The first US patent for a wooden pallet was filed in the 1930s and their use took off during the Second World War. The pallet, like the shipping container, has been an astounding technological success. By creating a gap between a commodity and the ground, it allows a forklift or pallet jack to get under it and shunt a whole cube of stuff on its way. This all-important vacancy means more stuff can be moved more quickly. In 2016, 43 per cent of hardwood lumber produced in the US was used to make half a billion pallets.