Distribution and palletizing in Montreal, from dock to shelf

Re-palletizing: building a load that survives the trip

A compliant pallet is built like a wall: heavy cases at the base, load kept flat, nothing past the 48 x 40 inch footprint. Stretch wrap holds everything without crushing corners, and height caps at 1.8 metres to clear destination rack beams. A well-built pallet tolerates being stacked, moved by pallet jack and handled twice without shifting.

Re-palletizing becomes necessary when freight arrives as loose cartons, mixed cases or commingled pallets no store will accept as-is. Our crew takes them apart, sorts per destination, rebuilds and labels every pallet with the recipient's name and case count. On arrival, the store counts one pallet instead of thirty cartons: receiving time drops from forty minutes to five.

Distribution routes: many stops, one day

A store route groups 8 to 12 stops depending on density and accepted receiving hours. Stop order is computed from each recipient's constraints — no receiving before 10 am, dock busy in the morning, rear-door deliveries — not from the map alone. Windows announced to each point of sale account for those particularities, which cuts refusals at arrival.

Loads are built in reverse route order: the last destination loads deep, the first near the doors. That handling detail saves twenty minutes per stop across a ten-stop day — more than three hours in total. Fragile pallets ride at the rear of the box with cargo bars, and wrap is rechecked at long stops.

Labeling, documents and store compliance

Every pallet carries its label: recipient, address, case count, order number and production date when the client requires the trace. Delivery documents — signed slips, refused-case reports — come back scanned the same day. Distributors supplying chains know the presentation requirements: no overhang, label readable without opening the wrap, cases oriented label-out.

Compliance goes beyond the pallet: some recipients require a reserved delivery slot, a pre-departure acknowledgment or an invoice attached to the goods. Those requirements are recorded in the file on the first job, then the next route applies them without new instructions. That file memory is what separates regular distribution from a series of one-off runs.

Returns, empty pallets and the reverse roll

The delivery route also picks up: merchandise returns, reusable containers and empty pallets head back to the warehouse in the freed space. That reverse roll avoids a dedicated return run, which costs nearly as much as the delivery itself. Returns are photographed at pickup — product condition, quantity, order label — so your customer service can decide fast.

Standard pallets in good shape are counted, stacked in tens and sent back to your suppliers or packing shop. Broken pallets are sorted aside for wood recovery. At week's end, the distribution statement summarizes deliveries, returns and the pallet balance: one document to reorder what is missing and credit what came back.

Frequently asked questions