Plastic pallets delivered in New York

Two states in one: the city and upstate

New York freight splits into two very different jobs. Deliveries into the five boroughs and Long Island fight bridge tolls, height limits and tight docks, while upstate loads run long distances on the Thruway to farm towns and factory cities.

The Thruway carries I-87 from the Bronx up the Hudson Valley to Albany, then turns west as I-90 through Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. I-81 runs north and south through Binghamton, Syracuse and Watertown to the Canadian border, I-86 crosses the Southern Tier, and I-88 links Binghamton with Albany.

Regions, corridors and delivery notes

Hunts Point and the city's food

The Hunts Point Food Distribution Center in the South Bronx is one of the largest food distribution markets in the world, with produce, meat and fish markets that supply restaurants and grocers across the metro area.

Produce wholesalers there work in coolers all day and want pallets that do not soak up water from melting ice or wet cartons. Open decks let cold air reach the bottom layer of boxes.

Trucks into the city face low bridges on parkways, where commercial vehicles are banned, and heavy tolls on the Hudson crossings. A delivered quote to a Bronx or Brooklyn ZIP reflects that.

On Long Island, the Hauppauge industrial park holds electronics, food and supplement makers that ship cartons on 48x40 and rarely have room for a full trailer. Upstate, Buffalo still mills flour beside its grain elevators, and Rochester's optics and imaging plants send delicate instruments on padded, wrapped loads.

• Plastic pallets for fresh produce →
• Grocery distribution →

Upstate dairy and the yogurt belt

New York is one of the largest milk-producing states, and its dairy farms supply cheese plants, fluid milk bottlers and the yogurt makers that grew up in Central and Western New York. Plants in that belt run washdown floors several times a day.

The dairy trade commonly uses the 40x40 footprint, which fits the cases and crates that milk moves in. Plastic decks can be hosed and sanitized, and they do not splinter into product.

Food-contact status depends on the maker's paperwork for each model. 21 CFR 177.1520 covers the olefin resins themselves, but no pallet is FDA approved as a finished part, so ask for the maker's statement.

• Plastic pallets for dairy →
• 40x40 plastic pallets →

Apples, wine and the Canadian border

New York ranks among the top apple-growing states, with orchards in the Hudson Valley and along the Lake Ontario shore. Packers store fruit in controlled-atmosphere rooms for months, where a pallet that holds no moisture keeps the room cleaner.

The Finger Lakes and Long Island both make wine, and cased glass is heavy for its footprint, so check the dynamic rating of the model before it rides on forks.

Buffalo-area shippers cross into Ontario every day. The rules for wood packaging moving between the US and Canada differ from those for overseas freight, and plastic pallets sidestep the question either way because ISPM 15 covers wood only.

Truckload and LTL in New York

A full load travels on a 53-foot dry van, about 52.5 feet long and 100 inches wide inside. One published heavy-duty nestable 40x48 from Rehrig Pacific packs 1,200 to that trailer, while rackable models with runners pack far fewer.

Many city addresses cannot take a 53-foot trailer, so LTL or a straight truck is often the practical choice there. Upstate plants with a dock can take either.

Selkirk, just south of Albany, is the CSX classification yard that sorts rail freight bound for New England and the New York metro area. Distribution buildings near it and along I-90 serve both.

Selling pallets from New York

Dairy and food plants change pallet programs when they switch customers or packaging. Send count, footprint, resin, condition and pickup ZIP, and we reply with an offer as pallets or as regrind for any that are cracked.

• Selling cracked and broken pallets →