Business operations
How do I stop pallets piling up behind my store or restaurant?
Updated
Short answer: Give pallets one designated spot, sort them as deliveries arrive (pooled pallets apart from white-wood ones), return pooled pallets through the vendor or the pool company, and set a trigger for pickup, such as a set number of stacks or a fixed day. For steady buildup, a recurring pickup removes the decision entirely.
Why pallets pile up
Almost every delivery to a store or restaurant arrives on a pallet, and most vendors don't take the empty one back. The pallets are too useful to throw away and too bulky to keep, so they collect in the back lot, by the dumpster or in a corner of the stockroom. Nobody's job is to deal with them, so nobody does.
Why it's worth fixing
- Fire risk. Stacks of dry wood pallets burn hot and fast. Fire codes regulate how idle pallets are stored, indoors and outdoors, including their distance from buildings. Ask your local fire marshal what applies to you.
- Blocked exits and docks. Pallets drift into fire lanes, exit paths and delivery bays.
- Pests. A pallet pile next to a building is shelter for rodents.
- Lost money. Good 48x40 pallets are worth something, and pooled pallets belong to someone who may come looking.
A simple system
- One spot. Mark a pallet area away from exits and doors, on hard ground, ideally where a truck can reach it.
- Sort on arrival. When a delivery is unloaded, put the empty pallet on the right stack: pooled (blue, red, marked), good white wood, broken.
- Return pooled pallets. Ask the vendor to take them back on the next delivery, or use the pool company's return process. See pooled pallets.
- Set a trigger. "When the good stack reaches chest height" or "every second Tuesday". Write it down where the closing shift will see it.
- Automate it. If the buildup is steady, set up a recurring pickup so nobody has to remember.
Restaurants and small stores
Small sites often get only a few pallets a week, which is below what makes a free pickup worthwhile. Batching helps: a monthly pickup of twenty good pallets is a better load than four trips for five. If space is too tight to batch, ask your main distributor about pallet returns first.