The history of paper pallets began with an interest in eliminating the need to return pallets and the introduction of Norman Cahner’s “Chuckaway.” The opportunity to reduce pallet weight and cost was also a significant point of interest. However, there have been some milestones in the history of the paper pallet. A decision contemplated but not made by the U.S. grocery industry Pallet Subcommittee over 30 years ago could have dramatically altered the trajectory for paper pallets.
This article examines the history of paper pallets, also known as corrugated or cardboard pallets.
Paper Pallets Emerged in the 1940s
Paper pallets emerged as a product of interest in the 1940s due to challenges associated with wood and metal pallets. The benefits pallet designers saw in paper pallets still hold true for buyers today, including attributes such as their lower weight, adaptability, cube efficiency and eliminating the need for empty pallet returns. Fast-forward over 60 years, and IKEA noted these benefits as important when it chose to convert to paper pallets.
Paper Pallets: Lightweight, Affordable
One early designer of paper pallets was Norman Cahners, who was interested in promoting the use of lightweight pallets of various materials, including corrugated cardboard sheets, for shipping. During World War II, Cahners, who had worked at the U.S. Navy Materials Handling Laboratory in Hingham, Mass., looked at various pallets in his capacity. After the War, he pursued alternative material pallets commercially, the legendary “Chuckaway” pallet. Below are comments from his 1945 patent filing for a “Fiberboard portable platform”:
Such platforms have found considerable use in the storage and transportation of goods. The saving in labor handling is considerable where goods may be palletized and shipped through with the pallet to their destination. A drawback to their use in through transportation however, particularly in common carrier transportation, is that the platforms are carried by common carriers at Interstate Commerce Commission rates for the palletized commodity, just as any shipping package or crate.
The platform therefore contributes a considerable part of the shipping cost because of its own weight and, in carload lots, involves expensive space consumption. Typical wooden and steel platforms weigh 100 pounds or more.
A second disadvantage in present day platforms is the problem of return of empties.” Either the platforms are one use” platforms so that their entire value must be absorbed as a shipping or other overhead cost, or else attention and consideration must be given to their return shipment. Since the cost of wooden platforms runs as high as six dollars apiece, and of steel platforms at least double that figure, single use involves an item of considerable consequence, while unloaded return shipment is a nuisance and an added cost.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide portable platforms that are light in weight so that their transportation cost will be practically negligible.
It is a further object of this invention to provide highly inexpensive platforms having adequate strengths to handle all but extremely heavy or otherwise unusual commodities, and the small cost of which will justify their one-shipment use.
It is a further object of this invention to provide platforms which can be supplied in knock-down form for ready assembly by the user or disassembly for return shipment.
It is a further specific object of this invention to provide lightweight platforms made of fiber which may be sold in substantially flat form for storage in such form; to be folded and assembled into two-way platforms or four-way platforms when used.
Cahners also filed a patent for an expendable pallet with a solid top deck that could be made from corrugated or other sheet material.
Paper pallets were being commercialized by the 1950s, and there was coverage of them in trade publications in that decade. Many of the earliest paper pallets were restricted to lighter loads and dry handling environments. Ensuing patents addressed another hurdle: creating a design allowing cost-effective manufacturing.
Paper Pallet Design Work – Innovative Products But Hard to Manufacture, Further Innovation
Stanley Lee, a corrugated pallet pioneer, found some interesting paper pallet designs from Japan in the 1970s. However, due to their complexity, they did not lend themselves well to automated production. After all, even Cahners had a vision of pallet assembly at the point of use, thus avoiding considerable inbound freight costs:
It is a further specific object of this invention to provide lightweight platforms made of fiber which may be sold in substantially flat form for storage in such form; to be folded and assembled into two-way platforms or four-way platforms when used.
Further innovation would make paper pallets a better fit for automated assembly. While earlier designs used core tubes or similar spacers to provide fork entry, other designs emerged that used other approaches, such as various laminated or folded beams. These changes offered greater promise for innovation.
Today, we see automated production that involves folding technologies. These technologies can manufacture pallets from sheet material, with vertical members created by folding sheet material or through the placement and attachment of vertical members. Eltete and Green Ox Pallet Technology offer in-line manufacturing systems.
The Pallet Subcommittee: Woulda Coulda
In the late 1980s, the U.S. grocery industry wasn’t generally happy with pallets. While palletization had been a huge boon to material handling, and while standardization onto the 48×40″ GMA pallet had paid enormous dividends in supply chain efficiency, pallet exchange had proven to be problematic (what have you done for me lately, pallets?), and the industry was looking for a better way. As always, there was more to the story, as global entities such as CHEP and the more modest Canadian Pallet Council were looking to enter the U.S. market, but I’m getting off track.
The bottom line is that the shipping platform option was one of the four alternatives evaluated by the pallet subcommittee (along with pallet rental, cooperative pallet pooling based on the CPC model, and the status quo). Basically, this was a corrugated pallet. It was proposed for lighter loads, which accounted for a significant proportion of shipments.
Some members, one in particular, thought it was a very good idea. If it had been accepted for lighter loads, that decision might have materially boosted the uptake of paper pallets in the 1990s and beyond. It might have materially changed the pallet landscape in the FMCG supply chains. Regarding uptake, this would have been the Big Kahuna, but other milestones have also been important. It’s crazy to think about what that would mean for today’s retail pallet landscape if lobbying efforts had played out differently.
Paper Pallets Milestones, ISPM 15 and IKEA
The introduction of ISPM 15 in 2002 opened another significant opportunity for paper pallets. Pallets that were exempt from ISPM 15 heat treatment requirements eliminated worry that shipments would be rejected at international ports of entry—for lighter loads that were a match. Several years later, when there was talk that ISPM-15 protocols would be extended to Canada-U.S. trade, the paper pallet manufacturers were hopeful that the restriction would drive paper pallet acceptance. Still, ultimately, it was never instituted for the U.S./Canada trade.
In my mind, the biggest headline in the history of paper pallets was IKEA’s announcement that it was migrating from wood euro pallets to paper pallets. The retailer liked that paper pallets weighed less and could have a low profile, which helped reduce the cost of inbound freight. It also liked that it avoided the reverse logistics of empty wood pallets. Instead, it could bale the empty corrugated pallets and reduce reverse logistics costs.
People wondered if other companies would follow IKEA’s logic and convert, but there was little evidence that IKEA sparked a movement. IKEA’s product mix is different from that of a lot of other retailers in that knocked-down furniture usually provides a very rigid load that does not need a great deal of support from a pallet.
Moisture Barriers Broaden Scope for Paper Pallets
One limitation of paper pallets has been their susceptibility to moisture. Paper products such as corrugated pallets are hygroscopic, readily absorbing moisture, which expands fibers and decreases performance. However, newer-generation cardboard pallets can be moisture-resistant and recyclable with other old corrugated containers. For example, Ox Box offers eco-board® material that is resistant to moisture but still recyclable with regular cardboard packaging. Other innovations continue. The continued use of honeycomb material, innovative approaches to material folding and even new adhesives may open the door to new markets for paper pallets.
Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
Great insights Rick, thanks for sharing