A number of large companies within the food industry are turning to specialists for plastic crate hire. These tend to be a small number of standard sizes but all classified as returnable transit equipment (RTE).
Plastic re-usable i.e. returnable crates are increasingly replacing one-way trip cardboard packaging not only within the food sector, but also in pharmaceutical, retail, and logistics application areas.
You can also buy crates from Cooperage Pallets & Boxes.
Some companies offer a service known as the "total management option" where there is not just simple crate hire but online asset tracking, retrieval from third parties, and return to its home center.
They then have an industrial wash site, washing crates, boxes, and plastic pallets to the highest standards of cleanliness to ensure hygiene is at the forefront of their priorities.
Crate hire is increasingly attractive to companies who may wish or need to use returnable transit equipment, but do not have ready access to a capital expenditure budget and who have no desire to try to retrieve possibly far-flung crates.
These plastic crates are attractive and have many uses outside those of their primary function – as many may often get "lost". This is where such specialists step in, employing their own Enable online asset tracking system, which allows easy retrieval of equipment. Furthermore, using a specialist crate hire company removes any potential conflict between supplier and customer in the event of lost or damaged equipment.