Pallet pickup: clear the stack from your dock or back lot

BOX 01Which kind of clearing is yours

BOX 02How clearing generally works

Pallets leave a dock one of three ways. A recycler or buyer sorts them on arrival: the good ones are repaired and resold, the rest ground. A hauler takes them to a yard that does the same. Or they are ground or chipped without a second life if nothing can be saved. Which one applies depends on the count, the condition and who is nearby.

This is how the work usually goes, so you can write the request in terms the receiving end understands.

BOX 03Before you send the request

• Count what you have, even roughly: under 50, 50 to 200, a trailer.
• Name the sizes, and say if they are mixed.
• Say whether any are broken, wet or stained.
• Give the ZIP code and say whether it is a dock, a lot, or an alley.

If part of the stack is sound, say so: it may be a sell in disguise, and the two requests can be one.

BOX 04What to say about access

A clearing request depends on how a pile can be reached. Say whether it is on a dock with a door height, in a yard, inside a building or in a trailer. Say whether a truck can back to it, whether the ground is paved and whether there is a gate or a lock.

A request that names the access is easier to place than one that only names the count. The same applies to timing: if the space must be cleared by a date, say so.

BOX 05Why pallets pile up in the first place

Most piles begin as an intended short-term stack. A shipment of pallets arrives, the goods are unpacked and the empties go outside to wait. Without a person whose job it is to clear them, the stack grows until someone needs the space. A standing request, covered under dock pickup, is for docks where this happens every week.

BOX 06What a clearing request does not need

It does not need a sales pitch, a long history of how the pile formed or a list of every pallet type you have ever received. It needs a count, a condition, a place and a way in. Everything else is optional.

It also does not need you to sort the pile first. If you have time to separate good pallets from bad, say so. If not, say that and describe the mix as best you can.

BOX 07When the pile is on rented property

Many piles sit on land the sender does not own: a landlord's lot, a shared dock, a managed shopping center. Before sending a request, find out who can authorize removal and how access works. Write the name of the property manager or the landlord in the request if you can, and say who holds the gate key.

This is dull but important.

BOX 08Three common starting points

A retail manager finds a wall of pallets behind the store and a landlord asking about it. A warehouse supervisor sees the yard fill after a seasonal reset. A small manufacturer discovers that years of inbound crates have buried a corner of the lot. All three begin with the same question: how much is here, and what shape is it in? Removal, recurring pickup, broken wood and recycling answer different versions of it.

BOX 09A word on safety

Stacks of pallets shift, and old stacks can fall. If a pile leans, do not climb it or pull from the bottom. Describe the lean in the request and leave the stack as it is. Broken boards also hide nails, so wear gloves if you handle them.

FAQStraight answers