Brian Pigott of One Way Solutions offers tips on how to save money buying plastic pallets.
“With my mind on my money and my money on my mind”
– “Gin And Juice” by Snoop Dogg
Our customers usually bring two central questions through the door when trying to meet their plastic pallet needs.
- Do we carry a plastic pallet that meets their needs?
- How can we help them reduce the costs of acquiring plastic pallets?
Fortunately, the answer is yes to both concerns.
Providing the correct product to our customers is fundamental to any material handling equipment provider; however, we run the risk of losing customers if we fail to help them employ cost-effective strategies to reduce the costs of moving their goods.
I’m going to highlight three often overlooked strategies to help save money on plastic pallets.
Volume Savings
Be sure to ask your plastic pallet provider if they offer a quantity discount; ordering larger numbers can often push down per unit prices and bring in significant volume savings.
If you don’t see a quantity discount – ask for one! If the provider doesn’t advertise volume pricing, the answer is always “no” unless you ask!
Freight Savings
More significant shipping volumes save money. Did you know you could save as much as $10 per pallet, just on shipping costs alone by ordering in bulk? When ordering plastic pallets and pallet containers in higher volume, primarily by the truckload, you can enjoy quantity pricing discounts and save up to 98% on per unit freight charges! Consider ordering nestable pallets whenever possible. Nestable pallets stack within one another, like Solo cups, allowing a higher per unit shipping, reducing overall shipping costs per unit.
Product Selection
Don’t overbuy. Assessing the fit of the product to the application is critical in saving end users money. Choose a plastic pallet that satisfies your operational tolerances, but don’t select a pallet that is over-engineered. A pallet built to withstand more capacity than is necessary will be more expensive to manufacture, adding money to your purchase price.
Shipping Location
We ship from multiple shipping locations, allowing us to reduce the distance between our products and customers, saving money on freight expenses to lower the overall costs of buying plastic pallets.
Brian Pigott is Managing Director of One Way Solutions. All opinions are those of the author.
