The impact of using the total cost of ownership (TCO) account for a reusable wooden flat pallet in its operational phase on respecting the principles of sustainable development

Despite the commonly observed trend towards mechanization and automation of operational processes, the potential benefits of wooden pallets as an essential element of the infrastructure of logistic processes are often overlooked in considerations related to sustainable development. Aspects that are mentioned more often include the very idea of the economy itself (circular economy), characteristics of logistics (green), features of the supply chain itself (sustainable) or expectations towards transport (ecological). The authors believe that the idea of total cost of ownership (TCO) in relation to wooden pallets can be a key component of holistic thinking in terms of sustainable development. In a situation where in relation to logistics, reasonable expectations for developing sustainable supply chains are made, paying attention to such a common logistic facility, namely a cargo pallet, which is given so little attention in research, is, in the opinion of the authors, absolutely justified. Therefore, the article presents an original approach to the problem of aggregation of all costs that cargo pallets generate in their operational life cycle, using the total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis methodology. The main goal of the article, however, is to show that the total cost of ownership of a pallet (not only owning it) can become an effective tool used to significantly reduce the costs of logistic activity of enterprises (as well as whole supply chains) and support the idea of sustainable development in practice. Using the primary data from questionnaire research, the focus was on considerations that were of identification character (cognitive and explanatory considerations), which are typical for basic research that aims to explain given phenomena. Thus, the presented cognitive process covers two main areas, namely: the general theory of sustainable development and the specificity of wooden pallets as carriers used in goods trading in terms of their total costs of ownership.