24-by-40-Inch Pallet Adds Efficiency, Reduces Costs for Small Loads
Litco International Inc., North America’s leading source of Inca presswood pallets, today announced the launch of a “half-size” pallet for the domestic market, a 24-by-40-in. product that will enhance efficiency and reduce costs for shippers of small loads.
The new pallet – half the size of a standard 48-by-40-in. GMA pallet – will fill a large void in the market for less-than-full-pallet loads (LPL), said Gary Sharon, Litco vice president.
“We’re providing a badly needed solution for shippers of small loads,” Sharon said. “Many shippers simply use full-size pallets for their smaller loads, and just accept the higher cost of pallets relative to the total load. Others try to reduce pallet costs by using recycled full-size pallets for smaller loads, but they are still burdening themselves with more pallet space and weight than necessary, and managing less stable loads.
“The only true solution is a half-size pallet that has all the advantages of the full-size product, but takes up half the space, weighs half as much, costs much less per unit and is brand new.”
Using half-sized pallets in place of full-size pallets for small loads will save money on small loads because they will eliminate over 21,000 pounds of weight for every 1,000 pallets. With a weight of less than 22 pounds, a half-size pallet can be easily picked up manually. The space-saving nestable design will allow the economical shipment of 2,000 half-size pallets in a 48-foot trailer.
Litco expects the half-size pallet to be popular among export and domestic shippers of paper products, printers, electronic appliances, small motors, point-of-purchase retail products and many other items frequently shipped LPL.
The smaller size will help material handlers eliminate another major disadvantage of using full-size pallets with small-size loads, Sharon said. Many packaging lines are set to detect only loads that are at least 4 feet tall, and cannot detect shorter loads that are evened out over a full-size pallet. On Litco’s half-size product, the loads will be tall enough to be detected by packaging line readers.
“This will eliminate the packaging line downtime associated with inefficiently stacked loads,” Sharon said.
As with all Litco presswood products, the new half-size pallet is approved, as is, for exports under ISPM 15, the new international wood packaging regulation.
Litco International Inc., based in Vienna, Ohio, is North America’s leading source of presswood pallets. Made from pre- and post-consumer wood chips in a patented molding process, presswood pallets offer shippers a number of advantages over traditional wood pallets, including lower cost and lower weight. Litco also provides plastic pallets and a variety of other shipping products, including separator boards, core plugs, dunnage bags and void fill, as well as pallet management, leasing and other services. Litco was established in 1962 and operates facilities in Vienna and Dover, Ohio, and Sardis, Miss.
