Pallets look simple enough, but choosing and managing them rarely is. Size, construction, material, load characteristics, handling equipment, storage conditions and ownership model can all influence whether a pallet works well in a particular supply chain.
A pallet that performs adequately under a floor-stacked load may not be suitable for warehouse racking. A familiar 48 × 40-inch footprint does not guarantee a particular construction or load capacity. Reusable pallets can offer compelling economics where they are recovered consistently, but those economics deteriorate quickly when assets disappear. Automation introduces another set of requirements around dimensional consistency, deflection, bottom-deck configuration and pallet condition.
This hub organizes Reusable Packaging News coverage of those issues, beginning with pallet fundamentals and standards and extending through materials, handling, policy, pooling, history and emerging technology.
Jump to:
Pallet Basics |
Standards & Specifications |
Pallet Policy |
Handling & Logistics |
Wood Pallets |
Plastic Pallets |
Alternative Materials |
Pooling & Management |
Technology & Automation |
Pallet History |
Popular Guides
Explore Pallet Topics
Pallet Basics
Terminology, construction, entry types, common dimensions, unit loads, costs and selection.
Standards & Specifications
ISO, ANSI, ASTM, Woodpack Global, EPAL, CP pallets, testing and performance requirements.
Pallet Policy
Supplier requirements, receiving inspection, acceptable condition and incoming compliance.
Handling & Logistics
Forklifts, stacking, trailers, racking, conveyors, palletizing and safety.
Wood Pallets
Construction, lumber, specifications, ISPM 15, repair, recycling and market considerations.
Plastic Pallets
Materials, manufacturing, designs, hygiene, automation, reusable economics and recycling.
Alternative Materials
Presswood, corrugated, steel, aluminum and hybrid pallet options.
Pooling & Management
Rental, exchange, closed loops, managed programs, asset control and program economics.
Technology & Automation
Tracking, inspection, conveyors, AS/RS, AGVs, AMRs and automation compatibility.
Pallet History
Early mechanized handling, World War II, standardization, pooling and modern systems.
Latest Pallet News
IFCO Expands Pallet Pooling Business to North America with Atlas Hybrid Pallet
The reusable packaging pooling specialist introduces a steel-and-plastic pallet designed for automated handling, fire performance, and digital tracking. IFCO has introduced Atlas,...
Inside B&M Associates: Pool Management from the Customer Side
B&M Associates began because somebody stopped looking after the pallets. In the late 1980s, Ben Tyler, one of the company’s eventual founders,...
Kamps Names Elie Ghazal Chief Operating Officer
Kamps, Inc. has appointed veteran manufacturing executive Elie Ghazal as chief operating officer, placing him in charge of operations across the company’s...
Total Supply Chain Economic Impact: How Much Do Pallets and Packaging Really Cost?
The purchase price of a pallet or reusable package is rarely the same as its real economic cost. Most supply chain professionals...
Lorenz Snacks Switches German Pallet Supply from Exchange to CHEP Pooling
In a change affecting Lorenz facilities in Hankensbüttel, Neunburg vorm Wald, and Kreba-Neudorf, Lorenz Snacks has moved pallet supply at three German...
CHEP: EU Packaging Rules Put Pallets Under New Compliance Spotlight
PPWR reuse requirements bring pallets, containers and other transport packaging more directly into corporate compliance and data management programs. Pallets and other...
Pallet Basics
A pallet is a portable platform used as a base for assembling, storing, handling and transporting goods as a unit load. Pallets allow forklifts, pallet jacks, conveyors and automated equipment to move quantities of product together rather than case by case or piece by piece.
Construction varies widely. Stringer and block pallets provide different handling characteristics, while pallet materials include conventional lumber, plastic, processed wood, corrugated fiberboard, metal and hybrids. Size matters because pallet footprints interact with product packaging, warehouse racks, trailers, containers and material-handling systems.
For readers new to the subject, the Pallet Basics hub provides the best starting point.
Useful introductory guides:
- What Is a Pallet? Uses, Types, Materials & Sizes
- Types of Pallets: Definitions, Materials, Sizes & Common Uses
- Standard Pallet Sizes in Inches and Centimeters
- How Much Do Pallets Cost?
Pallet Standards & Specifications
The word standard can refer to several different things in the pallet world. A standard footprint establishes dimensions, while a construction specification can define materials, components and fasteners. Performance requirements describe what a pallet must do under specified conditions, and test standards provide repeatable methods for measuring that performance.
Those distinctions become important in purchasing. Specifying a 48 × 40-inch pallet does not establish its rack capacity, deck stiffness, component quality or suitability for automation. Likewise, testing a pallet according to an accepted method does not by itself determine whether the resulting performance is adequate for a particular application.
The Pallet Standards & Specifications hub covers ISO, ANSI MH1, ASTM, the Woodpack Global/NWPCA Uniform Standard, EPAL, CP pallets, testing and related specification systems.
Related reading:
- Prescriptive vs Performance Pallet Standards: How Buyers Get It Wrong
- 7 Reasons Why Standard Pallet Sizes Are Important
Corporate Pallet Policy & Incoming Compliance
Companies frequently have pallet requirements without describing them as a formal pallet policy. Procurement may specify a pallet type, receiving personnel may reject damaged pallets, and automated areas may accept only certain pallet configurations. Unless those decisions are coordinated, however, suppliers and employees can be left interpreting the standard for themselves.
A written pallet policy establishes which pallets are acceptable, what defects or variations are permitted, where different pallet types can be used and what happens when a pallet does not comply.
Inbound acceptance is also only a snapshot of pallet condition. A pallet that conforms when it arrives can subsequently be damaged by forklift impacts, conveyor transfers, storage or other handling before it reaches a more demanding part of the operation. That can be particularly important where pallets eventually enter automated systems, which may have much less tolerance for damage, dimensional variation or excessive deflection.
Depending on the consequences of failure, companies may establish additional inspection points before critical processes, transfer inbound loads onto controlled pallets, or specify enough performance margin to account for normal handling deterioration. The objective is not simply to receive a conforming pallet, but to have a pallet with a reasonable probability of remaining fit for purpose throughout the required use cycle.
The Corporate Pallet Policy & Incoming Pallet Compliance hub looks at supplier requirements, receiving inspection, non-conforming pallets, automation and ongoing measurement.
Related reading:
- Why Every Company Has a Pallet Policy, Even If They’ve Never Written One
- Factoring for Pallet Condition and Loss of Integrity: The Expected Cost of Pallets in Automation
- Wood Pallets: Are You Getting What You Paid For?
Pallet Handling, Stacking & Logistics
Pallet performance depends partly on what happens after the pallet enters the material-handling system. Fork-entry clearance affects how lift trucks engage it. Bottom-deck configuration can influence conveyor travel. Storage in rack creates different structural conditions from floor stacking, while trailer dimensions and pallet orientation determine how efficiently loads use transportation space.
Automation has made some of these details more consequential. An experienced lift-truck operator may accommodate a minor irregularity that a conveyor, pallet dispenser or automated storage system cannot.
The Pallet Handling, Stacking & Logistics hub covers forklifts and pallet jacks, empty pallet handling, block stacking, trailer loading, rack storage, conveyors and palletizing interfaces.
Related reading:
- How Many Pallets Fit in a Truck?
- Pallet Stacking and Unstacking Safety
- Block Stacking and Unstacking Loads: Safety Precautions
Wood Pallets
Conventional wood pallets remain central to palletized logistics because lumber offers a useful combination of strength, availability, design flexibility, repairability and cost. Wood pallets can be manufactured to thousands of specifications, while widely used footprints support an extensive secondary market for recovery, repair and resale.
Material choice is only part of the specification. Lumber species and grade, component dimensions, fasteners, deck configuration and pallet condition can all influence performance. International movements add ISPM 15 treatment and marking requirements for covered raw wood packaging.
The Wood Pallets hub covers construction, hardwood and softwood, specifications, new and recycled pallets, costs, ISPM 15, moisture and mold, repair, recycling and lifecycle performance.
Related reading:
- Hardwood vs Softwood Pallets: What’s the Difference?
- Understanding the GMA and Recycled Pallet Grades
- How Much Do Wooden Pallets Weigh?
Plastic Pallets
Plastic pallets range from lightweight nestable export platforms to reinforced pallets intended for years of repeated use. HDPE, polypropylene and recycled plastic formulations are used across injection-molded, structural-foam, thermoformed and other pallet designs.
Dimensional consistency, moisture resistance, cleanability and the absence of nails or loose wood components can make plastic attractive in automated and hygiene-sensitive applications. The higher initial cost puts greater emphasis on service life and asset retention when the pallet is intended for reuse.
The Plastic Pallets hub covers materials, manufacturing, pallet formats, automation, hygiene, export use, reusable economics and sustainability.
Related resources:
- Plastic Pallet Design, Performance & Use Cases
- Plastic Pallet Suppliers: Buyer’s Guide & Vendor Directory
- Deciding Between Wood or Plastic Pallets?
Alternative Material Pallets
Presswood, corrugated fiberboard, steel, aluminum and hybrid pallets occupy smaller portions of the market, but each can make sense where a particular requirement changes the conventional pallet equation.
Presswood and corrugated pallets can provide low-weight or nestable options for one-way and export shipping. Steel can suit demanding closed-loop industrial applications, while aluminum can be attractive where cleanability, corrosion resistance or lower metal-pallet weight matters. Hybrid designs combine materials to address a particular structural or handling requirement.
The Alternative Material Pallets hub compares these options and the applications in which they are most likely to fit.
Related resources:
Pallet Rental, Pooling & Management
Who owns the pallet can be as important as what the pallet is made from.
Companies can purchase pallets for one-way shipment, recover and operate their own reusable fleets, exchange standardized pallets with trading partners, rent pallets from a commercial pool or outsource procurement and recovery through a managed program.
Reusable economics depend on the flow. A durable pallet can provide a low cost per trip when it moves repeatedly through a controlled system, but the same asset becomes expensive when recovery is unreliable. Pool operators and fleet owners therefore pay close attention to pallet recovery, dwell time, loss and increasingly to digital visibility.
The Pallet Rental, Pooling & Management hub compares rental, exchange, owned closed loops, managed programs and one-way supply.
Related reading:
- From Pooling to Visibility: What Brambles’ Digital Push Means for Pallet Users
- Greystone Logistics Charts Post-iGPS Path Around Closed-Loop Pallets and Smart Tracking
Pallet Technology & Automation
Technology cuts across several of the pallet topics above rather than sitting neatly within one material or supply model.
RFID and other tracking technologies can provide better information about reusable pallet movement and dwell time. Automated inspection systems can identify pallet damage before an unsuitable pallet enters a high-risk process. At the same time, conveyors, pallet shuttles, AS/RS, AGVs and AMRs are increasing the importance of pallet stiffness, dimensional accuracy, bottom-deck geometry and consistent fork-entry openings.
Pallet condition is particularly important because conformance at one point does not guarantee conformance later. A pallet may begin a journey within specification and subsequently accumulate damage before reaching the automated portion of the system. Where the consequences of failure are high, pallet specification, inspection strategy and the probability of retaining sufficient integrity through the handling cycle need to be considered together.
This remains a developing area of the Pallets resource structure. For now, these articles provide useful entry points:
- Factoring for Pallet Condition and Loss of Integrity: The Expected Cost of Pallets in Automation
- Pallet Design for Automated Systems: Forget Pallets at Your Peril
- Automated Pallet Inspection: Alliance Automation Partners with IVISYS
- Eurostars Project Aims to Revolutionize Pallet Transport
- Plastic Pallet Case Study: Improving Performance in an Automated Warehouse
- From Pooling to Visibility: What Brambles’ Digital Push Means for Pallet Users
Pallet History
The modern pallet developed gradually alongside mechanized material handling rather than appearing as a single finished invention. Early platforms and skids evolved as powered industrial trucks became capable of lifting and stacking unit loads, while World War II dramatically accelerated palletization as military logistics organizations searched for ways to move unprecedented volumes of material with less manual handling.
Postwar adoption brought pallets into increasingly standardized warehouse, transportation and manufacturing systems. Common footprints became more important, pooling and exchange systems expanded, plastic and other alternative materials entered the market, and the pallet increasingly became not only a shipping platform but a managed supply-chain asset.
The Pallet History hub follows that development from the early twentieth century through wartime logistics, standardization, pooling, alternative materials and modern automation.
Historical reading:
- Origins of the Pallet Before World War II
- Pallets During World War II: How Wartime Logistics Made Palletization Inevitable
- A Change in Direction: The Invention of the Four-Way and Eight-Way Pallet
- When Did Reusable Pallet Pooling Begin?
- Relentless Transformation: A History of Plastic Pallets
Popular Pallet Guides
Readers looking for a specific answer can go directly to these RPN resources:
