Pallet customers need to be further educated about the dangers of overloading pallets, according to the head of The Pallet Network (TPN).
Speaking to Commercialmotor.com, Adam Leonard, MD of TPN, said without doubt incidences of customers overloading or over stacking pallets had increased since the onset of the recession and subsequent weak UK growth.
The comments came after an operator contacted Commercialmotor.com to say a sample of the weight of pallets coming into his depot had revealed an alarming amount to be over the weight limit for full pallets (typically 1,200kg or 1,000kg for tail lift collections).
The operator, who whished to remain anonymous, said: “I have become increasingly concerned at the increase in size of pallets through the networks , however I am more concerned with the increase in weights of the pallets my warehouse staff and drivers are being asked to handle .
“We are handling pallets over 1,200-1,500kg at times both in the warehouse and on trucks whilst delivering. This is being caused by the customer trying to claw back costs by adding more goods to each pallet.
Several other operators have subsequently confirmed to us that overloading is an issue but one that they are nervous about tackling in such a competitive market, despite the obvious health & safety implications for their staff, as they fear customers will take their business somewhere else.
“It’s understandable that network members feel responsibility to their staff but an anxiety that if they confront customers about over-stacking, or goods that are not as described, they will go elsewhere,” said Leonard.
Paul Sanders, chairman of the Association of Pallet Networks (APN), said, “presentation of goods remains a big issue for our members, be it the quality of the pallets used, height or weight”.
To this end APN issued a series of guidance on packaging last year for the networks to distribute to their members, allowing hauliers to educate their customers in a manner that depersonalised the process, making the conversation less awkward to have.
- A record-breaking amount of pallets were shifted by APN members during the first quarter of this year. APN members moved 3.5 million pallets through their hubs during the first few months of the year, new dat shows. This represents the highest amount since benchmarking began in 2007, and a 4% increase on the same period a year ago.
