Rehrig Pacific Offers Lightweight, Restriction-Free Pallet Alternative For Export Shipping Market
Los Angeles, CA - In response to increasing global import restrictions on wooden pallets and to provide a light-weight shipping alternative, Rehrig Pacific Company is pleased to announce the new RPX 4840 Export Pallet. This pallet is designed as an inexpensive, one-way alternative to a wood pallet, primarily for one-way shipping.
The pallet is molded using 100-percent recycled material. The Export Pallet weighs about 17 pounds and boasts a dynamic load rating of at least 2,500 pounds. "This impressive strength-to-weight ratio is important in the export market due to weight limitations on shipments," said JP Michaud, Sales Manager, Material Handling Business Group for Rehrig. "Some exporters who use 50-pound plus wood pallets face the dilemma of "weighing out" before they "cube out" a shipping container." He continued, "This means they reach the weight limit before they can fill the container with product. Using Export Pallets they could ship about 700 more pounds of product per container." According to Mr. Michaud, this scenario could ultimately decrease the pallet's unit cost enough so that an exporter would be able to compete in a desired market.
International standards are another driving force for plastic pallets in the export industry. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), a unit of the United Nations, adopted a worldwide standard for international wood shipments, which came into force September 15, 2005 and includes serious penalties for violations. The standard requires wood pallets to be heat treated or fumigated and marked with the ISPM #15 stamps. This is quite expensive, but loads that do not meet these requirements are either rejected or destroyed in customs. Exporters, especially in the food industry, are moving quickly to plastic pallets to guarantee their loads will reach the desired locations. It is estimated that 80 million wood pallets were sold for export use in 2004. With the standardization of regulations like ISPM-15, Rehrig's RPX 4840 provides a sound and economical shipping solution.
SOURCE: Rehrig Pacific Company