Pallets in Collierville, Tennessee

BOX 01The town and its roads

Collierville is a town in Shelby County and the third-largest municipality in the county, with 51,324 residents in the 2020 census. Its major thoroughfares include Interstate 269, Nonconnah or Bill Morris Parkway (SR 385), US 72 along Poplar Avenue, SR 57 and SR 175 (Wikipedia).

BOX 02A plant and a few warehouses

Carrier's Collierville plant opened in 1967 and employs over 1,400 workers, rising to 1,900 in seasonal peaks, according to the Town of Collierville. The market is also known for hardware wholesale distribution, agricultural chemicals and safety products.

A plant that ships heavy equipment is a different pallet buyer from a store. It wants a steady supply of one size and grade, sometimes a heavier or custom build, and it sheds pallets that came with inbound components.

BOX 03What a plant dock asks for

The industry page for such docks is HVAC and manufacturing.

BOX 04From a Collierville ZIP code

A request here should say 38017, the size, the grade and whether the load goes overseas. East of town the road runs to Rossville on SR 57, which Wikipedia puts about seven miles away. West and north are Germantown and Cordova.

BOX 05Two beltway links

The I-269 beltway links Collierville to the rest of the metro: its eastern terminus of State Route 385 is at US 72 in the town, and the first signed segment of I-269 opened on October 23, 2015, from Collierville to MS 302 (Wikipedia). That gives Collierville plants a direct line to the Mississippi warehouse belt and to I-40 at Arlington.

The practical meaning is a bigger buyer radius. A plant that once had to send its excess pallets into central Memphis can reach DeSoto County or the east side along a bypass.

BOX 06Plant towns and their piles

A plant town like Collierville has a few large generators and many small ones. The plant dock produces a regular, uniform pile. The shops and offices produce occasional, mixed ones.

BOX 07Roads and size

Collierville had 51,324 residents at the 2020 census, the third largest municipality in Shelby County. Its main roads are U.S. 72 (Poplar Avenue), State Routes 57, 175 and 205, Nonconnah Parkway (State Route 385) and Interstate 269 (Wikipedia).