Export pallet footprints by region
Five export footprints, by region. The receiver decides.
Five export footprints
| Footprint | Page |
|---|---|
| 1200 x 800 mm Euro | 1200 x 800 mm Euro export |
| 1200 x 1000 mm | 1200 x 1000 mm export |
| 1200 x 1200 mm | 1200 x 1200 mm export |
| 1100 x 1100 mm | 1100 x 1100 mm export |
| 1165 x 1165 mm | 1165 x 1165 mm export |
| Footprint | Millimetres | Area, sq in | Area, sq ft | Against 48 x 40 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1200 x 800 mm Euro | 1199 x 800 | 1,487 | 10.33 | 77.4 percent |
| 1200 x 1000 mm | 1199 x 1001 | 1,860 | 12.91 | 96.9 percent |
| 1200 x 1200 mm | 1199 x 1199 | 2,228 | 15.47 | 116.0 percent |
| 1100 x 1100 mm | 1100 x 1100 | 1,875 | 13.02 | 97.7 percent |
| 1165 x 1165 mm | 1166 x 1166 | 2,107 | 14.63 | 109.7 percent |
None of these sizes needs a wood treatment mark, because plastic is outside ISPM 15. Pick by receiver, then by rating and weight.
Trailers for your volume
Suppose 1,380 empty pallets come back in a month. At the maker figures on file that is 2 trailers of Rehrig Pacific heavy-duty nestables (1,200 each), 1 of PHS Plastic's EXP 100 (2,340 each) or 3 of a rackable (540 each). The table runs the same sum for 6 volumes, from 1,380 to 7,240.
| Pallets to return | Rehrig Pacific Heavy-duty nestable (1,200 per trailer) | Rehrig Pacific Standard-duty nestable (1,260 per trailer) | Nelson Company Nestable, stackable, rackable (1,800 per trailer) | PHS Plastic EXP 116 nestable (1,260 per trailer) | PHS Plastic EXP 100 nestable (2,340 per trailer) | Rackable (540 per trailer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,380 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2,550 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 3,720 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 4,900 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 6,070 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 7,240 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 14 |
Choosing between the five
Start with the receiver. A warehouse in Europe that runs Euro racking will want 1200 x 800 mm, and no other choice is cheaper than the one it asks for. A buyer who accepts either of two sizes lets you pick the one that suits your container: a square footprint tiles a container floor differently from a rectangle, and a container planner or forwarder can compute the count for you.
After the receiver, think about the product. Bulk bags point at the square sizes, cartons at the rectangular ones, and drums at whichever holds them without overhang. Last, think about the pallet itself: a light one-way pallet is a different purchase from a returnable one, and the sheet should say which it is.
- Ask the receiver which sizes its racking and trucks accept.
- Ask the forwarder how many of each fit your container.
- Pick the lightest pallet that carries the loaded weight for the trip.
- Confirm that no wood is in the load, or that any wood carries the ISPM 15 mark.
Questions to put to the maker
- Does the sheet give a rating for a container and for the stack in it?
- How much does the empty pallet weigh, since every pound is freight?
- How is the pallet recycled at the end of its trip?
- Which receiver handling equipment does the pallet need to match?
- Does the receiver want pallets of a single colour or marking?
- Does the receiving country ask for a treatment mark on plastic, or only on wood?
- Is a nestable version offered, to cut the empty leg?
- Does the receiver name a pallet size, or leave it to the shipper?
- Is the pallet meant for one trip, or will it be returned?
- What documents does the forwarder need from the maker?
From the dock
- Container floors are unforgiving: a pallet an inch too wide wastes a whole row.
- Light pallets save freight on every trip; the pallets that come back heavy cost the same again.
- A load strapped to a pallet by the shipper should survive being slid, not just lifted.
- Pallets that cross water are exposed to humidity and salt air; plastic ignores both better than most materials.
- A receiver without forklifts will unload by hand; a lighter pallet and an open deck can matter more than rating.
- Foreign racks follow their own standards; the receiving rack, not yours, sets the footprint.
- Documents travel with the load: keep the maker's sheet in the file with the bill of lading.
- One-way pallets are priced to be left behind; build them into the cost of goods, not the return.
- Plan for the pallet to be re-used locally; a good plastic pallet outlives the shipment that carried it.
Words on this page
- ISPM 15
- An international standard on treating and marking wood packaging material. Plastic is outside it.
- UL
- Underwriters Laboratories, a safety testing body that publishes fire test standards, including one for storage pallets.
- Open deck
- A deck with slots or a grid, which drains water, sheds dust and weighs less than a solid one.
- Nest ratio
- How many empty pallets fit in the height of one: pallet height divided by nest increment.
- Dunnage
- Loose material used to support or secure cargo inside a trailer or container.
- Nest increment
- The extra height each additional empty pallet adds to a nested stack, measured in inches. A small increment means a short stack.
- Euro pallet
- A 1200 by 800 millimetre pallet, about 48 by 31.5 inches, widely used in Europe.
- CP9
- A chemical industry pallet standard, 1140 by 1140 millimetres, about 45 by 45 inches.
- One-way pallet
- A light pallet built to carry cargo to a destination and stay there, often used in export.
- Bulk bag
- A large woven bag, often sold as a Super Sack, that holds a ton or so of powder or granules and sits on a square pallet.
- Footprint
- The length and width of a pallet deck. It is chosen to fit the container, the drum, the bag or the receiving rack.
- GMA pallet
- The 48 by 40 inch North American standard, named for the Grocery Manufacturers Association that popularised it.
Tell us the footprint and how many stacks you move.
We work out the empty trailer, then take the request for a load.