PALLETS: FRONT AND CENTER
be suited for all manners of transactions, and anyone can join. “The beauty of it is it will be a fit for all sizes and varieties of buyers and sellers in the pallet marketplace,” Vaccaro says, ranging from large and mid-sized companies with national footprints to mom-and-pop businesses and individual operators. A PLATFORM FOR EVERYONE “I like the idea of creating a platform for everyone, taking down all the veils and just connecting buyers and sellers— everything is going to be between them,” Vaccaro says. “It allows for the creation of instant connections online, and it brings market connectivity to pallets that hasn’t been there before.” Those who use the site will have an array of tools to manage their activity in the pallet marketplace, including email tracking notifications for pallets. PalletTrader will offer both public and private markets for its users to manage. Users who prefer to manage their transactions privately can create their own networks within PalletTrader where trades take place with selected partners. For instance, if your company has a relationship with three local pallet depots and you want to broadcast your pallet needs only to them, you can manage it all via a private exchange with those depots. Bettaway’s 35 years of operation in the supply chain and close relationships in the pallet industry will help them build PalletTrader in a way that a tech company from outside the industry could not,
while the site gains traction. “I believe in getting everybody in on this at the beginning and getting rolling with it,” Vaccaro says. “We’re creating a business network and a social network, knocking down barriers in the process. I’m excited to see what happens.” PLASTIC PALLET PROS TAILORS SOLUTIONS TO CUSTOMERS’ UNIQUE NEEDS When a large retailer reached out to Plastic Pallet Pros looking for a specific pallet at a specific price, the team at the Illinois-based pallet supplier could have simply taken the order. “Quite frankly, it was a high price,” says Bryon Robbins, sales manager. That would not have been good for the customer, however, and for Plastic Pallet Pros, what’s best for the customer is what drives their decisions. “It was the wrong pallet for their
needs, and we couldn’t let that happen,” Robbins says. “It wasn’t the right answer for them, and our objective is always to find the right solution for our customers. “Too many companies are quick to take an order without taking the time to consider if it’s what the customer actually needs,” he adds. “We’re going to find the best product to fit the customer’s situation and needs, and we’re going to go the extra mile to do it.” As part of that commitment to tailoring services to their clients, Plastic Pallet Pros places a nonnegotiable emphasis on customer service, explains Sam Dunham, director of operations. That means not only being vigilant about answering the phone and returning messages, it also means making free visits to client and prospective client facilities to understand their operations inside and out so that Plastic Pallet Pros team members can provide the best possible solution for their circumstances.
A PROPENSITY FOR PLASTIC Plastic Pallet Pros increasingly sees customers turn to plastic pallets for an array of reasons. For instance, Dunham notes that more companies are moving to a closed loop pallet system—a system that allows them to retrieve their pallets to use repeatedly or to use internally. “This system allows companies to fully realize the benefit of a much more durable plastic pallet,” Dunham says. “The
Vaccaro says. Bettaway can tailor the site and how it works to the specific needs, preferences, and behaviors of those navigating the pallet market every day. PalletTrader users pay a monthly fee of $79 and a 1.5% fee for each transaction, but Vaccaro says the company will waive the monthly fee for new users for the first six months
Bettaway’s 35 years of operation in the supply chain and close relationships in the pallet industry helped the company build the PalletTrader platform in a way that a technology company could not. PalletTrader, a new online pallet marketplace, was influenced by everything from eBay and Etsy to LinkedIn and the DAT Load Board.
82 Inbound Logistics • May 2022
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