Sorting pallets at the receiving dock
Most pallet programs fail at the dock, where everything gets stacked together. A four-way sort at receiving, into pooled, reusable whitewood, repairable and scrap, keeps pooled pallets out of the scrap pile and gives you the counts you need for reporting.
The four stacks
| Stack | What goes in | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Pooled | Blue, red, plastic and other marked rental pallets | Owner's collection |
| Reusable | Sound whitewood, common sizes | Reuse pickup or your own outbound |
| Repairable | One or two broken boards | Recycler for repair |
| Scrap | Broken stringers or blocks, contaminated | Grinding |
Making it stick
- Painted floor markings and signs at each stack.
- A tally sheet or a scan at put-away, so counts exist.
- A rule that pooled pallets never go in the scrap stack.
Why it pays
Sorted pallets are worth more to a recycler than a mixed pile, and the counts feed the Pallet Fate Report directly.
Who does the sorting
Make one person on each shift responsible for the pallet area. A sort that's everyone's job tends to stop after the first busy week, and pooled pallets end up in the scrap stack again.