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How CHEP pallet charges work: issues, daily hire, transfers and lost equipment

The parts of a CHEP pallet bill in the US, what starts and stops the rental clock, and where a monthly audit usually finds money.

What you're paying for

CHEP pallets stay CHEP's property; you pay to use them. Brambles, CHEP's parent, describes the fee types as an issue fee when pallets are delivered to you, daily hire for each day you remain responsible for a pallet, transfer and movement fees, transport, and administrative fees for lost equipment or late declarations. Which of these appear on your invoice, and at what rate, is set by your own agreement.

In the US, the company that orders the pallets (usually the manufacturer or shipper) is the one billed. Retailers and distributors that receive them generally don't pay to use them, but they are expected to return them through the pool.

What starts and stops the clock

The clock starts when pallets are issued to your site. It stops for each pallet when you declare it as transferred to a customer (or return it), not when the customer receives it. That is why a shipment that is never declared keeps costing money, and why a declaration made a week late costs a week of hire.

CHEP's US site says customers report shipments through the myCHEP portal, which also shows the account's pallet balance and invoices.

Where an audit usually finds money

• Undeclared shipments: loads that left on CHEP pallets but were never declared. They sit on your balance.
• Declarations with the wrong quantity or customer: the pallets end up on the wrong account or stay on yours.
• Late declarations: each day between ship date and declaration adds hire.
• Transfers credited to you that never arrived: a supplier declared pallets to you that your receiving records don't show.
• Pallets sent outside the network: customers that don't return pooled pallets. CHEP has generally charged fees for these (Pallet Enterprise, 2010).
• Pallets that really are missing: only what's left after the paperwork above is fixed.

Sources

CHEP US: how CHEP works; Brambles investor pack (2010), fee types; Modern Materials Handling (2010)

More guides

General information, not advice about any specific contract. Your agreement with the pallet company sets the actual fees and deadlines.