Pallets for retail stores and restaurants

Retail along the freeway

Orem's top employers include Walmart (499), Target (409) and Costco (350), and Layton recorded $1.34 billion in retail sales in 2014. Each big-box store, mall and restaurant row has a loading area. They are named only to show how many docks sit in a metro this size.

Two small jobs

Small piles, real constraints

• Fire codes and landlords often limit how long a pallet pile can sit outside; check yours.
• Winter snow turns a pile into a frozen block.
• A restaurant's pallets may be damp or greasy, which lowers their value.

Put those facts in the request. If your lot is in South Salt Lake, South Salt Lake has the local picture; if it is in Orem or Layton, those do too.

Short answers

Is a pile of a dozen worth sending? Yes. Do I need to sort them? No, just describe them. Can I keep some? Say how many to leave. What if some are broken? Say that too, and see broken pallets.

Small piles, simple wording

A manager rarely has time to sort a back lot. The wording below works: "About 60 pallets behind the store, mixed sizes, some broken, easy truck access from the alley." It is one line and it starts a reply.

• Say if pallets are wet or frozen to the ground.
• Say if the landlord needs notice for a truck.
• Say whether a few good ones should be kept.
• Say whether you want them gone once or on a schedule.

Where the pallets come from

Produce, beverages, paper goods and dry stock arrive on pallets, and many are left behind by delivery drivers. In a strip mall the back alley collects them. In a restaurant the walk-in cooler may hold a few. Over months the total adds up, and fire rules or a landlord may require them to go.

• Check lease terms about outdoor storage.
• Check fire-code rules for stacked wood near buildings.
• Ask delivery drivers whether they take empties back.
• Count what you hold monthly.