1200x1000 plastic pallets

1200x1000 in millimetres and inches

The footprint is 1200 x 1000 mm. In inches that is about 47.2 x 39.4, so it is a hair smaller each way than a US 48x40 (1219 x 1016 mm). The two look nearly identical on a dock, and that is the trap: a pallet that is 19 mm short in length and 16 mm short in width can sit loose in flow-rack lanes, pallet guides or an automated storage system set up for the other size.

Order it by the millimetre figure. Rounding to 47x39 or calling it a 48x40 can land you on a different mold.

Who uses 1200x1000

In Europe it is the industrial pallet. Chemical, plastics, beverage and building-products plants use it where the narrower Euro pallet is too small, and it is the standard size in the UK. Across Asia it appears alongside 1100x1100, especially for industrial and export freight.

In the US the buyers are exporters and their forwarders. A plant shipping resins, coatings, machine parts or food ingredients to a European or Asian customer often builds the load on the receiver's footprint so it goes straight into their racks without being restacked at the port of entry.

In the UK it is often simply called the standard pallet, and road pallet networks there plan full, half and quarter spaces around it.

Typical receivers include breweries, cement and plaster works, tile factories and plastics compounders.

• Plastic pallets for exporters and forwarders →

Export rules that favour plastic

ISPM 15 is the international standard for treating wood packaging, usually by heat treatment or fumigation, and marking it. It does not apply to plastic. USDA APHIS lists plastic pallets among the alternatives to wood packaging material and states those alternatives are not subject to its WPM rules.

That removes a step from every export load: no treatment certificate to chase, no stamp to inspect, and no risk of a shipment held because a wood pallet's mark is missing or unreadable. The destination country's own customs and product rules still apply to what rides on the pallet.

Exporters of grain-based foods, seeds, pharmaceuticals and electronics feel this most, since a held container ties up working capital, demurrage and the receiver's production plans.

• ISPM 15 and plastic pallets →
• Plastic export pallets →

Types made in 1200x1000

Metric models come in the same families as US ones. Which you need depends on whether the pallet comes back.

• Light nestable export pallets for one-way container freight that will not be returned
• Stackable models with three runners, the common European base, for conveyors and floor stacks at the receiver
• Rackable 1200x1000s with a published racked load for the receiver's beam racking
• Hygienic one-piece designs for food and pharmaceutical shipments
• Models with RFID pockets for tracked loops between a US plant and an overseas site

• Nestable plastic pallets →

Container loading worked through

An ISO container is about 7.7 ft wide inside, about 2347 mm. Two pallets fit across only if one faces each way: a lane with the 1000 mm side across beside a lane with the 1200 mm side across uses 2200 mm. A 20-foot box is about 19.3 ft long, about 5883 mm, so the first lane holds 5883 / 1200 = 4 and the second 5883 / 1000 = 5, about 9 pallets.

A 40-foot box is about 39.5 ft long, about 12,040 mm. Straight loading gives 2 across and 12,040 / 1200 = 10 rows, about 20. The two-lane pattern gives 10 plus 12, about 22, but the 1000 mm lane uses 12,000 mm of the length, under 2 in short of the doors. Check the exact pallet's overall size, and any overhang of the load, before you plan on 22.

• How many plastic pallets fit on a trailer →

Reading a metric spec sheet

European makers usually publish loads in kilograms; 1 kg is about 2.2 lb. They may also test to a European method, so a racked figure might assume a different beam span or a different load spread from a US sheet. Ask for the test conditions along with the number, and give the beam spacing of the receiver's racks if you know it.

A metric sheet may also give the tare weight in kilograms, the height in millimetres and a stacking height or nesting ratio for empties. Convert every figure before comparing a metric model with a US one.

• How to read a plastic pallet's load ratings →

Getting a 1200x1000 quote

Tell us the destination country, the load and its weight, whether the pallet returns, whether the receiver racks it, the quantity and the US delivery ZIP where the loads are built. We answer by email with models that meet it and a delivered price, shipped on a 53-foot van for a full order or LTL for a smaller one.

• Request a 1200x1000 quote →