Plastic pallet questions

Dynamic load is what a pallet carries while moving on forks or a jack. Static load is what it carries sitting flat on the floor, often with other loads stacked on top. Racked load is what it carries spanning two rack beams with nothing underneath, and it is usually the lowest of the three.

A nestable has legs that drop into the pallet below when empty, so a stack of empties takes a fraction of the height and ships densely. A rackable has runners across the bottom that let it sit on beams and conveyors. Most nestables are not rack-rated, so check the racked figure before racking any model.

Only models with a published racked load, and only up to that figure for your beam setup. Runners, deck stiffness and sometimes steel reinforcement are what make a pallet rackable. A whole used pallet is rackable only if its model was rack-rated in the first place.

Not automatically. 21 CFR 177.1520 sets the conditions under which olefin polymers like HDPE and PP can contact food, but a finished pallet's status depends on its maker's documentation. There is no such thing as an FDA approved pallet; ask the maker for a letter covering the exact model.

No. ISPM 15 covers wood packaging, and USDA APHIS lists plastic pallets as alternatives to wood packaging material that are not subject to its wood packaging rules. Check the receiving country's footprint and any customer rules, which still apply.

HDPE, resin code 2, stays tough in cold rooms and freezers and is common in injection-molded food and dairy pallets. Polypropylene copolymer, resin code 5, is stiffer and appears in many rackable and heavy-duty nestable designs. The right one depends on temperature, load and the maker's model.

Yes, which is a main reason food and pharma sites use them. A solid or smooth deck washes more easily than an open grid with deep ribs. The FSMA sanitary transportation rule expects equipment used for food to be adequately cleanable for its use.

Many models offer RFID tags or molded pockets as an option, mainly for pooled and returnable fleets. Ask for it in the quote, since it is often a factory option rather than an add-on.

It is the added height each empty nestable adds to a stack when dropped into the one below. A small nest increment is what lets a 53-foot van carry so many nestables; one published heavy-duty nestable 40x48 ships 1,200 to a trailer.

Grade A is a whole deck, intact runners or legs, no repairs and clean enough for its next use, and rackable only if the model was rack-rated. Grade B is structurally sound with scuffs, old labels, faded color or minor wear, and not for racking unless checked. Mixed lots are assorted makers, models and colors sorted only by footprint and sold by the load.

Used pallets cost less as a rule, and the gap depends on grade, model and freight. We don't print prices because they move with resin and freight; the pricing page explains the drivers and how to compare per trip.

Read the date clock, a small molded dial on the underside that shows the month and year the part was made. The resin code, maker's name and model number are usually molded nearby.

Resellers and end users buy whole pallets of known models; recyclers buy cracked and broken ones for their resin. Our buy-back desk takes both and makes one offer for the lot.

Yes. Clean pallets of a known resin are ground into regrind and molded again, and the offer is made by weight. Pallets contaminated with oil, chemicals or anything hazardous can't be recycled this way.

They win where a pallet must be washed, kept out of export wood rules, run many trips in a loop or stay the same size and weight every time. Wood still wins on first cost and on one-way domestic trips where nobody needs the pallet back. The plastic vs wood guide sets the two side by side.

Full orders ship as a truckload on a 53-foot dry van; smaller orders ship LTL with other freight. Tell us whether the delivery site has a dock or needs a liftgate, since that changes the carrier and the price.

Match the footprint to the system the pallet enters: 48x40 for most US grocery and general distribution, 40x40 for dairy, 48x45 for automotive, 48x48 or 44x44 for drums. For export, match the container or the receiving country's standard pallet.