Our Process
Six steps. Every one of them ours.
01
We design pallets using the Pallet Design System© (PDS) — an engineering tool built on decades of laboratory research and field testing by NWPCA and the William H. Sardo, Jr. Pallet & Container Research Lab at Virginia Tech. PDS© simulates pallet strength, stiffness, and life-cycle performance based on real-world material-handling conditions. In use since 1984, it’s now relied on by manufacturers in 15 countries.
Pallets aren’t thrown-together products. The thickness, size, and quantity of top deck, bottom deck, and stringer boards all determine strength and durability — as does board placement, notching, chamfering, and clipping. PDS© lets us engineer a pallet for exactly what it will carry, whether that’s boxes, bags, or raw product.
The images to the right show sample output from the PDS© program. Tell us what you need and we’ll put it to work.
02
We are in the right place. East Texas sits in what locals call the “Pine Curtain” — one of the densest concentrations of forestland in the South. Timber is close, supply is consistent, and we’ve been working this region for more than sixty years.
The market runs on pine, and so do we. Green pine and kiln-dried pine cover the full range of what pallet customers need — we match species and moisture content to each customer’s application and engineer for cost stability, not just today’s spot price.
Our four sawmills are built for flexibility. We don’t run a single fixed recipe — we adjust to the timber available, the order on the books, and the customer on the other end. That agility is something a pallet operation without its own mills simply can’t offer.
We also buy smart. Our diverse product lines let us compete for timber in markets that single-purpose operations can’t touch, which means we stay supplied when supply gets tight — and that reliability passes directly to our customers.
“The thinner blade saved enough material per cut to squeeze an extra board from the same log.” — On adopting thin-kerf bandsaws, early 1990s
03
The numbers behind the reliability.
6
Nailing Machines
4
Sawmills
9
Cut-Up Saw Lines
25+
Trucks in Fleet
Our customers count on us to be there. Not most of the time — every time. We built the operation around that expectation: six modern nailing machines, four sawmills, and a fleet of over twenty-five trucks. When you place an order, we have the capacity to fill it.
We’re a SPEQ-certified vendor and an active NWPCA member. In the 1990s we were among the first to adopt thin-kerf bandsaws, reducing waste per cut. In 2022 we overhauled the cut-up department entirely — integrating end-to-end cut-up lines that reduced labor costs and significantly improved throughput. Every few years we find another opportunity to get better. We take it.
Our six Viking nailing machines are computer-driven in both parameter and production mode, capable of building truckloads of 3-, 4-, or 5-stringer pallets with speed and precision. After 20-plus years running Vikings we’ve dialed in efficiency — and we’re never satisfied.
In 2026 we installed a boiler to capture sawdust — a byproduct of every log we mill — and convert it into heat for kiln drying and facility operations. That’s the mindset here: if there’s a smarter way to run the operation, we find it and we build it. Better efficiency means better pricing for our customers. You shouldn’t have to pay for a disorganized operation. You don’t.
Step 04 →
“We have always embraced new technology early” — and heat treating was no different.
04
Export wood packaging has required heat treatment since the European Union’s Emergency Measures took effect in October 2001. Those measures mandated that coniferous wood packaging reach a minimum core temperature of 56°C for 30 minutes — killing insects in and on the wood before it crosses a border.
Around the same time, the International Plant Protection Convention developed ISPM 15 — the international standard for regulating wood packaging in trade. ISPM 15 requires the same 56°C/30-minute treatment regardless of species and is available for adoption by any country as its import standard.
Arrington Lumber & Pallet Co. is fully qualified to provide heat-treated pallets. We are inspected by Timber Products Inspection and are in good standing with the IPPC. If your shipments are heading overseas, we’ve got you covered.
Countries that have adopted ISPM 15
Heat-treated pallets carry the IPPC mark — the stamp that tells customs inspectors the wood was properly treated. You’ll see it on the stringer of every pallet we build for export.
Step 05
Mold Prevention
05
When heat-treated pallets first entered the export market, packaging manufacturers along the Gulf Coast ran into an unexpected problem. The combination of high humidity, high heat, and low sunlight in this region creates ideal conditions for mold growth on heat-treated wood.
Here’s what happens: the heat-treatment process kills insects as intended — but it also draws natural sugars to the wood’s surface. Those sugars become food for mold. Harmless, but undesirable. You can clean it after the fact with high-pressure water or diluted bleach, but that only buys a little time. The real solution is a treatment that works longer and more thoroughly.
Our mold-prevention process is the result of years of trial, error, and refinement. We treat each pallet as a whole unit after the build and heat-treating phases, covering 99.9% of the surface area and penetrating up to ¼ inch into the wood. We’re confident this approach outperforms any other available method — and our track record backs it up.
99.9%
Surface area coverage
Every pallet treated as a whole unit after build and heat treating.
¼”
Penetration depth
Treatment goes into the wood, not just onto the surface.
Why it matters on the Gulf Coast
High humidity + high heat + low sunlight = perfect mold conditions. We figured this out the hard way. Now you don’t have to.
Step 06
06
We run our own fleet of tractor-trailers. On-site mechanics. Upstream support from our truck supplier. We built it that way because when a delivery is promised, we need to make it happen — without depending on a third-party dispatcher who doesn’t know your name.
Jacksonville, Texas is more centrally located than it looks. We’re within one-day delivery distance of five major Southern cities, which means we can serve multiple facilities of large corporations across a single wide footprint. Current customers span Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. If you’re in that range, we can reach you.
One-day reach from Jacksonville, TX
Tell us what you need. We’ll spec it, build it, and deliver it.
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