The pallet is part of the load
It is easy to treat the pallet as a throwaway platform, but it decides how your boxes move, stack and survive. The wrong pallet can fail a rack, foul a forklift, or get your export shipment held at the border.
A little intention here prevents a lot of downstream trouble, and choosing recycled where you can keeps cost and footprint down.
The standard: 48x40 GMA
The 48-by-40-inch GMA pallet is the default of North American freight. It matches the standard Gaylord footprint, fits racking and trailers efficiently, and is available new or recycled almost everywhere.
For general domestic freight, this is the pallet unless you have a specific reason to deviate. Recycled GMA pallets do the job at a fraction of new cost.
Export: heat-treated and stamped
Solid-wood pallets used in export must meet the ISPM-15 standard: heat-treated to kill pests and stamped to prove it. Ship without that mark and your load can be refused, returned or destroyed at the port.
When export is on the table, spec ISPM-15 pallets from the start. It is far cheaper than untangling a rejected shipment.
“For international shipments, the pallet needs a passport — the ISPM-15 stamp.”
Custom and heavy-duty
These solve specific problems and cost more, so reserve them for loads that genuinely need them. Most freight does not, which is why the humble recycled GMA pallet stays the workhorse.
- Oversize pallets for loads that overhang a standard footprint.
- Heavy-duty or block pallets for very dense or machinery loads.
- Custom sizes to match a specific product or container.
- Plastic pallets for hygiene-critical or closed-loop systems.
Matching pallet to job
Work from the load: domestic and standard points to recycled GMA; international points to ISPM-15; outsize or dense points to custom or heavy-duty. Then match the pallet’s footprint to your boxes so nothing overhangs or wastes cube.
We stock recycled and heat-treated pallets alongside our boxes, so you can spec the platform and the bin together and know they fit.