Valley Pallet, Inc.

Market Update: It’s 2012, Do You Know Where Your Cores Are?

lindsey — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:05:51 +0000

The impact of fewer new pallets being built is faster cycles in the recycle pallet market, which has accelerated the aging of the available white-wood pallet pool. Only time will tell if the current core dilemma is a true paradigm shift or another drastic shift in market dynamics.

2011 Story of the Year:iGPS Loses Two Major Accounts, Pallet Availability Problems Dampen Earlier Successes

lindsey — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:03:44 +0000

Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS), the all-plastic pallet pooler, has gone from kicking butt to being shown the door all in less than a year. It made a splash in June 2010 when the pooler lured ConAgra Foods away from its rival CHEP. As a major account in the consumer goods market, acquiring ConAgra was seen by some as a validation of the iGPS system. The rapid loss of the account back to CHEP in May 2011 has been viewed by most in the industry as proof that the iGPS model does not work or at the very least is broken.

Pallet Industry Cooperative Leaders Answer Tough Questions Discuss Official Launch of 9BLOC Branded Pallets

lindsey — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:01:41 +0000

The whitewood pallet industry in the United States has explored launching an industry cooperative pool for years. The process has entered a new phase with the actual launch of the 9BLOC pallet last month as the first pallets rolled off the production lines. It all started with the PIMS pallet proposed by leaders of the National Wooden Pallet Container Association back a number of years ago. Organizers separated its links with the NWPCA and changed its name to PLUS in 2011 only to run into trademark problems with CHEP USA. Having checked all the legal issues and developed the infrastructure for launching the pool, the initial production run has been marked with the new name 9BLOC. These pallets are now being sold to Costco suppliers with a handful of manufacturers producing the first pallets.

Industry Prepares for Increased Biomass Demand

lindsey — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:27:35 +0000

As the demand for renewable energy has increased around the globe, biomass has emerged as the top player on the renewable energy landscape. Now, with the deadlines for various existing Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) getting closer, new ones being passed and government incentives increasing, the expected increase in global biomass demand cannot be ignored.

Pallet testing comes of age

lindsey — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:53:55 +0000

Visit the website of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (http://www.palletcentral.com), and you’ll see the announcement of a new version of the NWPCA’s pallet design software program, PDS Version 5.0. The new version, according to the NWPCA, integrates the pallet with the end user’s product to create a better unit load.

While the NWPCA’s design program is only available to its members, it underscores a fact the association has been promoting for about three decades with PDS and the pallet lab at Virginia Tech: not all pallets are created equal. It is possible to engineer a better pallet.

US: Increased exports offer logistics opportunity

lindsey — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:57:06 +0000

The falling value of the dollar, infrastructure improvements have created the potential for significant growth of U.S. exports in the next several years. As a critical link in the supply chain, pallet companies are uniquely positioned to benefit from any growth of international trade. Though many industries are still struggling with the effects of the recession, one area has actually benefited from the struggles of the U.S. economy – exports. Due to the weak economy, the U.S. dollar has been progressively decreasing in value compared to many other currencies. And every time the dollar falls it makes U.S. exports more competitive across the globe as it shifts exchange rates in favor of other currencies. As a critical link in the U.S. supply chain, pallet companies are uniquely positioned to benefit from current and future increased export volumes.

Center for Unit Load Design Taps New Director

lindsey — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:49:11 +0000

The Department of Wood Science and Forest Products at Virginia Tech recently appointed Dr. Laszlo Horvath as the new director of the Center for Unit Load Design (Center). The move comes as the Center reorganizes to involve more faculty support, which it hasn’t had since Dr. Mark White was the director of the Center. This allows for the Center to be partially funded through the university and reduces its reliance on research grants and projects for full funding.

Valley Pallet’s September “Driver of the Month” Award Announced

lindsey — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:30:45 +0000

In an effort to get caught up on our award for “Driver of the Month,” we have chosen to bypass the month of August and go straight in to September. This month’s “Driver of the Month” was as usual, very difficult to choose. Our dispatch team came to a decision and September’s award goes to Antonio Rivera. Antonio has been with Valley Pallet for over four years now, having been hired in March of 2007 as a Yuma based driver. After spending a few seasons in Yuma, Rivera transferred up to the Salinas Valley, calling it his home ever since. He is described as being a hard working driver who takes the utmost pride in his job and his equipment. Antonio keeps his truck looking clean every single day. Another quality that Rivera possesses is his promptness; he is on time with most of his deliveries and very punctual in general. His attitude is what sets him apart from ordinary drivers and makes him a great driver. Antonio gets along tremendously well with his co-workers and customers love his fantastic attitude. We can always expect Antonio to come in every single day with a smile on his face and ready to tell a joke. Congratulations to Antonio Rivera for this achievement. We are enormously proud to have him as part of this team. Check back next month for the October “Driver of the Month.”

Driver of the Month, Antonio Rivera

Draft Best Handling Practices

lindsey — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:10:31 +0000

An NWPCA task group has completed a draft document providing handling guidelines to pallet users throughout the food and pharmaceutical industries.

What prompted this action?

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a regulatory announcement asking for comments by industry on the transportation of food products including trucks, trains and pallets. NWPCA submitted comments with a two-paragraph guideline (to view the NWPCA comments click here).
Starting in 2010, Johnson & Johnson began a series of product recalls, the first of which the company blamed on wood pallets (to read more click here). Two other pharmaceutical companies followed J&J's lead and used wood pallets as an easy scapegoat.
In 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Food Modernization Act which gave new authority to the FDA to regulate all aspects of the food supply chain -- calling it a "field to fork" safety program.

In a proactive effort, a NWPCA task group was appointed to develop workable, practical guidelines. NWPCA met with officials at the FDA last week and discussed these DRAFT guidelines. Officials were anxious to have our industry take the lead on this issue and look forward to discussing the final recommendations.

Click here for the draft of the Best Handling Practices guidelines

Pallet Design System to Release Revolutionary Version 5.0

lindsey — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:02:54 +0000

The Pallet Design System© Version 5.0 (PDS V5.0) is the result of several years of planning and development. It will enable clear communication about the customer’s unit load handling requirements and the ability of the pallet to meet those requirements. A revolutionary change, PDS V5.0 will now enable pallet manufacturers to specify and draw the entire “unit load” – consisting of the pallet, containers, and load stabilizers.

Keeping up with the latest research, PDS V5.0 contains new structural analysis models which are based on state-of-the-art wooden pallet design, all relevant historical data, and the latest laboratory and field test data. During over 30 years of R&D, the structural analysis capabilities in PDS have evolved, and the determination of safe working load levels has been continually monitored.