Shippers seeking a lighter, more durable and easily tracked pallet now have a new option, with the launch of plastic pooling business Intelligent Global Pooling Systems, or iGPS Company LLC, by industry veteran Bob Moore and an affiliate of private equity investor Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. (Cos Cob, Conn.).
iGPS will be the only large-scale outside pallet supply service to provide radio-frequency identification (RFID) in every pallet to track shipments in real time, which reduces the logistical cost of shipping and allows companies to verify food and drug safety as well as address homeland security. The company, which will initially target consumer electronics and pharmaceutical suppliers, offers the ability to rent plastic pallets and avoid the ongoing expense of owning and maintaining wood pallets.
Plastic pallets are approximately 30% lighter than their wooden counterparts, which creates a tremendous potential savings in fuel costs. With one billion pallets in circulation in the U.S. currently, a replacement with plastic pallets would remove more than 28 billion pounds of non-value freight from America's shipping infrastructure.
Moore, who was the CEO of wood pallet pool supplier CHEP International, Inc. (“CHEP”), will be CEO of IGPS. When Moore left CHEP, it was a $2.5 billion global leader. The total annual global market for pallets is conservatively estimated at $14 billion by industry analysts. More than 600 million pallets enter the market each year as replacements, 97% of them made of wood.
“Plastic pallets are lighter, more durable, consistently sized and easier to tag with RFID than wood," Moore said. "The market has been waiting for a solution that has these characteristics -- and the environmental benefit of a 100-percent-recyclable product that does not consume trees.
"Pegasus' significant equity investment gives us the scale to capture that market opportunity," Moore added.
iGPS will be headquartered initially in Cos Cob, Conn., with operating units in Orlando, Fla., and Dallas, Texas. Its website is in development. For more information, contact Bob Moore at 407-342-8700 or [email protected].
Source: iGPS
