserve serious consideration.
A one-way pallet may not return to the manufacturer. But its impact can still return through the condition of the shipment, the efficiency of the loading process, and the experience the customer has when the product arrives.
