The pallet industry in the southern United States

Pallet manufacturers in the southern United States were surveyed to study t he overall structure of the industry in this region. A number of issues wer e studied, including production, raw materials, marketing, and training nee ds. A majority of respondents were located in four states: Tennessee, Georg ia, North Carolina, and Virginia. Labor and resource procurement were of gr eatest concern regarding future expansion. Two-thirds of respondents planne d on increasing their workforce in 1999 and 45 percent planned to do so in the period 2000 to 2005. Generally, respondents' sales are intrastate; howe ver, respondents most often cited diversity of markets as the reason for sa les outside the company's home state. Oak was the most used species, follow ed by other hardwoods and southern pine.