Plastic pallets delivered in Indiana

The Crossroads of America

Indiana's state motto is the Crossroads of America, and the interstate map explains it. I-65, I-69, I-70 and I-74 all converge on Indianapolis, and the I-465 beltway links them. A large share of the US population lives within a day's truck drive of central Indiana.

In the northwest, the Indiana Toll Road carries I-80 and I-90 past Gary, while I-94 hugs the Lake Michigan shore. I-64 crosses the far south near Evansville, and I-65 runs down to Louisville.

That reach brought large distribution parks to Plainfield, Whitestown, Greenwood and the area around Indianapolis International Airport, which also hosts one of the biggest FedEx hubs in the network.

Industries and the pallet each needs

Medicine and devices in Indianapolis and Warsaw

Indianapolis is home to one of the largest US drug makers, and pharma and life-science suppliers have gathered around it. Those buyers ask for pallets with no recesses where dust can hide, made from virgin resin and backed by the maker's paperwork.

Warsaw, in Kosciusko County, is often called the orthopedic capital of the world for its cluster of hip, knee and spinal implant makers. Device makers there handle sterile goods and packaging, and the pallets in their rooms are wiped down like any other surface.

Plastic makes sense in both settings because it can be sanitized and does not shed fibers. Food-contact or GMP fitness still depends on the maker's documentation for the model.

• Medical device manufacturers →
• Pharmaceutical pallets →

RVs, cars and steel in the north

Elkhart County builds most of the recreational vehicles made in North America. Sidewalls, cabinets, windows and chassis parts move between suppliers and assembly halls on short runs, and big, light pieces want wide decks more than very high ratings.

Car and engine plants are spread across the state: Subaru in Lafayette, Toyota in Princeton, Honda in Greensburg and GM trucks near Fort Wayne. Parts suppliers feed them on returnable loops, where the 48x45 footprint used in the auto trade is common.

Northwest Indiana's steel mills at Gary and Burns Harbor ship coils and heavy parts that call for pallets with high static and dynamic ratings. Get those figures from the maker's sheet for the exact model.

• Automotive pallets →
• Heavy duty plastic pallets →

Three ports for an inland state

The Ports of Indiana run three terminals: Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan, and Jeffersonville and Mount Vernon on the Ohio River. Burns Harbor takes ocean ships through the St. Lawrence Seaway, while the river ports move barges of grain, steel and bulk.

Container freight for Indiana mostly arrives by rail through the Chicago yards. Exporters who load containers at their own docks can use plastic pallets without ISPM 15 heat treatment, because that standard covers wood.

Shipping a load into Indiana

A truckload goes on a 53-foot dry van, roughly 52.5 feet long and 100 inches wide inside. A published heavy-duty nestable 40x48 from Rehrig Pacific packs 1,200 into one trailer, while rackable models with three runners pack far fewer.

Racked storage in the Plainfield and Whitestown buildings needs a model with a published racked load, the weight it holds spanning two beams. Most nestables are not rack-rated. LTL brings smaller orders to a single plant dock in towns such as Columbus, Muncie or Terre Haute.

• How to read load ratings →

Selling surplus plastic pallets from Indiana

RV and auto suppliers often hold dedicated pallets for a model year that has ended. Send the count, footprint, resin code, condition and pickup ZIP, and we reply with an offer as pallets or as regrind for cracked ones.

Northwest Indiana mills and fabricators sometimes run plastic pallets until the decks crack under coil edges. Those broken units still carry value as HDPE or PP flake, and a molder can turn that regrind into new products, so a pile behind the plant is worth a quote before the scrap hauler takes it.