PalletTrader
Summary
: Steven Bartolini is the national sales director at Pallet Trader. Pallets are very important in the warehouse and distribution industry. Steven talks about how he got into the supply chain industry and how he started Pallet Trader with John Vaccaro. Pallets are often neglected or overlooked but they are critical to keeping operations running smoothly. There is a heightened awareness of the quality of pallets as they can lead to overspending or issues with rejected shipments. Pallet Trader helps companies manage their pallet Pallet Trader is a pallet management company that helps companies manage their pallet supply. They work with a network of over 800 suppliers to ensure their clients have a consistent supply of high-quality pallets at the best price. Their main focus is on providing visibility and streamlining the process of pallet procurement for their clients in order to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Pallet Trader aims to be a trusted partner for their clients and take the stress of pallet management off their hands. They also stay on top Pallet Trader is a provider of pallet solutions for companies in various industries, including food and beverage, CPG, retail, construction, and pharma. They are agnostic to the type of pallet material and focus on finding the best solution for each client's individual needs. They pride themselves on capturing and analyzing data to help clients make more effective and efficient decisions. They also have a dedicated account team to assist with urgent requests and have an online portal for easy ordering and communication.Steven Vande Lune of Palette Traders chats with Kevin about the importance of enduring and strong relationships in the pallet business, and talks about how you can value the vendors and customers you come across to connect with sellers, buyers, and customers in the world of pallets. In this podcast episode, the host thanked the listeners and discussed the topics from the previous episode such as product reviews, new products, book recommendations, and future plans. They then went on to
Transcription
Speaker 2
[00.00.07]
Hey, what's up everyone? Thanks for tuning in to episode number 34 at the Warehouse Underground podcast, Real Talk or Warehouse DC and FC professionals of all levels around the globe. I'm been the host of the show, and let me just say, there is one piece of equipment in your warehouse or distribution center that, for my money, is the most important one and has the best ROI. All things considered. And that is the
Speaker 1
[00.00.37]
pallet. Now, I think I did some research one time and saw that there was over a billion pallets on planet earth. Now I don't know if I have been able to challenge that. I don't know if that's true, but allegedly there's a billion pallets on planet Earth and in your warehouse. It's absolutely critical. If you don't believe me, run a warehouse that runs out of pallets and see how hairy it gets very fast. So if you're an ops leader out there, you should know a little bit about how pallets work, specifically the pallet industry. How do they
Speaker 2
[00.01.11]
acquire their pallets? How do they make them? How do they provide service? All those questions. You should know that as an Ops leader. And my guess on the show today can help you with that. His name is Steven Bartolini. He's a national sales director at Pallet Trader. Lower pallet cost. Simplify supply, gain visibility, relationships over transactions and results over noise. So I'm really excited to talk to him today about Pallet Trader and how the pallet industry works because it's very critical. Like I said to operations you don't want to run out. So with that I will bring him on the stage right now. Steven, my friend, thank you very much for joining the Warehouse Underground podcast today. All right, sir,
Speaker 1
[00.01.59]
I'm great man and appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 2
[00.02.02]
Yeah, absolutely. So we've we've run in sort of the same circles. So I've seen you on some other shows, uh, that, that are in the supply chain space and I follow you on LinkedIn like I do a lot of my guests. And so you've always putting out some great content there. So I'm really happy that I finally get a chance to speak with you in person. I should say Im over virtual because in person we found out we live about ten minutes away from each other. So it's, uh, it's, uh, I probably will see you in person, uh, at some point in the near future. So thank you again for coming on the show.
Speaker 1
[00.02.37]
My pleasure. Man, I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 2
[00.02.40]
No worries. So but before we get too much into the, uh, podcast and I teased it a little bit in the intro. So I know you've been in the supply chain for a while now. Can you just tell people about your background, how Pallet Trader came to be and what it's all
Speaker 1
[00.02.57]
about? Yeah, man. Um, like like a lot of people in supply chain. I started in freight brokerage, uh, back probably about 15 years ago now, and I just built on a sales career and really got into operations and worked with some of the big the I started out as a cradle to grave, uh, broker, um, with an agent based system and then, and then got recruited into one of the large brokerages, uh, that a lot of people know and, and, uh, just cut my teeth there and, and just, uh, a lot with a lot of experience and operations and and, um. You're just seeing, you know, just kind of how that developed, uh, led me into an opportunity with, with ally trader. Um, just to want to look at was looking for something that was a little bit more tech focused, um, something that was sustainable to the industry. Um, you know, and obviously, like, pallets are historically, you know, just the backbone of the supply chain. And, uh, when I saw what, what, um, John Vaccaro had built at Pallet Trader, you know, it's, uh, it really seemed interesting to me to to have a kind of a hand in that without getting too far away, um, from what I had already been familiar with. But really, I saw, you know, that he had a vision for a problem that needed to be solved. And, uh, it was something that I was interested in, and, you know, really staying kind of taking that next step forward in my career. Um, and, and really, his, his vision for the company, uh, came from, you know, 40 years of pallet experience, for one, but overall in transportation and warehousing and packing and so on. But he he saw, you know, during the the Covid timeframe where pallets became really difficult to get. And uh, yeah, just yeah, I just felt like it was such, it was such a massive were scrambling I mean, to the point where, you know, signs on the side of the road and all that stuff. And he, he just, he had a vision for, for making it accessible digitally, which didn't exist at that point. So he really, you know, like a lot of great, you know, business ideas, they came from drew up on the back of a napkin and, and handed it to his VP and was like, this is what I'm looking for. And I and she put it to life, um, you know, with her, you know, production team and, and it's, uh, really started as a marketplace, you know, to just buy and sell pallets, like, post the need, post your inventory, come together. Really. It's, you know, pretty simple in the sense of what it is, but it just didn't exist at that point. And when I first got interested in the company, um, you know. That's it. It seemed pretty simple, but it just seemed like, why doesn't this exist today? And so when I first, you know, jumped on board, initially the thought was, you know, focus on the marketplace and and and and sell that kind of like SaaS type of approach. And, and what we found quickly is that everybody loves the way it works. Not everybody is the time to do it. And so we developed more of a managed service that focused on using the tool of the marketplace, along with the network that we had, and really providing that whole full spectrum of services for pallets. So really, I mean, you know, we're, we're, we're we've evolved quite a bit since the, the, you know, when we were launched in 2022, early mid 2022 when I first came out. Um, but yeah, it's been it's been a been a heck of a ride to this point. And I really evolved in turn into a full suite of talent management services. Yeah. No, I, I remember that time vividly during Covid 19. And people want to talk about toilet paper and you can't get toilet paper. But in this industry, pallets was like toilet paper times two or times three. I mean, we were we were scrounging around for them. So that that definitely brought back some, uh, memories there. So that's even let me, let me let me ask you this question just because I've heard this general sentiment before. Call
Speaker 2
[00.07.06]
it from new people that are getting into the industry and warehousing or distribution, and that is the pallets are, like I said in the intro. A huge part of every operation, if you don't believe me, like run out. I mean, things get rough fast, but oftentimes pallets just sort of, dare I say, overlooked or taken for granted or or what have you. So I mean, have you? I mean, you've been in this industry for a while. Have you seen that? I mean, do you think that that is the general sentiment from some ops leaders out there when it comes to pallets? And why why do you think that might be?
Speaker 1
[00.07.45]
Absolutely. You know, it's it's funny. It's like pallets are invisible when they work, but they're catastrophic when they don't. Oh yeah. And and and especially being in sales, you're always you're when you're reaching out to potential clients and you got to have a problem that they need to solve. Right. And it's, it's pallets that are tend to be the lowest on the totem pole in terms of priorities because they think, okay, will you buy them? You have them. You're good. But it's like you said, you run out and you're in you're in a real, real problem at that point. Um, you know, historically they've been treated like a commodity or an office supply in some cases. I mean, some of these corporations, they, they loop in pallets with. Like toilet paper and, you know, paper towels and things like that. Some of the indirect procurement teams, that's what they, they, they buy them from that standpoint. But you know, it's it's the approach tends to be just don't run out like that's that's tends to be the dominant mindset. But you know when you have margin pressure and and labor constraints and just things, things of that, you know, when you start looking at like a lot of over the last couple of years especially, it's like, how can we cut costs? Well, let's look at every single procurement item that we have and try to look at it from that standpoint. So it's it's pretty common you know to to it's become more of more of an issue, I should say, in the sense that there are a lot more companies that are interested in knowing, like, how can we find ways to cut costs with pallets or how can we recapture revenue by selling off excess pallets that we have, you know, good point to owning up, you know, in facilities. So it's this is where I was mentioning the the evolution of the company is it's moved into that, you know, it's not just how do we buy it for less, but how do we sell off what we have or even, you know, big, big thing right now especially is how do we maintain the quality that we need to to satisfy the clients that we're selling into. So like when you think of the, you know, the big box retailers, the, the, the, um, big distribution companies, they've looked at pallets and created a revenue stream from finding and rejecting shippers. You know, when they show up. So I mean, this there's this heightened awareness of what the quality of a pallet looks like. That tends to lead to overspending. That tends to lead to, uh, just like, say, overspending. I mean, like sometimes like some clients, you know, they're just paying for a new pallet, you know, or they're pushed into the rental, which can get out of hand if you don't have the ability to manage it properly. So it's it's really funny because I never thought about it really. You know, before I came into this, I really didn't think about it until I had some claims, you know, until I had some trucks that were rejected, you know, from their appointments when they go into these facilities and all of a sudden it's like, I'm getting a call as a broker from a driver to say, hey, my whole load just got rejected here. And because my pallets are not meeting the requirement for the for the receiving location and that's not even, you know, how do you how do you check that? Like as a driver, you go through them and the splinters and all that sort of stuff and or even like damaging some products. Yeah. Yeah. Now, now, let me ask you this because like, you've got all different types of customers. I mean, there's big warehouses, small warehouses, distribution centers, fulfillment centers and everything in between. So you've got all these different players out there that that may be your customers. But when people come to you as a potential supplier, like what are the different things that they are looking for out of you? I mean, is there a way to rank prioritize that? I mean, I know cost is always a factor, but is it cost? Is it is it service? Is it availability? Quality of the pallets? I mean what are the what is the most common thing priority
Speaker 2
[00.11.46]
wise, that a customer wants out of a good pallet supplier? Like like a pallet trader.
Speaker 1
[00.11.51]
Yeah. I mean, it's everything you mentioned, of course, is important. And people typically go to cost first. But really you know we're looking at in multi location operations, we're looking at visibility really tends to be a big focus for us because we have we have software. We have an order management process a portal that allows companies to really pull together all of their locations into one and be able to get visibility of what they're spending, what they're using, what they're selling off. What? From a sustainability standpoint. You know what type of carbon footprint are they offsetting at that point? Like all of these things come into play and we do a good job of consolidating everything that that that they're looking for into one easy to use location. And then of course, operationally behind the scenes we have our team is working in every aspect of that. So when, when when you say like the main thing, it really depends on, on the company itself of what they're trying to accomplish. You know, a lot of a lot of procurement teams out there, they love to run the RFP. They love to find out and benchmark their pricing. And and that's important. But what we find when that door opens is, you know, they're very fragmented in their approach. And so a lot of these a lot of these facilities you might have, you know, multi-billion dollar operations, but every individual location is making its own decisions when it comes to Palace. And so what we've been able to do is standardize that process across the entire network in a way that allows them to have full visibility to it, maintaining the quality, never disrupting the supply, and having kind of like that one hand to shake, one pro to choke. In some cases, that's that's important, you know, to a lot of them. And you know candidly. Anybody can pick up the phone, go to Google, find a pallet supplier, get a price, get it delivered, and so on. But when when that doesn't go the way it's supposed to. What do you do at that point? And organizations across the industry are really spread thin today in the sense that they don't have time or energy or resources to really focus on maintaining that supply. So what happens at that point? Like their choice, it's either they do it themselves or they have somebody else do it for them. But even when they have somebody else do it for them, there aren't many options out there for a business that can manage the entire thing with the network that that we do, which is, you know, 800 plus suppliers across the US and Canada today, and they don't have the visibility that they can tie that to. So it's it becomes kind of how do you check all the boxes when you're, you know, from a procurement? We're kind of bridging that gap between procurement and operations because we have the experience from an operational standpoint and we have the experience from a procurement standpoint. And so the biggest challenge that you see within a lot of these mid-level enterprise level clients is bridging between your procurements. Got a great idea? Operations doesn't want anything changed. Operation says we don't care how much it costs. Procurement been forced to find savings. So it's like, how do you find that in the middle there? And I think we do a really good job of playing in that space. Yeah. And I think too I mean, when I got into the when I got into this industry, the price of pallets was relatively manageable. I mean, for $55 that that type range. And so you're right, the general sentiment was just don't run out. I mean pallets it's supply. But it's just like everything in the supply chain and distribution, it's always on a floating scale. And things can things are dynamic. Things can change. The price of them can can go up. Things can change in your operation. And so maybe back in the day, it was it was not that big of a deal. Cost of doing business that that changes over time. And so I think one of the things that that I found sometimes with this type of thing and sometimes freight is a little bit this way too, like logistics is always changing. I mean, the cost of it's always changing unless you have somebody in your organization that has their finger on the pulse of that all the time. They may not be aware that the market shifted, and now they're no longer getting the best pricing that they could get because they just have had it there. And so that's where I think. You know, I know Pallet Trader really prides itself on the becoming a partner with their customer and developing trust and relationship and something that, hey, we really don't want them worrying about
Speaker 2
[00.16.36]
pallets. We're like, we're going to kind of make sure that they know that, yes, we're always giving them the best deal, the best offer. They're getting the best service from them. And so is that. I mean, is that where pallet traders at? Because. Because I think that part of doing business is very valuable to a warehouse manager or ops leader who's got their playful with all sorts of things that they're managing. So if they've got their there, they know and they feel confident that, hey, my pallet partner is updating me and I know I'm getting the best price with them versus like, no, no, I've always got to be checking. I've always got to be checking behind their back and everything they're trying to. So for me, I'm not sure if that's how Pallet Trader is trying to position itself, but if it is, I think that is a very good thing. And at least that's how it comes off. And what I've heard and the website and the whole thing. And so that truth. I mean, am I, am I way out of line or is that, is that where are you guys are at?
Speaker 1
[00.17.29]
No, I see so you're pretty spot on. I mean, like you mentioned, it's the. The goal is to remove anxiety from hell. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And so like we have a saying that we worry about pallets so you don't have and so love that everything kind of leads with being transparent around pricing and clear accountability in terms of, of operating. So the goal for me, whenever I, you know, choose a client to work with, it's really like, ah, we have to align on what expectations are, what requirements are, you know, what's most important to the business. Because ultimately every one of our clients is serving a customer. And so in order for them to serve the customer effectively, their product has to be represented in the best light possible. And that doesn't mean that you have to spend a ton of money to do that. And in some cases, a lot of them believe that to be the case. And so for us, I look at it and say, when we go into a situation, we have to do like a full analysis of what what they're trying to accomplish. And in terms of of it, you never want to spend more for a palette and you have to. But the reality is, is that the cost of the palette is not necessarily reduced to the palette price. It's the total cost of ownership. And a lot of that cost comes into logistically lining it up properly on time delivery, having enough supply, the right ideal palette to hold the product to get to the end user safely and effectively. Those all those things come into play. And so when we look at it, it's like. How could we make this palette better for the customer if if all they need is a end of life cycle? Couple time use B grade, you know, palette just to hold it up enough to get it to the next spot where it's going to be chucked after that. We can we can provide. And I think having such a robust network that we do, our focus can really be on finding the right supplier, manufacturer, mill, recycler, whoever it is for the, the, the client at the time. And so in some cases, you know, it's very easy to go in and say, here's the cheapest option for you. Like that's the easy button. Like you can always try to undercut pricing and everything. But we try to look at it holistically, you know, across the entire operation and say, what's the ideal palette for what you need? And then we take into the focus, let's measure the market in your area and see where can we find the best possible deal for that. And it's not always just like at the beginning, you know, kind of set it and forget it. It's an ongoing relationship where we're doing that legwork for you, where we're measuring out there. Like, what does the market look like this last year, how many times did you hear the word tariff? Right? I mean, it's like there's a tariff on the tariff on all imports. There's a tariff. And even like people forget that that steel is a is. Facilities that are using. There's 84 nails and a 48 by 40 tower. I mean that's a lot. Right. And so like when you consider lumber, you consider steel. You consider what it does to not just the new pallet market, but the secondary market. You know, that's that all those things come into place. So we watch this extremely closely. And so in doing that, you know, our operations team, I give all the credit to, to them like we have um, our pricing and operation pricing and supplier relations manager. So she ran a pallet facility for five years. So she knows the cost of what it takes to make these things happen and to store and to safely, you know, um, recycle and all these things into place. I mean, for us, it's. Yeah, cost is cost is really important. But knowing where the cost comes from determines what the ultimate the total cost of ownership is going to be. So I think it's just it's it's looking at it from that standpoint, understanding how these pallets are going to be used, what's going to happen to them at the end, you know, and how do we recapture some some revenue for the client throughout the end of the lifecycle. So
Speaker 2
[00.21.46]
yeah, and I think that's very valuable because.
Speaker 1
[00.21.51]
One of the things in the in the ops world that every ops manager wants to know, at least an outbound ops manager is the what's the forecast? Because that's how they're planning their labor, that's how they're planning their equipment. And the farther off they
Speaker 2
[00.22.07]
get the sales team gets from the forecast, the harder and harder it gets to correct that with operations. And so I've always sort of said that to people like, well, you know, your pallet supplier is going through the same thing. You're not their only customer. They may have other customers that they are working with, and they all have different needs. And I think, Steven, there's a lot of volatility or there can be a lot utility. And so kind of who are your your bread and butter customers. I mean it could be anybody under the sun. But who are the bread and butter. And then how are you able to sort of handle some of that volatility volatility of all these different order demand and everything in order to meet. Because that's a that's a risk. Sometimes I think if you get in with a pallet provider who is not up to speed, they're not ready for that. They don't have the experience with that. They don't have the if they get too big there, they're going to fall very, very fast. And so scaling up with the volatility. I think it's very critical piece. And I was kind of pallet trader able to do that with its main core customer base. Yeah, I mean it's I think it starts with, with having a dynamic team that has a lot of experience in every aspect of the supply chain industry. So internally, I think that we've all we've dealt with a lot that's out there. And and when when, you know, you have experience and warehousing and transportation and trucking and, and coal packing and you know, you know all that, I mean that that all comes into play. But our core customers are food and beverage, CPG, um, retail. Um, but that's kind of like from a production standpoint. And then you have the three plus the distribution centers, um, coal packers that are solving or should say satisfying a number of different customers. Um, so it's, it's we tend to focus on those particular industries. Um, and then of course, you have you have construction, you have pharma, you have, you know, a mix and mix in there as well. Um, so the one thing like I will say, like for us, it's that might be a little bit different than most is, you know, you always think of. A wood pallet as as a pallet. And frankly, you know, we're agnostic to pallets. So to us. To us it's what is what are the supplier base. What can they do. So. Is it plastic. Is there composite. Is there wood. Is it recycled. Is it, you know block pallets. Are they stringer pallets I mean all of those things for that we see they all pop up, um, you know, and it's, it's important for us to stay kind of stay, you know, fluid in that sense. And it allows us to help clients figure out what is ideal for their business, because for somebody that's going to keep their keep their pallets within a closed loop system and it's, you know, they're protecting product or they're going to save and reuse these. I mean, we want to look at an alternative material other than just your standard recycled pallet, you know, is it what's going to be best for the business? Um, and so because a lot of our clients, they're, they're all interested in finding ways, you know, to to do things more effectively and more efficiently. So in that sense, it means maybe going away from a wood pellet or it means, you know, you know, we have a we have our own, uh, closed loop environment that's an alternative to the rental pool that eliminates the, the, the excessive fees that they might be dealing with. And so for us, like our core customers, you know, they're they're they're just as innovative in their thought process as we are. And, and and it's it's I think a lot of it comes down to is how do they fit in our approach. You know. And yeah, candidly the, the, the client that that just wants the cheapest possible palette in all cost. You know is it all comes. Like what's my per pallet price. And you know that's there's a place for them. But I mean I wouldn't say that that's necessarily our ideal client. It's more like the person or the client that looks at it. Everything as a whole. Uh, absolutely. Yeah. And I mean, in terms of forecasting and. Yeah, volatility and things like that. That's a real thing that's ongoing. So for us it's it's one of the things that we pride ourselves on is capturing data for our clients. Because believe it or not, most even these massive companies that are out there, they don't know how many pallets they buy, they don't know how much they spend them. They just it's a line item. And to them, it's when when we're going to them in and trying to do a full analysis on their business. You'd be surprised at how much time it takes them just to pull together how many pallets they bought. And then beyond that, it's not how many pallets they bought, it's what type of pallets they bought. I mean, consolidating the SKUs is a huge part of our business. You know, you'd be surprised, like there are some of these three peoples out there that I've worked with
Speaker 1
[00.27.13]
that had they had 60 some odd SKUs, you know, and when you look through all of their data, a lot of them it's like 40 by 40 B 48 by 41, 48 times 4040 the number, you know. But the written letter like it's they come out and you see them and it's like, man, like you're all over the place with this. And so it's just what's easiest for that person at the local level to put into the system and make the request. But in the meantime it's all of their data so fragmented. So for us it's, you know, you look at something like that and this that's where. A lot of the volatility comes from because they're not accurately tracking it. Yeah.
Speaker 2
[00.27.54]
I mean I've seen that firsthand. I've seen that firsthand. And sometimes you get uh, it's cool for a while. And then a company will get a new CFO. A new CFO will come in, and then he or she wants to know everything. And then the warehouse manager saying, I don't know. I don't know how much we buy. I don't know, it's so that that can change rapidly. So. But what about what about delivery time, though, Steven. I mean, in the, in the distribution world that has taken a drastic change over the years. Now sites are talking about one hour delivery. I mean, just like crazy type things. But it has that shifted for you or are in general like your customers doing a pretty decent job ordering ahead and everything? Or or are they calling you saying, sorry I messed up? We need delivery now that this is urgent, urgent type thing. So what are you what are you seeing most of? Are they they let you know ahead of time and giving you a realistic. Or are they expecting like next day delivery and that type of
Speaker 1
[00.28.53]
thing. And in some cases there is you know, like I just had a client last week that said, sometimes we need heat treated pallets within a couple hours. And and that's, you know, there can be some planning challenges that they're experiencing. And so I think the what's most important there is understanding what our supplier base is capable of, and making sure that we're matching them with these locations. And that comes back to that whole transparency piece, right? So we with our portal and our order management system, I think one of the one of the things that's pretty interesting about what you're talking about is how many pallets we need in a few hours. A lot of the times it's how do we cancel a delivery so that they don't get on our site? You know, that's that's pretty common, especially in some of those congested areas of the country where they don't have the space. You know, they don't necessarily um, they may have over estimated how many pallets they need. Their warehouses might have gotten tight because now they're holding a little bit more inventory when imports are starting to slow up or speed down or speed up. Um, so like in some cases with that, we've made it very easy to cancel a shipment. And one of the things I think that's really important for us is to be able to manage the supplier, um, expectations as well as the client expectations and us to kind of middle that, that relationship there. Um, we can we can act pretty swiftly. Um, the goal ultimately is to have a steady stream, um, to where there is a panic button. But the panic button is a real thing, and you have to be able to adapt to that. And so typically you're looking at like a 48 hour window for when they want pallets delivered. But I mean it can change in a moment. You know. And it's you know sometimes it. We have an audit all of a sudden come in like a company, like says all we gotta know. How do we get a clear out all of our inventory that we have for pallets, you know, and like, the pallets sell off type of thing. And, you know, this comes back to like the logistics aspect of the business is being able to, you know, pivot quickly to get a trailer on site to load up and get them out of the site, know, to get them off of the location. You know, it's like some of these companies, we might have six, eight, ten truckloads of pallets that are on site drop trailer type of situation. We might have some empty trailers on there that are waiting over there. And I think like just being able to kind of click a link, hit the hit the, you know, the delivery, the pickup button in our system to say, like, I need this thing picked up, and then having a dedicated account team for each client that they can, they can lean on in times of need is important. And I think part of the part of the the challenge is, you know, you want to bring a lot of these clients and suppliers forward to using the portal and being active in that. But some of them, it's a text, it's a phone call, it's an email. And so I think like meeting them where they are is is one of the things that we do really well. We're going to put everything in our system. We're going to capture all the data. But you know, telling telling us, you know, somebody that's been in the industry for 37 years and he's operated strictly by, you know, making a phone call. We're going to accommodate that guy, you know, and that's and and so that's that's a real thing too. So I mean it's like delivery times. It's I think it's more it's more being able to to respond and to proactively suggest what's required. You know, in the coming weeks, I think we do a good job of forecasting for them, especially after we get into the mix. Like one of the things we have, we have a one of our clients that they produce, um, they produce bourbon at a high, high level. And for them it's. Their palettes are big. They're heavy. They're expensive. They're going to be on the shelf. They're going to be racked for ten years. Right. And so like in the case with them, we hold their inventory for them across multiple suppliers. And so they don't have a whole lot necessarily in the distillery. And so for them it's it's I can order 4 or 5 truckloads for the next couple of weeks, but then all of a sudden be told, like we got to stop production for some reason and they got to stop the delivery. So for them, yeah, convenient to them is to be able to just literally click cancel and then it stops. And that's a 24 hour note. That's
Speaker 2
[00.33.16]
yeah, I think that that that flexibility piece I think is what all people value. I mean, customers value that. I know for me, in my experience with pallet providers, I'm not going to come to you all the time with short notice type things. If I am,
Speaker 1
[00.33.32]
I don't expect you to be able to accommodate that and run. But there is some value in. And every now and then, hey, we just have to make it happen. I mean, it's warehousing, it's supply chain, and it's good to have people that are like, yep, every now and then we're we're ready to just jump in and make it happen on a short notice. We don't want to run the whole year that way. But but there is a lot of that value because that's what a warehouse manager is having to go through and deal with. And so if they feel like that
Speaker 2
[00.34.00]
pallet providers right there in that, in that arena with them, I think they, they that offers a lot of value. So now I think you've hinted at this a little bit, but where do you get them. I mean are you building them. I mean, do you build them from scratch? Do you acquire them from different people or some other means? I mean, how do you how do you generate your stock of pallets that then go to your end state customers. Yeah. So we having 800 plus vendor partners around the US and Canada is that's grown substantially one from a couple hundred. A few years ago to just massively grow. And thanks to our team internally and doing that. But really it's understanding like what all their capabilities are and getting to know each each supplier at the face level, you know, on site, that sort of thing. And, and so like you look at for one like we do we do house physical inventory of pallets around, you know, and and we do that in the sense of a lot of the clients that are out there. They're not buying pallets, they're selling pallets. They have excess inventory or whatever it may be. And so we have a certain a certain, um, approach toward that to where, you know, we'll sell them off for them and find a partner for them, but we'll also buy them too, in the sense of, yeah, keeping them at certain, um, you know, partner facilities. And in doing so, that allows us to be a little bit more flexible in terms of providing locally, you know, at different levels with what they need and when. Every. We look at everything as a multiple supplier approach. So it's we're never going to put ourselves in a position to where we're relying upon one particular supplier, just like any, you know, any business is going to look at it the same way. Like, you don't want to have all your eggs in one basket, right? You don't want to just have the only source. And so we'll have a backup plan for a backup plan. You know that we'll have primary, we'll have secondary, we'll have tertiary suppliers that are that are available based upon the volume that these these clients have in need. And so for us, it's, it's um, it's and we're working with Mills, you know, it's not just it's not just, you know, the that you do. One other thing I would mention too, is it's like there are some major suppliers across the country, right? And every everybody knows who they are. I mean, there's a lot of the bigger ones, but like, there's hundreds and hundreds of small to medium sized businesses out there that have been thriving in their own space for 20, 30 years. And so for us, the majority of our supplier base is built on that small to medium sized business that that they do something really special and they necessarily have the, the, the ability really to connect on a, on a larger level or even open the door to some of these massive companies that are out there that are buying volume. And so for us, like, I want to be able to collect a group of them that do something well and understand what their needs are, and then get them in the door at some of these larger corporations, these enterprise level businesses, uh, to where they can be a supplier for them as well. But working through us and we, you know, it's it's um, it's it's not just about, um, it's it back up. It's more.
Speaker 1
[00.37.31]
What fits. Whatever fits is what we want. Yeah, right. You know, it's it's it's that's that's really what it comes down to. For us. So even though, like, you're not going to see a pallet trader mill where you're going to go out there and see us, you know, running automation, you know, and making 20,000 a week. That's not that's not our thing. But we're going to find that will that do. And then we partner with them and have a great relationship in that sense. And it's um, you know, kind of playing, playing the, the, the best of both worlds there.
Speaker 2
[00.38.02]
Yeah. And you know, and, and, you know, and I don't think your customers expect that. Right. Like, they're not they're not expecting it to come from a mill. They just want somebody that knows them, that knows the pallet business and can really connect the two. And I think that's where that's where you come in. So I, I love that I mean I think that's awesome. I love what pallet traders doing and and making waves in the market. And more and more people are becoming aware. It's really, really becoming a good partner out there for people. So. Well where can people find out more about like I said, I know you're on LinkedIn. You know, palette traders out there. But where can people find out more about you and Pallet Trader and what do you guys have cooking up for 2026?
Speaker 1
[00.38.45]
Yeah, um, definitely LinkedIn. Um, I'm always I'm always looking to connect with, with good people, um, and, and talk palettes and that's always a good spot for me. Um, I'm very active on the platform there and, um, you know, so that's that's a good way to reach me also. Um, and then palette trader.com. So it's a LLETRER. Com. So it's, uh, it's, uh, that's that's our website, you know, and there's, there's, there's the self-serve marketplace and then there's the managed service, uh, to things and, and we can, we can help kind of guide, you know, which which is the best way to approach for your business. Um, then, of course, you'll see us in the conference and trade show service where they're there a lot. We're going to be at manifest, uh, coming up in Vegas. Um, and then we'll be at Pack Expo East, which is in Philadelphia. Um, both in mid February. Um, you'll see us at, um. They will. They're right on the top of my mind right now. But like, we're we're pretty active in all
Speaker 2
[00.39.49]
of these things. Everyone.
Speaker 1
[00.39.51]
Yeah. We. Yeah, it was a point. I think we went to like 34 of them between 2023 and, uh, beginning of 2024. So it's just, uh, you know, we kind of narrowed it down a little bit more.
Speaker 2
[00.40.01]
Yeah. Like. Yeah. Trade show pro. Now you got, you got the lanyards from all the different places and. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My, my lanyard look like, uh, New Orleans beads after Mardi Gras. This. Is, this is a kids friendly show, Stephen. It's the kids friendly show. Yeah. Cool, man. Well, thank you very much for coming on the the podcast. Uh, I really appreciate it. I really appreciate talking with you and learning more about Pallet Trader as a, as an ops guy and my former life and current life, I know how critical and important pallets and relationship with a pallet supplier is. And so that's why I really like what Pallet Trader is doing and growing into and becoming so good on you, man. I really appreciate it. And, uh, you know, like, say, I'm sure I'll see you. I'm. Next time I start driving around town, I'm gonna be looking. I'm gonna be looking for a bearded guy with a pallet trader hat on. And cars as I pass them is probably, probably
Speaker 1
[00.40.57]
going to be. So. Yeah, for sure. Love it. Love the connect with the in person and I appreciate you. You know I'm honored to be on the show with you. And it's, uh, it's good it's good stuff that you're doing. So thank you.
Speaker 2
[00.41.09]
I appreciate it, Steven. Take care of my friend. I'll see you next time. All right. Man, sounds good. Bye bye.
Speaker 1
[00.41.16]
All right, guys, that concludes today's show. Thanks for Stephen for coming on the show again, a pallet trader. I really like learning about them. I would check out their website. If you're a warehouse manager ops manager, and you want to have a good relationship with a pallet supplier, pallet trader may be the one for you. So thanks again for coming on the show, Stephen, I appreciate it. As the warehouse underground goes, like I always say, please sign up for the community. The community is growing. We have over 260 people that are a part of that. Inside the community is message boards. We're doing some live shows. Be on the lookout for some new live shows that we are going to do in the first week of February. For people that are working in fulfillment centers, I have a couple of special guests that will be a part of that. And so if you are in that arena in FX, you'll want to look out for that show. Also check out the Tiger Team show. It's a show I do with my co-host Jordan. It's all about life and warehouses and fulfillment centers and distribution centers, but with a
Speaker 2
[00.42.19]
slant of wit, humor, and sarcasm. So if you work in that world and you want some lighthearted humor and some comic relief, check that show out. I think you will get it right away. Uh, what exactly what we were talking about. So as this podcast goes, thank you again. I will see you guys next time for episode number 45, 35, 35. Thank you. Uh. God bless.
