Pink pallets do double duty

Rugged yet lightweight plastic pallets are often used in closed-loop supply chain networks. Those characteristics, though, also make plastic pallets appealing to thieves—more than you might think, as an article on pallet theft in our April issue will reveal.

One way to make plastic pallets less vulnerable to theft is to make them a bright, recognizable color that can be easily seen and identified. Pallet manufacturers and rental pool companies generally have stuck with black, blue, and sometimes red. But Vienna, Ohio-based Litco International says it has a better choice: hot pink.

Litco recently introduced a high-visibility 48- by 40-inch pink plastic pallet that will definitely stand out from the crowd in any warehouse or DC. According to product specialist Joseph Morella, the pink color is more than a new theft-prevention tactic: It also raises money for breast cancer awareness and research. The company will donate $2 from the sale of each pink pallet to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The pallets have a 2,000-pound capacity and are FDA- and USDA-approved for use with pharmaceutical products.