FEBRUARY 2022
OCTOBER 2022
“We have created a go-to, dedicated eCommerce site, open to anyone to sign up and participate,” Vaccaro explained. “Those who have pallets can post their inventory, negotiate with buyers, complete a transaction instantly online, and then set up pallet delivery, all in one process, with real time tracking and tracing.
“It’s much like in the trucking world where brokers and shippers use online load boards to match available trucks with freight,” Vaccaro added. “We are bringing the convenience and efficiency of online commerce technology to the world of pallets. And we are providing a common set of tools and processes that can be shared by everyone to manage and optimize pallet inventory as a renewable asset, not discarded as a throw-away piece of wood.”
Other existing online platforms for pallets have operated more as lead generators than as an actual eCommerce marketplace, Vaccaro told Reusable Packaging News.
Asked if Pallet Trader is available to the Canadian market, Vaccaro replied that the platform is designed and built to operate in any geography. “While our current focus is on the U.S., Canada is on the drawing board, and we plan to launch the service for Canadian customers later this year once we have completed necessary legal reviews,” he said.
Vaccaro, whose family-owned company has been in the beverage logistics and pallet management business for over 40 years, estimates that there are over 500 million “one-way” white wood pallets in circulation in North America, representing a $7 billion market. There are more than 1,500 pallet “depots,” virtually all of which are independent businesses, each of which could have as few as five or as many as 1,000 customers. The cost of a white-wood pallet can range anywhere from $7 to $25, depending on demand, condition and material cost.
Yet until now the management of pallets has been completely fragmented and decentralized, with no simple transaction platform or commonly shared process. “That’s what PalletTrader is introducing,” Vaccaro noted. “The process is no different than what you would do online posting something to eBay for sale or buying something on Shopify or from Amazon,” he said.
Don Vultaggio, chairman of Arizona Beverage Company, which buys hundreds of thousands of pallets annually to ship its iconic iced tea products, believes the industry has long needed a platform solution like PalletTrader.
Pallets are a necessary cost of doing business,” he said. “There’s been this dilemma in the market for years around how pallets are purchased. Where do I find them, am I getting a fair price, how do I recover and reuse them?”
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With PalletTrader, “now you can go to a single market online, see supply and pricing in one place, anywhere in the U.S. If it’s where you need it at a good price, you take it. Simple, clean and efficient – and everyone in the supply chain benefits.”
“Pallets are a necessary cost of doing business,” he notes. “There’s been this dilemma in the market for years around how pallets are purchased. Where do I find them, am I getting a fair price, how do I recover and reuse them?” he notes. With PalletTrader, “now you can go to a single market online, see supply and pricing in one place, anywhere in the U.S. If it’s where you need it at a good price, you take it. Simple, clean and efficient – and everyone in the supply chain benefits.”
PalletTrader Cont'd from Page 15