Pallets for river port and heavy goods in the Mid-South

BOX 01Two river ports

The Port of Memphis covers river mile 725 to 740 and handled about 8.2 million short tons of waterborne cargo in 2022 (Wikipedia). On the Arkansas bank, the Port of West Memphis is a city-owned deepwater port moving cargo among trucks, barges and trains.

Both are described under areas: Presidents Island and West Memphis.

BOX 02Heavy pallets

BOX 03Cores and broken wood

Heavy loads crack stringers. A pile that is mostly broken wood is a cores or broken pallet request, not a sale of pallets. Say how many are whole, how many are cracked and whether any held chemicals, which changes how they are handled.

BOX 04Why custom builds earn their place here

A standard pallet is built for a standard load. Steel coils, long pipe and machinery are not standard, and their pallets are built around the load: wider stringers, closer deck boards, extra blocks. These builds are reused if they survive, and they often do not.

When a heavy pallet cracks, it is hard to repair, so a pile of them tends to be cores or scrap. The honest request names the original load and the damage. A buyer can then say whether the wood can be reground, reused for a similar load or only burned. See custom pallets for the buying side.

BOX 05Hazard notes

Pallets from chemical or fuel docks may carry residue. That does not mean the wood cannot be used, but it must be named. A buyer can then choose whether the pile suits their process. Concealing it is the one thing that makes a request unusable.

BOX 06Rail on the island

The Port of Memphis public terminal on the island has rail access, which means freight can leave on a train as easily as on a truck. A pile on the island may therefore be from rail freight, truck freight or barge freight, and the request should say which.

BOX 07Weather and the river

River levels, floods and low water affect barge traffic, and with it the volume of heavy goods arriving. A port that is busy one season and quiet the next produces a pile that varies. A request should say whether it describes a busy or a quiet period.

BOX 08A request from a river dock

"About 40 custom skids, 48 x 60, reinforced stringers, from steel coil loads, six cracked, at Presidents Island, 38109, outdoors on gravel." It names the skid size, the load that came on them, the damage and the ground.

FAQStraight answers