Export Pallets, 1200 x 1200 mm Footprint

1200 x 1200 mm for export

A square 1200 mm footprint listed among the export sizes. Square pallets suit drums and bags, and let a loaded pallet enter a container either way.

Plastic is outside ISPM 15, so none of these sizes needs a wood treatment mark. The footprint, the rating and the weight are what to settle. For scale, one 1200 x 1200 mm deck is 2,228 sq in, which is 308 sq in more than a 48 x 40 in deck.

Shape and size

• Perimeter: 188.8 in (4,796 mm).
• Diagonal corner to corner: 66.8 in (1,695 mm), which is the room a pallet needs to turn in an aisle.
• Area: 1.438 square metres, 15.47 square feet.
• Aspect: the long side is 1.000 times the short side, so the deck is square.

In practice

A square pallet of 1200 mm a side loads into a container in either direction, which simplifies the loader's decision and gives the container planner more patterns to try. The deck area is larger than any other on this list, so a lot of product fits per pallet and fewer pallets cover a container floor.

The same area makes it heavy to handle and demanding on rack beams, so confirm that the receiver's equipment is built for it before choosing. If it is not on the receiver's list, a smaller square may serve better, and the cost of changing later is a re-pack.

Large decks spread a load but add handling weight. Ask the maker what the pallet weighs empty, because a heavy square deck is awkward by hand and shows up in the freight bill for a container of them.

Next to the common size

1200 x 1200 mm against the other sizes

Questions for the maker

• Whether the receiver specifies the size
• Load rating for drums or bags
• Container tiling

Handling a large square deck

A pallet this large is easier to load by machine than by hand. Check the receiving dock for room to turn it, and check that its forks can reach far enough under a deck this deep to lift it without tipping.

From the dock

• Container floors are unforgiving: a pallet an inch too wide wastes a whole row.
• Importers in some countries inspect pallets at the border; plastic usually passes easily, but paperwork can still be asked for.

Words on this page

Cube utilisation

How well loaded freight fills the volume of a trailer or container. Taller or wider-than-floor pallets waste cube.

Nest increment

The extra height each additional empty pallet adds to a nested stack, measured in inches. A small increment means a short stack.

ISPM 15

An international standard on treating and marking wood packaging material. Plastic is outside it.

Recycled content

The share of a pallet moulded from reground plastic. Makers print it as a range, often by colour.