When Pal-Serv was looking to improve its grinding operations, the pallet company carefully researched the market before making a decision. Ultimately, the Dallas-based pallet provider decided to go with low-RPM machines from Cresswood Shredding Machinery. They were installed through Cresswood’s regional representative, Boulware Equipment, a respected turnkey grinding solution provider in the Southeast. Pal-Serv now has Cresswood machines installed at two of its locations, with the third unit on order to arrive this summer.
Pal-Serv provides 48×40 recycled and remanufactured pallets as well as custom sizes from its network of plants, including Dallas, Oklahoma City, Little Rock and Charlotte. It also can service national accounts through Pal-Serv Logistics, its brokerage arm. Pal-Serv leans on its deep and broad management experience, well-run plants, and a focus on service to meet the needs of its customer base. “We want to be your pallet partner,” said Randy Foster, managing owner of Pal-Serv. “That’s our motto, and we live by it. Service is a big thing. You don’t ever want to lose an account over service.”
The company, now with more than 200 employees, was started by Randy Foster and Steve Fraser, both pallet industry veterans, in 2009. Foster’s father had a pallet business in the 1980s, and after Randy finished university, he joined him, before branching out to start his own pallet company. Both operations eventually merged. Collectively, they formed one of the largest pallet recyclers in the Dallas area, before selling to PalEx in 1998.
Foster joined PalEx and then IFCO, working as a regional manager, before teaming up with Steve Fraser and Russ Bunker to launch Pal-Serv’s first site at Little Rock in 2010, followed by Dallas in August of that same year. Pal-Serv of Oklahoma City was formed in 2013, followed by Pal-Serv of Charlotte in 2018. All the locations were greenfield sites – started from scratch. Recycled and remanufactured or combo pallets are the lion’s share of the company’s production. “If I was to make a good guess,” Foster stated, we probably do 70% recycled, 25% combo or remanufactured, and maybe 5% new. We do very little new.”
Cresswood Checks the Boxes for Pal-Serv
Foster, who previously had experience with grinder fires, reduced that risk by going with Cresswood equipment. “In the past, I’ve had two fires in our plants when I was with a previous employer,” he said. “We needed a grinder Day One, but in the early stages, I was always a little worried. We didn’t have enough room to set a grinder far enough away from all the activity in case a fire was to start.
“After doing a lot of research,” he continued, “we ran across Cresswood, and I just liked the situation that it is a lower-RPM machine. It’s much quieter, and it is much cleaner than some of the previous grinders that we’ve had in our plants.” He emphasized that there are a number of quality grinders on the market, but for Pal-Serv, the Cresswood units best addressed their particular needs.
He noted that the maintenance should be lower because of the lower-RPM, and he likes the way that Cresswood grinders are protected. “I have no proof,” he said, “but I feel like I have less of a fire potential with these Cresswood machines. They have been a good fit for us, and we are on our third purchase of a Cresswood grinder.”
Pal-Serv currently has Cresswood grinders in its Dallas and Little Rock locations, with a new unit currently on order for Pal-Serv of Oklahoma City. Magnet separation removes 99.9% of all metal contamination from the chips, a process that makes the end product a very desirable commodity on the open market. The company has markets for its fiber at all locations. Foster also appreciates the importance of grinding in reducing the number of trucks required to move waste wood, with a conversion rate of around 2.5 to 1.
“It’s a really clean material that you can certify,” Ryan Butzman, president of Cresswood, stated about the material produced by the Cresswood units. “And that creates a really valuable end product for livestock bedding, landscape mulch or an ideal feedstock for boiler fuel.” After magnet separation, residuals are pushed by the auger onto the incline conveyor and distributed into a powerful air system that vectors the chips into an easy to operate and clean trailer loading system.
Pal-Serv of Dallas runs the higher capacity HF-70 model, which features an extra 10" opening and a 20" rotor versus 16" on the HF-60. The HF-70 also offers 150 hp versus 125 on the HF-60. Dallas features a dual truck loading system to accommodate higher volume and quick changeover, while Little Rock has a single truck feed system. Butzman remarked that many pallet businesses are exploring better options for wood waste because the cost of dumping and disposing of pallet scrap has increased 300% over the last five years in some regions.
Durable Cresswood grinders are made in America, featuring in-house engineering and manufacturing. The Midwest manufacturer offers on-site support, including next day, on-site service, and has over 70 years of combined experience servicing low-RPM industrial wood grinders.
One of the unique features of the Cresswood line is the ability to customize the stroke of the ram via the PLC. In the case of the Pal-Serv machines, the ram is told to retract only partially for three strokes out of four. This feature allows the grinder to substantially increase output. The hydraulic power pack on the HF-70 is the largest in its class, allowing for fast recovery and retraction of the hydraulic cylinder. As a result, the ram spends more of its time pushing and grinding wood instead of on ram retraction.
Butzman emphasizes that Cresswood’s goal is to help customers optimize their waste wood handling while maximizing the value of their wood residuals. “Just selling grinders isn’t really serving customers the way they deserve to be served, and isn’t necessarily solving their problems,” he said. For that reason, Cresswood works with Boulware and other partners to provide turnkey systems that can help pallet companies meet zero waste goals while creating secondary revenue streams from wood waste.
Automation, Price Inflation, and People
While Pal-Serv monitors the opportunity for automation in its pallet plants, the company has taken a measured approach to date. It has been successful in using a piece rate approach to incentivize workers without having to install major repair systems. “We are big believers in piece rates, and that drives almost everything,” Foster said. But, he acknowledged, if labor dries up, that just might tip the scales toward further investment in machinery.
The company does have a PRS line at Pal-Serv Dallas to assist in sorting rental pallets, and also boasts several PRS pallet dismantlers across its facilities. Bands are supplied by Hub Industrial Supply. Each plant is outfitted with a Kiln-Direct kiln to meet the need of various customers for ISPM-15 compliant pallets.
One challenge noted by Foster is price inflation. “We keep adding costs and taxes,” he said. “Prices are moving really fast right now, and lumber is going through the roof. Challenges are everywhere.” At the same time, core availability is tight. He reflected on how things have changed since the 1980s and 1990s. In those days, cores were freely available but getting a customer was a “big deal.” Now the equation has flipped. Now the focus is on the selling needed to ensure a reliable supply of cores.
With price movements on all fronts, Pal-Serv pays extremely close attention to its financials. “Our P&L is our rudder,” Foster stated. “Managing that P&L month over month over month, it tells us what direction to turn. It’s a big piece of what we do.”
When asked if he would like to give a shout-out to any particular employees, Foster stressed that the success of Pal-Serv is based on a full team approach involving everyone at the company. “It’s all about the people,” he said. It is common sense things that matter, he noted, like maintaining safe plants and serving accounts.
“We are very humble in our approach,” he concluded. That humble, team-oriented approach, seasoned with deep management experience and a focus on customer service, have been at the center of Pal-Serv’s continued success.
