78 Nails

This is a very clumsy statement but bear with me.

It is, I acknowledge, an adaptation of a popular and urban myth.

Here goes;

"You are never more than 100m away from the single most important object in the global economy".

Any ideas?

Upon hearing this claim a few things immediately throw themselves forward as likely candidates- the credit card, a newspaper, an aluminium drinks can, a discarded wrapper from a McDonalds Restaurant and the motor car.

Well, as I write this I can confirm that I am in close proximity to one of the objects which has attained the aura of a kingpin of commercialism and globalism.

Final guesses?

Nope, well the answer is not that obvious but it is the wooden shipping pallet.

One of the International Standards for the item stipulates that it comprises 11 wooden boards, 9 spacer blocks and 78 fixing nails. This is quite a precise definition for what are very basic components but absolutely necessary for these wooden platforms to carry from 25kg to 1500kg of goods and freight.

There are estimated to be around ten billion in use at any one time.

Their origins are synonymous with the global resurgence and recovery in the post war years although they were around in the 1940's with the increasingly common use of the new machinery of the fork lift truck.

These first pallets could only be lifted from two sides but it was soon the case that a 4 way version was in circulation. There was a rush to the US Patent Office by a number of inventors and entrepreneurs of pallets and their peripheral products who could see the vast potential of the unit load transport sector.

In Northern Europe in the 1950's the railways adopted the use of fork lifts and the palletisation of freight followed.

The first European Pallets were 800mm x 1200mm (in imperial measurements roughly 31.5 inches by 47.24 inches) but this did cause a problem. There was a bit of a clash in pallet sizing with those from the North American market where the standard was 1016mm (40 inches) by 1219mm (48 inches).

The use of shipping containers was an American innovation at the industry recognised size of 40 feet and so an exact number of twelve US pallets could be accommodated.

However, at the new European size and with the 40 foot container in common use there was a wastage of capacity in every single trip. As with most global trade issues any discussions of achieving a global standard for the pallet fell into the hands of committees and special interest groups.

After various moves in the 1960's, 1970's and through to the 1990's it was not until 2003 that an International Standard (ISO) was agreed but even this meant the approval of six different pallet sizes.

The pallet just in my garage is not an officially stamped one. It will have been cobbled together by a timber yard or by an apprentice in a transport depot. This continues to be the trend beyond the main and Corporate providers as the size and quality is ultimately influenced by trading networks, cultural influences and economic considerations.

There has always been a good trade in the pallets themselves. I recall seeing motorway hoardings in the UK appealing for second hand pallets for cash.

I live in a very busy Port Town and  I am often stuck behind lorries stacked high with the things going to and from the Docks.

Even after a rough,tough and likely short period of usefulness the components of a typical pallet have found a bit of an artistic role with reincarnation as furniture and upcycled items which are to be found on Pinterest and other hobbyist type portals.

I was quite surprised at the rather interesting origins and life of the humble pallet.

My thanks for the introduction to the subject go to Liam Shaw whose talk on Pallets on "The Boring Talks" Podcast first broadcast in February 2018 caught my attention.