§1Calculator
Pallet shipments per year on this flow.
| Input | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivered price per pallet ($)From your supplier's quote, including delivery. | n/a | ||
| Disposal / handling per trip ($)What you or the receiver pay to get rid of it. | n/a | n/a | |
| Buyback credit ($)Credit per pallet from a buyback program, if any. | n/a | n/a | |
| End-of-life salvage ($)What a retired pallet is worth (regrind, cores). | n/a | n/a | |
| Rated tripsTrips before retirement, from the supplier's rating or your history. | n/a | n/a | |
| Loss per trip (%)Share of pallets that don't come back each trip. Measure it. | n/a | ||
| Retrieval per trip ($)Return freight and collection cost per pallet. | n/a | n/a | |
| Handling / sorting per trip ($)Labour to sort and stage returns. | n/a | n/a | |
| Repair per trip ($)Average repair cost spread over trips. | n/a | n/a | |
| Issue fee or flat fee ($)From the pool's quote. For a flat-fee pool, enter the flat fee here. | n/a | n/a | |
| Daily rent ($/day)Leave 0 for a flat-fee pool. | n/a | n/a | |
| Dwell daysDays on your account, from transfer reports. | n/a | n/a | |
| Transfer fee ($)Per pallet transferred, if charged. | n/a | n/a | |
| Lost-pallet charge ($)From the contract. | n/a | n/a | |
| Admin fees per year ($)Account or reporting fees. | n/a | n/a | |
| Pallet weight (lb)Weigh a sample. | |||
| Freight ($ per cwt)Your LTL rate per 100 lb, if you pay by weight. | |||
| Freight legs per tripLoaded legs that carry the pallet's weight. | |||
| Cost per trip | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Cost per year | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Net present cost, 3 yr at 8% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Enter a price (or a pool's fee) in at least one scenario to compare.
How these numbers are calculated
One-way: CPT = P + D − S
Closed loop: N = min(L_trips, 1/ℓ)
CPT = (P − S_end)/N + R_c + H + ℓ·P + Rep
Pooled: CPT = F_issue + r_day·d + F_transfer + ℓ·F_lost + F_admin/trips
Plastic: closed loop + W (wash) per trip
All: + tare freight T = w × ($/cwt ÷ 100) × legs
Annual = CPT × trips per year
NPV = capital at t=0 + Σ annual / (1+i)^t, t = 1..years
Capital (owned loops) = pool size × P, pool size = trips/yr ÷ min(N, 52)
Break-even dwell d* = (CPT_owned − F_issue − F_transfer − ℓ·F_lost) / r_dayPool size assumes each pallet turns at most weekly. Results are only as good as the inputs.
§2Method
One-way: CPT = P + D − S (price, disposal, buyback credit).
Closed loop: N = min(L, 1/ℓ); CPT = (P − S_end)/N + R_c + H + ℓ·P + Rep.
Pooled: CPT = F_issue + r_day·d + F_transfer + ℓ·F_lost + F_admin/trips. For a flat-fee pool, set r_day = 0 and F_issue = the flat fee.
Plastic: closed loop with a wash cost W per trip.
All models add tare freight T = w × ($/cwt ÷ 100) × legs.
Results are estimates from your inputs. They are not quotes, and they don't replace your own engineering or legal review.