Plastic pallets delivered in South Carolina

A port with two inland ports behind it

The Port of Charleston handles containers at the Wando Welch and Hugh K. Leatherman terminals, and its harbor has been deepened to take the largest ships calling on the East Coast. Much of that cargo belongs to manufacturers in the Upstate, more than 200 miles inland.

Rather than truck every box up I-26, South Carolina Ports built Inland Port Greer, served by Norfolk Southern rail between Greenville and Spartanburg, and Inland Port Dillon on CSX near I-95 in the Pee Dee. Containers travel between the coast and those terminals by train, and trucks handle the last miles.

Upstate cars and tires

BMW's plant in Spartanburg County, near Greer, is the company's largest anywhere and exports a large share of its vehicles through Charleston. Hundreds of suppliers along I-85 feed it, mostly through returnable packaging that cycles between supplier docks and the assembly line.

South Carolina is also one of the biggest tire-producing states. Michelin has its North American headquarters in Greenville and plants across the state, and other tire makers build in Aiken, Graniteville, Sumter and Anderson.

Auto parts commonly move on the 48x45 footprint. Tires and rubber products are heavy and awkward, so ask for the static and dynamic ratings of the exact model before committing to a fleet.

• Plastic pallets for automotive →
• 48x45 plastic pallets →

Lowcountry manufacturing

Around North Charleston and Summerville, aircraft assembly, van production and Volvo's car plant in Ridgeville all draw parts through the port. Racked storage in those supplier buildings needs a pallet with a published racked load, the weight it carries spanning two beams with no support underneath.

Most nestable pallets are not rack-rated, so these buyers usually choose rackable models with runners. Floor-stacked goods can use stackable models with high static figures.

• Rackable plastic pallets →

The Midlands and the Charlotte edge

Columbia, the capital, sits where I-20, I-26 and I-77 meet, roughly in the middle of the state. That junction makes the Midlands a natural spot for regional grocery and retail DCs that reach Charleston, Greenville, Augusta and Charlotte in one day. Fort Jackson, the Army's largest basic-training post, adds defense freight that often specifies the 40x48 footprint.

York County, across the line from Charlotte, has filled with distribution buildings in Fort Mill and Rock Hill that serve the North Carolina metro. The Upstate's old textile towns, once lined with cotton mills, now make technical fibers, nonwovens and plastics, and their cartons and bales ship on clean, flat decks that will not snag material.

• Grocery distribution →

Peaches, poultry and chemicals

South Carolina grows peaches on the Ridge and in the Upstate, and packing sheds there move fruit into coolers on open-deck pallets that let cold air pass. Poultry and egg farms spread through the Midlands and Pee Dee.

Chemical and plastics plants near Charleston, Rock Hill and the Upstate ship drums and totes on 48x48 or 44x44 footprints. A drum pallet's static figure has to come from the maker's sheet for the model.

Export pallets loaded at an inland plant and railed to Charleston can be plastic, because ISPM 15 covers only wood packaging and USDA APHIS treats plastic as an unregulated alternative.

• Plastic export pallets →

Truckload and LTL into South Carolina

Truckloads move on a 53-foot dry van, about 52.5 feet long and 100 inches wide inside. A heavy-duty nestable 40x48 that Rehrig Pacific publishes loads 1,200 to the trailer, while rackable models with three runners load far fewer.

LTL serves a peach shed in Edgefield County or a supplier in Florence that needs a few stacks. Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand sit away from the interstates, so delivered prices there reflect the extra miles on US-501 and SC-22.

Selling surplus pallets from South Carolina

When an auto program ends, Upstate suppliers can be left with pallets made for parts no longer built. Send count, footprint, resin, condition and pickup ZIP, and we offer for them as pallets or as regrind. Logos and part numbers molded or stamped on the side do not stop a resale.

• Sell used plastic pallets →