May 2026
Paul Quandt
3. What are some of the key challenges you have faced with pallet industry clients?
Fire risk is the perennial challenge for this industry. Wood dust, high-pile storage, combustible scrap, combined with carriers getting more selective. Workers’ compensation is another pressure point given the physical labor and machinery involved. WPA has been a resource for understanding how companies are approaching risk management and loss control, which in turn helps me coach clients on the operational improvements that move the needle with underwriters. Shared intelligence across the membership is genuinely useful. As I like to say: Safety isn’t proprietary - share it or steal it, just do it.
4. What are emerging opportunities for the pallet industry?
Automation and equipment investment are creating new risk profiles. Robotics, conveyor systems, and expanded facilities bring new property and liability exposures that weren’t common a decade ago. At the same time, sustainability and supply chain resilience are pushing pallet demand in interesting directions. From an insurance standpoint, I’m watching how parametric and captive structures might create better options for companies that have outgrown the standard market. The industry is more sophisticated than most people outside it realize, and the risk financing tools are starting to catch up.
5. What advice would you give to new members of the WPA?
Show up in person when you can. The hallway conversations at WPA events are where the real value lives. Come with questions, not just a business card. The best networkers in the room are genuinely curious about how to help other people and their businesses succeed. Don’t think of the association as a vendor marketplace; think of it as a knowledge network. The people in this room have solved problems you haven’t faced yet, and they’re generally willing to share if you’re genuinely engaged in the community.
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August 2026