Pallet Exchange Cost Calculator — CHEP vs PECO vs Whitewood

Calculate pallet cost per trip for exchange programs vs whitewood. Compare CHEP, PECO pooling vs buying and recovering whitewood pallets.

Quick answer: CHEP/PECO pooling: $5–$8/pallet/trip including rental, transfers, and repairs. Whitewood purchase: $12–$18 new, $7–$11 used. Whitewood breaks even vs pooling if recovery rate exceeds 60–70%.

📦 Pallet Exchange Program Cost Calculator

Monthly Pallet Trips

Pallet Program

Rental / Issue Fee ($/pallet)

Transfer / Retrieval Fee ($/trip)

Pallets Requiring Repair (%)

Repair Cost Per Pallet ($)

Pallet Loss / Non-Return Rate (%)

Lost, stolen, or not returned each trip

Pallet Purchase Price ($)

Relevant for whitewood programs

Cost Per Pallet Per Trip

—

Cost Breakdown

—

Annual Pallet Cost

—

How to Use This Calculator

Select program — auto-fills typical rates. Adjust based on your actual CHEP/PECO invoices.
Key metric: loss rate — whitewood non-return runs 25–40% in open supply chains. CHEP/PECO pool systems recover 95%+ through their own infrastructure.
Compare programs side by side — run this calculator twice — once for your current program, once for an alternative — to find the cheaper option.

Worked Example

1,200 trips/month, CHEP: $4.80 rental, $1.20 transfer, 8% repair at $4.50, 3% loss.

CHEP/trip: $4.80 + $1.20 + $0.36 + $0 = $6.36
Annual: $91,584

Whitewood at $14 purchase, 30% loss: $0 + $0 + $1.00 repair + $4.20 loss = $5.20/trip — cheaper than CHEP at this scenario. But whitewood requires purchasing, storing, and managing pallet inventory. Run both to compare total cost including logistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

CHEP wins when your supply chain is open (pallets travel through multiple customers/DCs) and you can't control pallet return. CHEP's 95%+ recovery vs whitewood's 60–70% in open supply chains means the "cheaper" whitewood option often costs more once you account for replacement costs.

CHEP charges a retrieval fee when pallets are collected from your customer's location. Rate varies by distance and volume — check your current CHEP invoice for your actual transfer rates.