Anyone right now doing pallet exchanges currently? Let me know who you are...and what cities have you done them in?
I'm about to do them tomorrow morning. Pick up wine from the Napa valley, several pickups. I'd say 1/3 of the shippers require pallet exchange.
I remember years ago, Roundys in Sheboygan, WI. 40K canned food. Hand the receiver paper work, I say, Let me know when your done unloading, He says, We have a problem? Really, Yes, You have 40K canned food on the wrong pallets, we only except them on CHEP PALLETS. SO what do you want me to do about it? Receiver: Break them all down, and put them on CHEP PALLETS. Me: Ruined my day, and my back.
Typically, you have to have clean, unbroken 40" x 48" 4 way pallets. When freight is palletized on these, you have to have an equal amount to give them to replace their pallets. If they require clean pallets, (not broken, missing boards, odorous with food, etc.) make sure the freight you are getting is on the same. A Chep pallet is also 40 x 48, but built of much sturdier wood and a little different of design. And typically, shippers will ship on Cheps with no exchange and/or exchange on Cheps, but will not accept one for another. A good question to ask when you are picking up a load of palletized freight is, "What does the reciever require? Cheps, 4 ways, will they reject pallets with double stringers (repaired, see pic below and note on left side), etc. I've seen so many guys have to re-handle a load for not checking on these things.
I only dealt with pallet exchange with Stevens. One time at Ore Ida I had to wait two hours for a pallet guy to show up and another to get loaded. They wouldn't load me while we waited.
I refuse to do pallet exchange. If the shipper requires it we pay for them there and bill back whomever is paying for the load. This is a worse scam than lumpers in my opinion.
