Obsolete safety standard allows tens of millions of wood pallets to 
pose severe fire risk ORLANDO

IGPS Company, operator of the world's first and largest pallet rental
l service offering all-plastic pallets with embedded RFID 
(radio frequency identification tags), today called for wood pallets,
which number in the tens of millions, to be subjected to the same 
fire safety standards as pallets made of plastic, aluminum and other
materials.  
"As pallet fires break out across the U.S., causing millions of 
dollars of damage and putting workers' and firefighters' lives at 
risk, it is time for the fire safety testing exemption given to wood
pallets to be rescinded and all wood pallets should undergo the same
independent fire safety testing applied to pallets of alternative 
materials," said Bob Moore, CEO of iGPS.  
"For too long, the industry has turned a blind eye to what everyone
knows: wood pallets do not pass the very same fire safety tests that
pallets of other materials must pass, leaving lives and property at 
risk."
      
"The existing fire testing exemption for a wood pallet was 
established over 30 years ago when wood pallets were smaller than 
today and made of hardwood.  Baseline sprinkler configurations were
 set to control a fire consisting of those pallets, so they were 
exempt from fire safety testing," added Moore.  "However, the 
typical wood pallet in use today is very different -- it is 
substantially larger, heavier, contains more wood and utilizes 
softwoods, such as resin-rich Southern Yellow Pine, a type of wood
 that burns very differently.  Despite these changes, which have 
altered the flammability of wood pallets, they are still exempt from
 testing based on assumptions that are over three decades out of 
date.  This exemption is indefensible and is literally playing with
 fire."
The National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) 
recently issued a highly inaccurate and self-serving press release 
questioning the fire safety of iGPS pallets, which, unlike wood 
pallets, have received both UL and FM Approvals certification.  
In doing so, NWPCA attempted to imply that the National Association
of Fire Marshals shared its partisan views, which is patently false
and an attempt to deflect attention from the dangers presented by 
wood pallets.
"We call upon the NWPCA to put people's safety above its partisan 
interests and to reassure the public by beginning independent 
testing for all types of wood pallets," Moore said.  "The nation's
 businesses, workers and firefighters are entitled to nothing less.