PalletTrader launches as supply chain industry’s first marketplace for sourcing, buying and selling wooden pallets

The ubiquitous wooden pallet, which is critical to every business’ supply chain as the platform on which millions of shipments ride in trucks and trains every day across the U.S., has joined the world of eCommerce marketplaces with the launch of PalletTrader.

The new online platform, designed and built exclusively for the sourcing, buying and selling of commercial wooden pallets, brings the ease, simplicity and efficiency of a common eCommerce transaction experience to what has been a fragmented world of suppliers and pallet “recyclers” who have for years conducted business manually, typically by email, phone calls or fax, noted John Vaccaro, president of Bettaway Supply Chain Services.

Bettaway funded, built and is operating PalletTrader as an independent, neutral online business platform, enabling and streamlining the digital trading and sale of pallets in a collaborative, secure eCommerce environment, providing its user community with workflows and tools to drive new efficiencies into pallet supply and management, Vaccaro noted.

“Pallets for years have been a somewhat underappreciated, if not disrespected segment of the supply chain, considered an operating cost and not a valued asset,” Vaccaro explained. “Yet nothing could be more important to the shipping of goods.”

PalletTrader is changing that dynamic. “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.”

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 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.”

While the majority of PalletTrader’s market is expected to be what are called “white wood” pallets, the platform can accommodate all other types of pallets as well, including those made of plastic, composites or other materials.

Vaccaro explained that the platform is applicable for small “Mom and Pop” pallet businesses, all the way up to the largest consumer products companies that use tens of thousands of pallets a year. A small operator might have a handful of pallet yards in a state or region. A major CPG company could be managing as many as 50 manufacturing or production sites that go through thousands of pallets.

In addition to its open, public-facing transaction ability, PalletTrader allows users to set up their own private networks in a secure, permission-based environment, creating defined communities of specific customers. “It’s like using Venmo, where you transact with many others, you have your own account and you can make your transaction public or private,” Vaccaro explained. “The private network option is an important feature as many pallet businesses want to protect the identity of their customers, but still want to enjoy the ease and cost savings of a collaborative online platform,” he added.

For the first six months, businesses who sign up on PalletTrader will get the service for free with no monthly subscription. The only cost to use PalletTrader is a small transaction fee recovered from the seller and the buyer.

PalletTrader is launching with a core group of sponsors, who comprise the “Founders Circle” of initial members. Among these are major pallet management firms, pallet manufacturers, recyclers and distributors including Paltech Enterprises, John Rock Inc., and San Fernando Valley Pallet Services.