Nippon Pallet Rental (JPR) announced on November 18th that it has expanded its international pallet rental service network, "Asia Pallet Pool (APP)," and has begun providing services in Malaysia.
<App Overview (A service that allows users to rent pallets in the exporting country and return them in the importing country)>
This makes rental pallets available for imports and exports between the nine countries and regions in the APP service network. JPR supplies over 50 million pallets annually to companies in Japan, and a wide range of companies utilize them as a means to alleviate truck driver shortages and environmental impact. The expansion of the APP service network will also make it easier to use rental pallets for international transport.
With the addition of Malaysia, the APP service network has expanded to nine countries and regions: Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States. Preparations are also underway for Hong Kong.
A key feature of APP is that "pallets can be rented in the exporting country and returned in the importing country." In international shipping, where the origin and destination are far apart, the effort and cost of returning used pallets to the origin is a major obstacle to pallet adoption. With "APP," pallets rented in the exporting country can be returned in the importing country, thus eliminating the problem of return transportation.
Another advantage is that "relaying between companies" is possible. Rental pallets can be shared and used by multiple companies. For example, pallets delivered for the import of raw materials and supplies can be rented and used for shipping products.
Furthermore, the availability of a "joint collection system" within Japan is also a key feature. JPR has a network of approximately 3000 locations, including logistics centers of major wholesalers and retailers throughout Japan, and provides a "joint collection system" that collects pallets used by manufacturers and other companies for shipment. By combining APP with the joint collection system, products loaded overseas can be transported directly to trading partners in Japan without transshipment. Afterwards, the empty pallets are collected jointly, making it possible to utilize this as "international integrated palletization."
Furthermore, this service can address several challenges, including reducing the burden on truck drivers during manual loading and unloading of shipping containers. Additionally, switching from disposable one-way pallets to rental pallets can reduce the amount of pallet waste after use.
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