In today’s fast-paced global economy, efficient logistics play a crucial role in ensuring the timely delivery of goods. Pallets, as the foundation of many supply chains, are essential for transporting and storing products. However, the smooth flow of goods can be disrupted by rejected pallets and missed deliveries, leading to significant consequences for businesses.
Rejected pallets can cause delays in shipments, increase costs due to rework or disposal, and damage relationships with customers. Missed deliveries can result in lost sales, customer dissatisfaction, and potential legal liabilities. Therefore, understanding the factors that contribute to pallet rejection and missed deliveries is vital for businesses seeking to optimise their logistics operations and maintain customer satisfaction.
TLDR: Why Are Pallets Rejected & Deliveries Missed?
Reasons For Pallet Rejection
Non-Compliance With Industry Standards
Adherence to UK industry standards for pallet dimensions, materials, and construction is crucial for ensuring compatibility and safety within the supply chain. Non-compliance can lead to rejection of pallets, delays in shipments, and increased costs. Key standards to consider include:
- European Pallet Association (EPAL): EPAL pallets are widely used in Europe and have specific dimensions, materials, and construction requirements.
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO): ISO standards provide guidelines for pallet dimensions, materials, and load-bearing capacity.
- British Standards Institution (BSI): BSI publishes national standards related to pallets, including dimensions, materials, and testing methods.
The standard UK pallet size is 1200 mm long by 1000 mm wide, and usually 150 mm high. The maximum load a UK pallet can support is usually 1000 kg, but this depends on the quality of the wood and construction. We can support weights of up to 1250 kg.
Load Securement and Weight Distribution
Proper load securement and weight distribution on pallets are essential to prevent goods from shifting or falling during transportation. Non-compliance can result in damaged goods, safety hazards, and rejected shipments. Key considerations include:
- Securement methods: Using appropriate strapping, shrink wrapping, or other methods to secure loads to the pallet.
- Weight distribution: Ensuring that the weight is evenly distributed across the pallet to prevent overloading or imbalance.
- Stacking guidelines: Following recommended stacking practices to avoid instability and damage.
Labelling and Documentation
Accurate and complete labelling and documentation are essential for identifying, tracking, and managing pallets. Non-compliance can lead to confusion, delays, and rejection of shipments. Key requirements include:
- Identification marks: Clearly mark pallets with unique identifiers, such as EPAL marks or company-specific codes.
- Product information: Providing relevant information about the goods being transported, including weight, dimensions, and hazardous material declarations.
- Shipping documents: Accompanying pallets with accurate shipping documents, such as bills of lading, commercial invoices, and certificates of origin.
- Special instructions: Any specific instructions for the carrier, such as if the items are fragile and should not be stacked or disassembled
- Hazardous materials: A note explaining whether the freight is a DoT hazardous material
Damage And Wear
Pallets that exhibit signs of damage or excessive wear may be rejected, as they pose risks to the safety and integrity of the goods being transported. Common issues include:
Broken Boards, Splinters, Or Excessive Repairs
Broken boards or splinters can compromise the structural integrity of the pallet, making it unsafe for use. Unsafe pallets will be rejected by the collection or delivery driver. Damaged pallets can lead to product damage, contamination, or costly repairs. Broken boards or splinters can also pose safety hazards to workers handling the pallets.
It’s essential to regularly check your pallets for damage to avoid rejection of your pallets, and delays to your shipment.
Contaminants Or Hazardous Materials
Contaminants and hazardous materials can contaminate pallets leading to recalls, product damage and health risks. Contaminated pallets can delay your shipment, and can result in regulatory non-compliance that can result in fines, penalties and reputational damage.
Water Damage Or Mould
Water damage or mould can also lead to rejected pallets and delay your shipment. Water damage can seriously weaken the structural integrity of your pallets, making them susceptible to failure. Weakened pallets are a danger to our staff and your customers.
Mould as a result of damp conditions can also lead to contaminated products leading to serious health risks to those handling your pallets, as well as leading to product recalls.
Incorrect Packaging
Improperly Wrapped Or Secured Goods
Incorrect or insufficient packaging is a major cause of rejected pallets. If goods are not properly wrapped or secured, they can shift during transportation, leading to damage or even falling off the pallet. Shifting pallets are dangerous to our drivers and your recipients.
Loose or improperly wrapped goods can become contaminated or damaged, affecting their quality and value.
Overloading Or Unbalanced Loads
Overloading your pallet can also result in your pallet being rejected. Overloaded or unbalanced loads can cause pallets to fail resulting in damaged goods and serious safety hazards.
Overloaded or unbalanced loads can also reduce the efficiency of transportation, leading to increased costs and delays.
How to Avoid Rejected Pallets
Adhere To Industry Standards
Richard Montgomery, Managing Director of Mitchells said: “to reduce the chance of rejected pallets, it’s important to adhere to the industry standards in materials, dimensions, load securement and accurate documentation.
“Make sure that you use pallets that meet the required standards in build and dimensions. UK standard dimensions are 1200mm x 1000mm with a maximum height of 2200mm. The pallet should be wooden and be heat treated. The maximum weight we carry is 1250 kg. Additional standards may apply for international shipments.
“Ensure that your pallet is stacked in a manner that will make it sturdy and the weight evenly distributed across the pallet. If the weight is unevenly distributed, it can topple during transportation. Our article on pallet stacking patterns will help you stack your goods. Our guide on how to wrap pallets will also help to keep your pallet sturdy.
“Finally, provide accurate and complete documentation with labels in the correct place. Never put a label on the top of your consignment as pallets may be stacked on top.
“As a bonus tip, make sure to read any terms and conditions of carriage to identify any potential pitfalls that can cause your pallet to be rejected.”
Inspect And Maintain Pallets
Richard added: “Regularly checking your pallets for damage and wear is a task that will save you time and money on a rejection due to deficient pallets. Our drivers check your pallet is in good order before collecting it. This protects them from a potentially serious injury, as well as protecting your goods or others from unnecessary damage during transportation.
“Repair or replace damaged pallets to avoid any delays to your shipments.”
Proper Packaging And Loading
Properly packaging your goods on your pallet will reduce the risk of your pallet being rejected by pallet couriers. Packaging material needs to be robust enough to withstand the rigours of transporting goods via road, as well as being taken on and off of lorries. The packaging also needs to be strong and sturdy enough to keep its contents safe.
Suitable packaging for your goods and securing your pallet include:
- Pallet wrap: A plastic film that tightly wraps the goods to the pallet to prevent shifting
- Corrugated cardboard: A sturdy option for large or multiple items. You can also use corrugated board blanks as an intermediate layer to protect pallets and the space between packages.
- Cardboard boxes: Double-walled cardboard boxes are strong enough for most palletising needs and come in standard sizes. You can also place smaller items in cardboard boxes to make the pallet more stable.
- Bubble wrap: A lightweight, cost-effective, and recyclable option that insulates against impacts.
- Protective cushioning: You can use foam, polystyrene, newspaper, or bubble wrap to individually wrap items within the box.
- Padding or corrugated cardboard: Cover any sharp or protruding edges of irregularly shaped items with padding or corrugated cardboard.
- Strapping: You can use strapping made from steel, nylon, or polyester.
- Protector pads: You can use protector pads for the top and bottom of your pallet.
- Corner and edge boards: You can use corner and edge boards for stabilisation.
Missed Deliveries
Common Causes Of Missed Deliveries
As well as rejected pallets, missed deliveries can have significant negative consequences for businesses, including lost sales, customer dissatisfaction, and damage to relationships. Common causes of missed deliveries include:
Incorrect Or Incomplete Addresses
We’ve lost count as to how many deliveries have been missed due to incomplete or incorrect delivery information. This can lead to delays in delivery and additional costs for additional delivery attempts. If the delivery address cannot be found, then you risk having your goods returned to you causing further delays and inconvenience.
Access Restrictions Or Business Closures
Deliveries may also be missed if there are access restrictions to either your collection or delivery point. Gated communities and restricted yards can often cause missed deliveries if required access isn’t provided and we are unable to deliver your pallet.
Collections and deliveries need to take place in a way that allows the courier to retrieve or deliver the pallet. Pallets need to be collected on level ground and away from any material that can hinder progress, such as gravel driveways.
Missed deliveries can also occur if the sending or receiving business is closed or has relocated.
Transportation Delays Or Disruptions
Transport delays are often out of the control of the courier. Adverse weather conditions such as snow, flooding or strong winds can disrupt the road network and ultimately to your pallet shipment.
Heavy congestion on the roads around road or building works, sporting events or even just rush hour can cause delays in pallet delivery service.
Communication Breakdowns
Communication breakdowns can occur between shipper, courier and recipient which can lead to missed deliveries. Similarly, a lack of an update can mean that the recipient isn’t ready to receive the shipment.
Our team is adept at communicating such issues and providing a solution to minimise disruption where possible.
Strategies To Prevent Missed Deliveries
Businesses can implement various strategies to reduce the likelihood of missed pallet deliveries and minimise their impact. Richard Montgomery suggested:
Verifying Address Accuracy
- Validate addresses: Use address verification tools to ensure the accuracy of shipping addresses.
- Contact recipients: Double-check the address or confirm addresses with recipients before shipping to avoid errors.
Coordinate Deliveries with Recipients
- Schedule deliveries: Coordinate delivery dates and times with recipients to ensure someone is available to receive the shipment.
- Provide contact information: Share contact information with recipients in case of delivery issues.
Use Tracking and Notification Systems
- Real-time tracking: Utilise tracking systems to monitor the progress of shipments and identify potential delays. Our team can provide shipment tracking links for the relevant pallet network.
- Notifications: Set up notifications to alert recipients of shipment status updates and estimated delivery times.
Have Contingency Plans for Unexpected Delays
- Review forecasts: If you’re sending a pallet at a time of year when adverse weather may impact delivery schedules, build in additional delivery time or regularly check for adverse weather to minimise the risk of delays.
- Backup plans: Have backup plans in place, such as rescheduling deliveries or using alternative transportation methods, to minimise the impact of delays.
Conclusion
Preventing pallet rejection and missed deliveries is crucial for a successful distribution operation. Rejected pallets can lead to delays, increased costs, and damaged relationships with customers, while missed deliveries can result in lost sales, customer dissatisfaction, and legal liabilities.
To avoid pallet rejection, businesses should adhere to industry standards for dimensions, materials, and construction, ensure proper load securement and weight distribution, and provide accurate labelling and documentation. Additionally, regular inspection and maintenance of pallets, as well as proper packaging and loading practices, can help prevent rejection.
To mitigate missed deliveries, businesses should verify address accuracy, coordinate deliveries with recipients, utilise tracking and notification systems, and have contingency plans in place for unexpected delays. By implementing these strategies, businesses can improve their logistics efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.
For further information, or to speak to somebody about this, please contact our sales team on 01623 555707 or email sales@mitchellsofmansfield.com.