Send the bill of lading: one pallet request

BOX 01What helps a request get read

A pallet request is easiest to read when it carries the four facts every dock knows: the size, the grade or condition, the count and the ZIP code. Nothing else is needed up front. The form asks for the rest in an optional second step.

• Buying: the size, the grade or kind, the count, whether it repeats, whether the load goes overseas.
• Selling: what is on the dock, how many, whether it is sorted, and where it sits.
• Clearing: how many, what condition, and whether a truck can reach the stack.

If you are not sure which of those you are, Dock check reads your dock and fills in a request for you. If you want to read first, the hubs are buy, sell and clear.

BOX 02What a request covers

Requests are for businesses that move pallets every week. Liquidation or returned-merchandise pallets, pallets to build furniture from, and pooled pallets that belong to someone else are outside what a request covers.

Details can go through the form, or by email to info@memphispalletyard.com. For answers to common questions, see the FAQ.

BOX 03A good first line

Open with the action and the size: "Selling about 200 Grade B 48 x 40 pallets," or "Need heat-treated pallets, 300 a month."

If you are unsure whether to buy, sell or clear, pick the closest and say what you really want in the message.

BOX 04If a detail changes

A request describes the pile as it stands. If the count, the size or the access changes, send another request with the new detail.

BOX 05Examples of requests

• Sell: "About 250 Grade B 48 x 40 stringer pallets, stacked in tens on an open dock in 38118, none damp, a few with replaced boards."
• Clear: "Roughly 90 mixed pallets behind a store in 38016, a third broken, reachable by a box truck from the alley, needed gone before the end of the month."
• Buy: "Heat-treated 48 x 40 pallets with the IPPC mark on two sides, 300 a month, delivered to 38125, for export packing."

Each example is one sentence, carries a number, a size, a condition and a ZIP code, and says what the sender wants. None promises a price or a date, because the sender does not know either.

BOX 06Photographs and measurements

Take one of the worst pallet too. A request that shows the damage honestly is easier to trust than one that shows only the best stack.

Measure with the tape along the stringers for length and across the deck boards for width, in inches. Write the numbers down; do not describe them as "standard" unless you checked.

BOX 07Mistakes that make a request hard to read

Four slips come up again and again. A size written without the unit, so "48 x 40" becomes "48 40." A ZIP code missing, so the pile has no place. And a mix of purposes: selling some, clearing some and buying more in one message. Splitting a mixed purpose into separate requests is cleaner.

If you realize you left something out, send a second request that says what changed. A short correction is easier to follow than a rewrite.

BOX 08If you are comparing sizes before you write

Measure first, then read the right page: 48 x 40 for the common footprint, 48 x 48 for the square heavy-duty one, 1200 x 800 for metric stock. A request that uses the correct name needs no clarification.

Likewise for treatment: if the pallets leave the country, read the ISPM 15 guide before writing, so the request uses the right words.

BOX 09What you do not need to include

You do not need a company history, a mission statement or a long list of products. You do not need to say why you chose us. A request is a description of pallets and a way to reach you, and a short one reads best.