Why your pallet count doesn't match the pallet company's balance

The usual reasons a physical pallet count comes up short of a CHEP, PECO or iGPS balance, and how to find each one.

The common causes

Undeclared shipments. Loads left on pooled pallets but the transfer was never reported, so the pallets still sit on your account.
Wrong quantity declared. A 26-pallet load declared as 22 leaves four pallets on your account.
Transfers credited to you that never arrived. A supplier declared pallets to your location that you never received.
Wrong pallet type. A customer that takes red pallets was shipped on blue ones (or the WMS records the wrong type), so declarations go to the wrong pool.
Pallets you can't see. Trailers in the yard, damaged piles, staging lanes, pallets under floor-loaded freight.
True loss. Pallets broken, scrapped, swapped for whitewood at a customer, or taken.

How to tell them apart

Match shipments to declared transfers by reference (BOL, order, PO) first, then by customer, date and quantity. Whatever is left unmatched on the shipment side is undeclared; on the transfer side it's over-declared. Do the same for receipts. The remainder between your own books and the count is physical loss, and that's when a recount is worth doing before you accept a charge.

Find your missing pallets

PalletAudits matches every shipment to a declared transfer and lists what to declare, dispute and recount. Your first audit is free.

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More guides

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