Buying & selling
Six questions to ask any pallet supplier, including us
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Everything marked with a star is required. The rest helps us quote faster.
We wrote this to be used on us. If we ever fail one of these, hold us to it.
There is no legally binding pallet grading standard in North America. The words “Grade A” mean whatever the supplier saying them intends. That is not necessarily dishonest — it is just unregulated, and it puts the burden of verification on the buyer.
1. Can I have your written grade standard?
The single most useful question. A supplier with a written standard has thought about where the lines are and can be held to them. One without has a salesperson's adjective.
What good looks like: a document that states the maximum number of replaced deck boards, whether companion stringers and plugs are permitted, what staining is acceptable and what causes outright rejection. Ideally photographed. It should arrive within the hour, because it should already exist.
2. What is the remedy if a load misses spec?
The answer should be a short sentence: swap or credit, within a stated window. Anything longer is a negotiation, and a negotiation is what you are trying to avoid.
3. Will you photograph the actual lot?
Not stock imagery — the specific stack going on your trailer. Any yard that grades properly can do this in ninety seconds. A supplier that will not is either brokering a load they have never seen or does not want you to see it.
4. What is your policy on pooled pallets?
Ask directly: do you buy CHEP, PECO or LPR? The correct answer is no, immediately, without qualification. A yard that trades in pool property is a yard that has decided which rules apply to it, and you cannot tell in advance which other rules are on that list.
5. What is your actual lead time, and what happens when you are short?
Every recycler runs out of something. What matters is whether they tell you in week one or week three. Ask what happened the last time they could not fill an order and listen for whether the story includes a phone call they made or one they received.
6. What reporting do I get?
If you have any sustainability obligation at all, a weight ticket is not reporting. Ask for the disposition split — how much of what you returned was reused, repaired, remanufactured, recovered and ground — and ask what carbon factor they apply and where it comes from.
| Question | Good answer | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Written grade standard | Sent within the hour | “It's industry standard” |
| Remedy | Swap or credit, stated window | “We'd look at it case by case” |
| Photographs | Yes, of your lot | Stock images or reluctance |
| Pooled pallets | Immediate no | Any hesitation at all |
| Lead time honesty | A specific story | “We're never short” |
| Reporting | Disposition split + named factor | A weight ticket |
The seventh question, for us specifically
People ask why we have no phone number, and it belongs on this list because it is a fair challenge. The answer: a pallet enquiry needs a footprint, a count, a postcode and often a photograph, and none of those survive a voicemail. Everything goes into a written queue with a timestamp, worked by a yard manager, answered in writing within a business day.
If that is the wrong trade-off for you, it is a legitimate reason to use somebody else, and we would rather you knew before you ordered than after.