CHEP pallet return and pickup for strays

The return sheet

Count

Pallets, or stacks and pallets per stack

Marks

Close photo of the mark on each stack

Where

The site and the dock they sit on

Arrived

The date, if known, and the delivery

Held since

How long you have held them

Contacts

Every time you tried to reach the owner, with the date

Trade press says users rarely contact a pallet's owner before disposing of strays and seldom keep records of how long they held them or their chain of custody. A record is what makes your position clear if anyone ever asks.

1. 1

   Freeze the stack

   Nothing leaves. Nothing is cut, painted or relabelled.

2. 2

   Fill the sheet

   Use the sheet above. Add the receiving record if you have it.

3. 3

   Contact the owner

   Give them the count and the site. Ask how they collect.

4. 4

   Keep the correspondence

   Save emails and dates. If the owner does not answer, keep trying and keep notes.

What this desk can do

The desk can rule the rest of your pile. Sound unmarked pallets can sell; broken ones are scrap. Send the stacks that are yours to the sorter, and leave the CHEP lane out of it. We will not collect, buy, move or resell the CHEP stack.

Words you will meet

Closed loop

Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.

Edge rack

Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.

Captive pallet

A pallet owned and kept inside one company or loop.

One-way pallet

A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.

FM 4996

FM Approvals standard that rates a pallet as equal to wood in fire tests.

CP9

A chemical-industry pallet standard, 1140 x 1140 mm.

PP

Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.

Virgin resin

New, unblended resin that has not been through a product before.

Runners

Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.

Cruciform base

Bottom with a cross-shaped member as well as a perimeter, for strength and automated handling.

Creep

Slow bending of plastic under a heavy load held for a long time.

Structural foam

Low-pressure moulding where a blowing agent expands the resin in the mould.

Rotational moulding

Resin heated in a rotating mould to make a hollow jointless part.

Compression moulding

Moulding by pressing resin in a closed mould; one of six processes in use.

Resin identification code

Number on a plastic part for the resin, which does not itself say whether it is recyclable.

Static load

Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.

Who asks, and what they need

Retailers that collect pooled or one-way pallets

Stacks of marked and unmarked pallets left by suppliers; need to know which can be sold and which belong to a pool.

Plastic recyclers and pallet makers

Buy broken pallets by weight as HDPE or PP feedstock; want clean, sorted, separated by resin and colour.

Distribution centres with surplus pallets

Sell or recycle excess lots, mixed makers and colours, broken pallets.

What the sources say

• California AB 1760 (2022) lets recyclers take possession of stray proprietary pallets if the owner cannot be identified or fails to retrieve them in time, with a 35-day period before they can be declared abandoned. (palletenterprise.com)
• CHEP USA sued two California recyclers over CHEP-marked pallets they would not return; a Los Angeles court granted CHEP's motion to retrieve pallets in one case (article dated February 1, 2024). (palletenterprise.com)
• Counties with the most private meat and poultry processing jobs (NAICS 3116) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Hall County, Georgia (11,123), Cook County, Illinois (8,367), Sussex County, Delaware (8,212), Marshall County, Alabama (7,387), Fresno County, California (6,499), Douglas County, Nebraska (6,452). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3254) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Lake County, Illinois (16,883), Marion County, Indiana (16,292), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (11,878), Suffolk County, New York (10,760), Los Angeles County, California (8,300), San Diego County, California (8,028). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private motor vehicle manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3361) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (24,188), Bexar County, Texas (6,165), Cook County, Illinois (5,473), Eaton County, Michigan (4,432), Oakland County, Michigan (735), Los Angeles County, California (643). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private dairy product manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3115) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (3,238), Los Angeles County, California (3,204), Franklin County, Ohio (2,930), Tulare County, California (2,916), Dodge County, Wisconsin (2,659), Marathon County, Wisconsin (2,535). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private fruit and vegetable preserving jobs (NAICS 3114) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (3,695), Stanislaus County, California (3,669), Fresno County, California (3,355), Cook County, Illinois (2,861), Franklin County, Washington (2,520), Marion County, Oregon (2,273). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private refrigerated warehousing jobs (NAICS 49312) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (2,320), Middlesex County, New Jersey (1,661), San Bernardino County, California (1,565), Cook County, Illinois (1,552), Wayne County, Michigan (1,041), Maricopa County, Arizona (871). (data.bls.gov)
• The 48 x 40 in GMA pallet makes up about 30 percent of new US wood pallets. (en.wikipedia.org)
• FDA's Food Traceability Rule (FSMA section 204) requires businesses that make, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List to keep Key Data Elements for Critical Tracking Events and share them within 24 hours of a request; FDA says Congress directed it not to enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. (fda.gov)
• Counties with the most private motor vehicle parts manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3363) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (20,888), Macomb County, Michigan (20,279), Oakland County, Michigan (16,970), Kent County, Michigan (8,688), Spartanburg County, South Carolina (6,496), Cook County, Illinois (6,273). (data.bls.gov)
• The five states with the most warehousing and storage jobs held 39% of the national total in 2025, and the top ten held 58% (California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Indiana, New York), BLS QCEW. (data.bls.gov)
• That Nelson model is under 5 in tall, which the page says suits air freight, and works with automation and most roller conveyors. (nelsoncompany.com)
• That used pallet is listed as pharma and food safe but not approved for direct food contact, in colours that vary. (nelsoncompany.com)
• Metal pallets are under 1 percent of the pallet market. (en.wikipedia.org)
• An ICC article says unlisted plastic pallets may require raising the commodity hazard class by two classes, and gives an example needing about 55 percent more sprinkler water. (iccsafe.org)

• Pallet Enterprise: CHEP and the California recyclers

Keep reading

• Pool-marked
• CHEP