Reference

The pallet
vocabulary.

Sixty-six terms, defined as a working yard uses them rather than as a catalogue uses them. Where our definition is stricter than the industry's — plug, companion, #1 grade — we say so, because that gap is exactly where buyers lose money.

Terms: 65
Categories: 21
Written by: The grading line
Reviewed: Annually

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AccessoriesAnatomyComplianceConstructionDataEngineeringFastenersFiberFreightGradesGradingHandlingMaterialsMeasurementOperationsRepairSafetyStandardsSustainabilityTraceabilityTradeAccessoriesAnatomyComplianceConstructionDataEngineeringFastenersFiberFreightGradesGradingHandlingMaterialsMeasurementOperationsRepairSafetyStandardsSustainabilityTraceabilityTrade

65: Terms defined
21: Categories
13: Named defects
3: Load ratings
8: Governing standards
0: Marketing adjectives

AccessoriesAnatomyComplianceConstructionDataEngineeringFastenersFiberFreightGradesGradingHandlingMaterialsMeasurementOperationsRepairSafetyStandardsSustainabilityTraceabilityTrade

A

3 terms

A gradeGrades: Our top recycled lane: seven top boards, even colour, no visible repairs, square on a jig.
Annular-ring nailFasteners: A barbed fastener with the highest withdrawal resistance; used on heavy racked specifications.
ASRSHandling: Automated storage and retrieval system. Demands dimensional repeatability a recycled deck cannot promise.

B

6 terms

BackhaulFreight: The return leg of a trip already committed. The cheapest mile in logistics and the greenest.
BarkCompliance: Prohibited on any component of export wood packaging, regardless of heat treatment.
BlockAnatomy: One of nine supports in a block pallet, replacing stringers to give true four-way entry.
Block palletConstruction: Nine-block construction with true four-way entry for forks and pallet jacks alike.
Board footMeasurement: A unit of sawn timber: 144 cubic inches, or a 12 × 12 × 1 inch board.
BridgingEngineering: A wrapped, interlocked load spanning between stringers and sharing the structural work.

C

4 terms

ChamferAnatomy: A 45° bevel on a lead board's lower edge; cheap insurance against fork-entry damage.
CompanionRepair: A full-length board nailed beside a damaged stringer. The strong repair, and ours by default.
CoreTrade: A used pallet bought for grading. The currency of the recycled pallet market.
CreepEngineering: Slow permanent deflection of wood under sustained load. Why racked ratings carry a 2.0 factor.

D

7 terms

De-nailerRepair: The tool that pulls a fastener without splitting the stringer. A crowbar does the opposite.
Deck boardAnatomy: Any board on the top or bottom face of a pallet.
Deck openingAnatomy: The gap between deck boards. Too wide and light cartons crush at the edges.
Diversion rateSustainability: Share of intake kept out of landfill. Ours is 100% — and it is the easy number.
Drop trailerFreight: A trailer left on your site and swapped when full. Cheapest option per pallet if you have the space.
DunnageFreight: Timber used to fill voids, brace loads and spread point loads. In ISPM-15 scope.
Dynamic loadEngineering: Capacity while being lifted and moved. The figure that matters in daily handling.

E

1 terms

EPALStandards: The licensing body for the European 1200×800 block pallet and its exchange pool.

F

2 terms

Flue spaceSafety: The gap between back-to-back rack bays; six inches minimum in most fire codes.
Four-way entryHandling: Fork access from all four faces. Partial four-way admits jacks from two sides only.

G

2 terms

GMAStandards: The Grocery Manufacturers Association 48×40 four-way notched stringer specification.
Grade inflationTrade: Selling a lower lane as a higher one. Endemic, because no national standard is enforced.

H

3 terms

HardwoodMaterials: Dense deciduous timber — oak, maple, hickory, ash. Holds fasteners far better than softwood.
Heat treatment (HT)Compliance: 56 °C at the core of the wood for thirty continuous minutes, evidenced by the IPPC mark.
Helical nailFasteners: A thread-cutting fastener that holds through moisture cycling. Our standard, 2½ inches.

I

2 terms

IPPC markCompliance: The wheat-sheaf stamp carrying country, facility and treatment codes.
ISPM-15Standards: The international phytosanitary standard for wood packaging material.

J

1 terms

Janka hardnessMaterials: Resistance to denting, measured in pounds-force. White oak is about 1,350 lbf.

K

1 terms

Kiln-dried (KD)Materials: A description of moisture content, not a phytosanitary treatment. Not the same as HT.

L

1 terms

Lead boardAnatomy: The outermost deck board at each end; absorbs every fork entry and fails first.

M

3 terms

Mixed loadTrade: Unsorted pallets of several footprints and conditions. Priced lower because sorting is labour.
Moisture contentMaterials: Water as a percentage of oven-dry wood weight. Our dispatch ceiling is 19%.
MulchFiber: Ground, screened hardwood sold for landscaping. The second-best end for a dead deck.

N

1 terms

NotchAnatomy: The cut-out in a stringer that creates four-way fork access.

O

1 terms

OverhangSafety: Load or deck projecting past its support. The leading cause of catastrophic rack failure.

P

5 terms

Pallet collarAccessories: Four hinged timber sides that turn a flat pallet into a reusable container.
Pallet jackHandling: A manual or powered truck whose wheels need a clear floor path — hence block pallets.
Pinwheel patternFreight: Alternating pallet orientation in a trailer layer to gain two extra positions.
PlugRepair: A short piece scabbed over a break. Honest #2 grade in our yard; sold as #1 in many others.
PoolOperations: A managed population of pallets in circulation, rather than a series of purchases.

R

5 terms

Racked loadEngineering: Capacity spanning beams with no deck support. Always the smallest of the three figures.
Re-gradeGrading: Moving a pallet between lanes after inspection. A property of condition, not manufacture.
Re-nailRepair: Restoring the fastener pattern on a loose but structurally intact pallet. Ninety seconds.
Reuse rateSustainability: Share of intake that leaves as a pallet rather than as chips. Ours is 94% — the honest number.
RunnerAnatomy: Another name for a stringer, more common in the construction trade.

S

7 terms

SkidConstruction: A single-deck platform with no bottom boards; for drag-loading and machinery bases.
SoftwoodMaterials: Pine, spruce and fir. Lighter and cheaper; loses fastener grip sooner under repeat handling.
Static loadEngineering: Capacity at rest on a flat continuous surface. The biggest number and the least useful.
StencilTraceability: The six-character Passport code painted on a centre stringer.
StringerAnatomy: The long structural member running the length of a stringer pallet; usually three.
Stringer boardAnatomy: On a block pallet, the board tying the nine blocks together beneath the deck.
Survivor biasData: Our lifespan figures only count decks that came back to us. We state it wherever we use them.

T

5 terms

Tare weightFreight: The weight of the pallets themselves — 18,500 to 23,500 lb for a full trailer of recycled hardwood.
Ton-mileFreight: One ton carried one mile. Our fleet averages 0.11 kg CO₂e per ton-mile.
Top capAccessories: A lightweight cover protecting the uppermost layer of a stacked load.
Tri-wallAccessories: Heavy corrugated bodies on a timber base and cap, for light bulk at low tare weight.
Two-way entryHandling: Fork access from two opposite faces only — an unnotched stringer pallet.

U

1 terms

Unit loadEngineering: Pallet, product and stretch wrap considered as one structure. Most failures are unit-load failures.

W

3 terms

WeighbridgeOperations: The certified scale that turns our sustainability claims into arithmetic.
WingAnatomy: A deck overhang for bar-sling handling. Must never bear on a rack beam.
Wrap containment forceEngineering: How firmly stretch film couples a load to its pallet. Under-wrapping is the usual transit failure.

Z

1 terms

Zero landfillSustainability: An operating condition, not a target. Ours has held since March 2017.

Vocabulary that costs money

Six words worth pinning down in writing

These are the terms where our definition and a competitor's can differ enough to change what arrives on your dock.

“#1 grade” — ask whether plugs are permitted. Ours permits companions only.
“Repaired” — a full-length companion and a short plug are not the same product.
“GMA” — strictly a seven-and-five board specification, loosely any 48×40 pallet.
“Four-way” — notched stringers admit forks from four sides, jacks from two.
“Heat-treated” — a thermal process with a mark, not a description of dryness.
“Diversion rate” — can be 100% while repairable pallets are being ground up.

Where each term is used on this site

Anatomy: Pallet anatomy, size guide
Grades & repair: Grades, repair & refurbishment
Engineering: Load & capacity ratings
Freight: Logistics, locations, tools
Compliance: Custom & heat-treated pallets
Sustainability: Carbon Ledger, sustainability
Traceability: Pallet Passport

Also useful

Yard reference

Every number we publish, in one place

The same appendix appears at the foot of our reference pages so you never have to leave an article to check a figure. All of it is revised annually and matches the constants used by the Carbon Ledger.

Stock specification

Stock footprint: 48" × 40" (1219 × 1016 mm)
Deck height, GMA stringer: 5½" (140 mm)
Deck height, block pallet: 5¾" (146 mm)
Deck height, EPAL 1: 144 mm
Board thickness, nominal: ⅝" (16 mm)
Top deck boards, #1 grade: 6–7
Bottom deck boards, #1 grade: 4–5
Stringers per pallet: 3, notched or solid
Species: Mixed hardwood, oak-dominant
Mass, recycled 48×40: 33–42 lb / 15–19 kg
Mass, new 48×40: 37–48 lb / 17–22 kg
Mass, EPAL 1: 22–25 kg / 49–55 lb
Moisture ceiling at dispatch: ≤ 19%
Fasteners: Helical-thread 2½"

Typical values for our 48×40 recycled stock. Exact board counts vary by grade and batch.

Grades, side by side

Load figures are observed operating capacities for a 48×40 footprint under a uniformly distributed load. Apply your own safety factor — 1.5 for dynamic handling, 2.0 for long-term racked storage. Price index: 100 = new hardwood.
Grade	Top / bottom boards	Repairs allowed	Static	Dynamic	Racked	Price index
A / Premium	7 / 5	None visible	4,600 lb	2,800 lb	1,800 lb	42–52
#1 Grade	6–7 / 4–5	Full-length companions	4,000 lb	2,500 lb	1,500 lb	30–40
#2 Grade	5–6 / 3–4	Plugs and companions	3,200 lb	1,800 lb	Not advised	20–28
Core / Mixed	As arrived	Unsorted	Unrated	Unrated	No	12–20
New hardwood	7 / 5	n/a	5,000+ lb	3,000 lb	2,200 lb	100
Heat-treated #1	6–7 / 4–5	Companions, re-treated	4,000 lb	2,500 lb	1,500 lb	38–48

Footprints we stock or build

48×40 is roughly 72% of our intake. Odd sizes arrive as they arrive — ask before planning around them.
Footprint	Metric	Known as	Typical use
48" × 40"	1219 × 1016 mm	GMA / grocery standard	General distribution, grocery
42" × 42"	1067 × 1067 mm	Square 42	Drums, paint, telecom
48" × 48"	1219 × 1219 mm	Drum pallet	55-gallon drums
40" × 48"	1016 × 1219 mm	Rotated GMA	Military, construction
48" × 42"	1219 × 1067 mm	Chemical / produce	Chemicals, produce
40" × 40"	1016 × 1016 mm	Dairy square	Dairy, beverage
36" × 36"	914 × 914 mm	Beverage	DSD, retail display
48" × 20"	1219 × 508 mm	Retail half	Aisle-end displays
1200 × 800 mm	47.2" × 31.5"	EUR / EPAL 1	European export
1200 × 1000 mm	47.2" × 39.4"	ISO / EPAL 2	ISO export lanes

Species in our intake, and how they behave

Densities and Janka figures are published wood-science values; the behaviour column is sixteen years of our own grading notes. Our intake is oak-dominant mixed hardwood.
Species	Group	Density (lb/ft³)	Janka hardness	Behaviour in a pallet
White oak	Hardwood	47	1,350 lbf	Our backbone: holds fasteners superbly, heavy, very durable
Red oak	Hardwood	44	1,290 lbf	Slightly more porous than white; excellent deck boards
Hickory	Hardwood	51	1,820 lbf	Hardest of our intake; superb stringers, splits if nailed dry
Maple	Hardwood	44	1,450 lbf	Clean, pale, dimensionally stable; good for upcycled tops
Ash	Hardwood	41	1,320 lbf	Tough and flexible; forgiving under impact
Poplar	Hardwood	29	540 lbf	Light hardwood, weaker fastener grip, fine for one-way
Southern yellow pine	Softwood	35	690 lbf	Common in new softwood builds; resinous, holds nails well
Spruce / fir	Softwood	27	510 lbf	Lightest option; loosens soonest under repeated handling

Moisture targets by application

Dryness is the single biggest determinant of recycled pallet quality — more than grade, species or board count.
Application	Target moisture	Why
Food distribution	≤ 19%	Mould risk, not strength; covered storage mandatory
Pharmaceutical / clean areas	≤ 15%	Documented dryness, often new material
General warehouse and racking	≤ 19%	Fastener grip and creep resistance
Cold chain	≤ 15% at dispatch	Condensation cycling through the dew point
Export, heat-treated	≤ 19%	Post-chamber typical; bark-free is the hard rule
Upcycled furniture stock	8–12%	Conditioned indoors two weeks before machining
Field and agricultural use	No target	Weather governs; buy #2 and expect it

Fasteners — two percent of the cost, most of the service life

Specify the fastener and the count per board-stringer intersection, not just the board count.
Fastener	Length	Shank	Withdrawal resistance	Where we use it
Helical-thread nail	2½"	Twisted, thread-cutting	High, survives moisture cycling	Standard on every new build and repair
Annular-ring nail	2¼"–2½"	Barbed rings	Highest	Lead boards and heavy racked specifications
Smooth-shank nail	2"–2½"	Plain	Low, drops as wood dries	Not used — the reason old pallets loosen
Screw-shank nail	2½"	Coarse helix	High	Block pallets and thick stringers
Staple	1¾"	Crown wire	Low in hardwood	Not used here; acceptable in softwood one-way pallets

Standards that actually govern a pallet

Only ISPM-15 is legally mandatory, and only for export. Everything else is a specification you can choose to be held to.
Standard	Issued by	Covers	Why it matters to you
ISPM-15	IPPC / FAO	Phytosanitary treatment of wood packaging	Mandatory for export; 56 °C core for 30 minutes, marked
ISO 6780	ISO	Principal pallet footprints	Defines the six international sizes, including 1200×800
ISO 8611	ISO	Pallet test methods and performance	The basis of static, dynamic and racked load figures
ASTM D1185	ASTM	Test methods for pallets and skids	North American equivalent test battery
GMA specification	Grocery Manufacturers Assoc.	48×40 four-way notched stringer pallet	What 'GMA' means when stated properly
EPAL / UIC 435	EPAL	Licensed European block pallet	Exchange-pool eligibility, marks and licensed repair
MH1	ANSI / MHI	Pallet terminology and dimensions	The vocabulary used on our build sheets
NWPCA uniform standard	NWPCA	Recycled pallet grading practice	The nearest thing the recycled market has to a rulebook

Handling and rack dimensions

Measure your own equipment before specifying a pallet. These are the values that decide whether a footprint works in your building.
Dimension	Typical value	Note
Fork length	42"–48"	Must not protrude beyond the far side of a 48" pallet
Fork width	4"–6"	Wider forks spread load across deck boards
Fork thickness	1½"–2"	Determines minimum pallet entry height
Fork spread, GMA entry	24"–27" centres	Between the stringers of a three-stringer pallet
Pallet-jack wheel path	6½" clear	Why notched stringers do not admit jacks
Minimum entry height	3½"	A crushed bottom deck blocks the forks entirely
Rack beam span, two pallets	≥ 96" clear	For two 48×40 pallets, 40" face out
Flue space, back to back	≥ 6"	Most fire codes; check your jurisdiction

Conversions we use daily

Inches to millimetres is exact. Rounding 1219 mm to 1200 mm is how container plans fail.
From	To	Multiply by
Inches	Millimetres	25.4 exactly
Pounds	Kilograms	0.4536
Short tons	Metric tonnes	0.9072
Cubic yards	Cubic metres	0.7646
Ton-miles	Tonne-kilometres	1.4594
°F to °C	—	(°F − 32) × 5⁄9
Board feet	Cubic metres	0.00236
lb/ft³	kg/m³	16.018

The thirteen named defects on our grading wall

01Cracked stringer through a nail line
02Stringer break longer than one board width
03Soft rot or fungal staining
04Missing deck board
05Split lead board
06Plug or scab repair
07Protruding or missing fastener
08Board thinner than specification
09Mixed board widths on one deck
10Pallet will not sit flat on a jig
11Visible chemical residue or paint
12Moisture above threshold
13Bark present on any component

A pallet is only downgraded for a defect a grader can name out loud. If it is not on this list, it is not a reason to move a pallet between lanes.

Next step

Now put it in the purchase order

A specification written in these words gets filled accurately. One written in adjectives gets filled with whatever the seller has.

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