01Four numbers
| Route | Cost | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Landfill it, buy new | $13 haul + $28 = $41 | One new pallet, one methane source |
| Landfill it, buy recycled | $13 haul + $13 = $26 | One recycled pallet |
| Repair it | $2.20–$4.80 | The same pallet, graded, back in service |
| Dismantle it | Net positive | Repair stock for other pallets |
That is the whole argument. Everything else on this page is detail.
02What ninety seconds buys
Most repairs are one of five operations. None of them are complicated; all of them are faster with the right jig and the right fastener.
- Lead board replacement — pry, pull nails, fit a recovered board, drive helical screws. Thirty-five seconds.
- Companion stringer — cut to length, position against the crack, fasten. Fifty-five seconds. Adds 3–5 lb.
- Notch plug — a shaped insert driven and fastened into a broken notch. Forty seconds.
- Re-nailing — the most under-rated repair. A loose deck is invisible and it is what causes a pallet to come apart on a fork. Twenty-five seconds.
- Bottom board — often skipped by others because it is out of sight. A missing bottom board makes the pallet unrackable.
03Stronger than it was
People assume a repaired pallet is a compromised pallet. In my experience it is usually the opposite, and the reason is where wood pallets actually fail.
They fail at the stringer notch. A companion stringer roughly doubles the material at exactly that point, so a repaired pallet is stronger there than it was the day it was built. And a replaced deck board fitted with helical drive screws holds about three times better in withdrawal than a fatigued original board held by smooth-shank nails.
04The life extension nobody counts
An unrepaired fleet averages five to seven trips before pallets become scrap. A fleet on a repair programme routinely averages ten or more. That nearly halves the annual purchase requirement, and it is a bigger number than the repair saving itself.
It is also the number that never appears in a purchasing comparison, because it shows up as an absence — pallets you did not have to buy. If you are only tracking price per pallet, a repair programme looks like a new cost line with no offsetting benefit. Track cost per trip instead and it is obvious within a quarter.
05Three ways to run it
- On-site repair. We bring a crew and a rig to your dock on a schedule. Best where pallets cannot leave the premises.
- Collect, repair, return. Your pallets come here, get repaired, and come back as yours. Tracked as your asset.
- Swap. We take damaged and deliver graded stock on the same trip. Fastest, cheapest, and the specific pallets change hands.
Which one is right depends almost entirely on whether the pallets are genuinely yours or simply a pool you draw from. If you have never counted them, start with a swap programme and count later. Details on the repair service page.
