Is there any way to test a pallet to verify that is has been heat treated?
I've recently been receiving pallets from my supplier that are infested with a wood boaring beetle, identified as Ambrosia Beetles by my pest control company. We pay for pallets to be heat treated (to kill bugs), and they do come in with the IPPC stamp indicating that they are heat treated, but I'm not buying it. My understanding is that the heat treatment should kill any bugs. A co-worker says he used to work at the pallet supplier and they often just stamp pallets without actually heat treating them.
I've requested corrective action from the supplier, but the problem persists. We ramped up inspection and cull out any we identify in house, but I'm still getting beetles in my fly lilghts and finding boring holes in pallets. I'm going to the pallet suppliers site tomorrow to meet with them and audit their process; not sure what will come of it. Dropping the supplier is my last resort, but will be a pain and probably add cost.
So what can I do to verify that this heat treatement actually happens? A stamp is just a stamp. I can a stamp on anything but that doesn't mean it was actually heat treated.
Anyone else have these pallet/insect issues?
Edited by zac2944, 17 November 2014 - 08:48 PM.