it's fun watching the pallets grow

I dropped off another load of accumulated books at the warehouse. As I count it, I need 10 tall pallets and 10 short ones to make the load. I'm working on the 7th tall one now.

I visited a local high school, requesting that some of our literature be given to the appropriate staff member. I'll stop again in a couple days to follow-up.

I stopped off and talked with a guy at a warehouse I stumbled on. His wife sells books on the net and has a LOAD of stuff she considers junk. The husband says she wants me to take it all, but I can't commit to that, even if I had space to work in, as I didn't even get a look at the stuff.

I confirmed I can slough off the stuff I don't want to the local Y for their book fair in the fall so now I have negotiating ammo. Wish me luck as the pile looks HUGE.

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F.Y.I. Anyone shipping things internationally should be aware of the requirements if they decide to use wooden pallets.

I always intended to pre-palletize the container-load of books as I went along because I had not intention of floor-loading 20,000 pounds of freight at one time and I have no idea of the manpower I'd have available when I reached my goal. I figured either 10 pallets, each loaded 7 feet high or 20 pallets each loaded halfway and stacked on top of each other.

I planned on grabbing scrap pallets as they are commonly found around almost any loading dock or industrial site. However, a shipping company tipped me to the fact that all international requirements cite that all wood pallets must meet ISPM 15 standards.

I was throughly confused until I found an example of the certification logo online and found some pallets with it. It looks like the graphic here and is branded onto a couple places on the wood. The top letters are the country of manufacture and the manufacturer. The bottom letters indicate the method used (HT = heat treated). The logo on the left is imperitive.

Without it, the shipment could be refused and returned and you'll be on the hook for all fees and penalties and if you don't take the stuff back it could be destroyed and you'd STILL be on the hook for ALL costs.

As I searched the stacks I found laying around dock areas I noted that only 1 in 20 or so is easily found and sometimes the company won't allow you to take them. A sharp eye and nose should be able to find a good source, as I ultimately did.