Pallets in Denver, from a yard in Denver

Everything above is a paired route where possible — the trailer that delivers to you collects from somebody else on the same run, which is why the freight component on a Denver quote is usually around 10% of the delivered price.

The metro's pallet flow is dominated by three things, and knowing which one you are gives you a good idea of whether you will be a net buyer or a net seller.

• Grocery and food distribution along the I-70 and Vasquez corridors. Net generators of sound 48x40 cores, and the backbone of our intake.
• Construction and building products across the west and south metro. Net consumers, often of odd sizes and heavy-duty stock.
• 3PL and e-commerce warehousing in Aurora and the north metro. Both, simultaneously, which makes them ideal route-pairing partners.
• Breweries and taprooms everywhere. Seasonal, keg squares, and a want-list all of its own.
• Cannabis cultivation in the north and east industrial pockets. Bulk bins more than pallets.

• Winter. Between November and March we schedule with a weather buffer and will call a collection off rather than send a driver into an unploughed yard. Frozen stacks also grade worse — see our winterising guide.
• Downtown access. Several RiNo and Five Points sites cannot take a 53' trailer. Tell us and we send a box truck or a moffett flatbed.
• I-70 works. The central corridor has been under near-continuous construction. We route around it; it occasionally adds a day.
• Altitude and dryness. Denver air is dry enough that pallets stored under cover reach low moisture content quickly, which is good for grading and good for your buyback price.

Not exhaustive, and not a promise that every address inside a postcode is equally easy to reach — but this is where the routes actually go.

Altitude and air

Denver's dry air is genuinely useful for pallet quality. Stock stored under cover reaches low moisture content quickly, which means better grading, lighter loads and fewer mould rejections than a comparable yard in a humid market. It is the one geographic advantage this business has and we did nothing to earn it.

The I-70 problem

The central corridor has been under near-continuous construction for years. We route around it, and it occasionally costs a day on a cross-town run. If your site is south of I-70 and you are being quoted a longer window than you expect, that is usually why.

Winter

November to March every Front Range schedule carries a weather buffer, and we will call a collection off rather than send a driver into an unploughed yard. Frozen stacks also grade materially worse — there is a full guide on winterising a stack that is worth an hour of somebody's October.

Downtown access

Several RiNo, Five Points and Ballpark sites cannot take a 53' trailer, and a few cannot take a 48'. Tell us about the street, the dock and any overhead clearance and we will send a box truck or a moffett flatbed instead of discovering the problem with a driver in it.