With sustainability in mind, East St. Louis operation provides pallet manufacturing, rebuilding services to a wide range of customers
In July 2019, Bob Immekus founded Pallet Sales & Recycling (PSR) in East St. Louis, Ill., less than a mile from the iconic Gateway Arch. About a year later, his high school friend Randy Ellington joined as an owner. Together, they’ve become an industry leader in the area.
“We both have been in the industry for 20 years, and we saw a need for better service,” said Immekus. “With that as our focus, we have developed a list of long-term customers who rely on us. About 95% of our business is from repeat customers. If they need custom-built pallets, we will accommodate them.”
“We work with Fortune 500 companies down to mom-and-pop local food distributors and manufacturers,” added Ellington.
PSR utilizes nine tractors and more than 200 trailers to service customers within an approximately 200-mile radius of the metro Saint Louis area. Company personnel deliver a load of pallets, leave the trailer on-site for clients to fill with scrap pallets, then pick it up when it is full and haul it back to PSR for processing.
“Our biggest niche is getting odd and free pallets on a massive scale and running them through our processing equipment — dismantlers, automatic trim saws — to separate the boards and runners,” explained Ellington. “After that, we have used material that goes into the other aspects of our business, which are repair and remanufacture.”
In addition to excellent service, PSR is committed to sustainability and keeping the significant amount of waste its processes create out of landfills. Wood not used in manufacturing and repair is run through a grinder and turned into new materials such as animal bedding and mulch.
While no two weeks are exactly the same, PSR maintains a somewhat steady volume of work. In a recent week, PSR repaired 31,000 pallets, built 9,200 pallets, tore down 17,000 pallets, and sold four loads of used material.
Atlas 200 MH helps increase productivity
PSR used to feed its grinder with a skid steer equipped with a grapple bucket but recently replaced that machine with an Atlas 200 MH material handler that features an elevating cab and has a maximum reach of 33 feet. PSR worked with Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. (KSM) Territory Manager Larry Kohler and KSM Material Handling Specialist Ralph Faulkner to purchase the approximately 44,000-pound material handler.
“They took the time to get to know our operation and ensure we had the right machine for our needs,” said Ellington. “They were very knowledgeable, so I was convinced that we were making the right decision. Now, we can’t imagine doing things any other way.”
Operator Joe Robertson emphasized that the Atlas 200 MH immediately increased production and efficiency in a limited-space application.
“I can handle a much bigger load, so I can put more into the grinder at once and make material faster,” said Robertson. “We went from only filling one trailer a day to three or four. Another advantage is that with a longer reach, I can sit in one spot, pick up material basically from all around me and feed the grinder without all the movement back and forth that I had with the skid steer. If I do need to move, I check behind the machine on the monitor using the rear camera. To me, it’s increased safety.”
Robertson added, “I really like the elevating cab too, because I can see right down into the grinder and make sure that metal or other items that aren’t supposed to go through it are stopped before they do. That saves the teeth. It’s simple to operate with a couple of joysticks that control everything. It’s incredible how comfortable the cab is with air conditioning and a heated seat.”
Further expansion
PSR continues to see growth, and increased grinding could lead to a separate business by the end of this year.
“We also currently own 50% of a location in Chickamauga, Georgia,” said Immekus. “Plus, we started a brokerage last year that handles the pallets for close to 500 retail stores. That division is growing at rapid speed.”
