Heavy Duty Pallets: 3,500 to 8,000 lb static
Between 3,500 and 8,000 lb static is where general freight lives: standard nestables and light stackables that carry a normal pallet load with margin.
What a normal pallet weighs
A typical loaded pallet of boxed goods can weigh well under 3,000 lb, and the band between 3,500 and 8,000 lb leaves room for a stack of two or three. Many standard-duty nestables and light stackables sit here, and PHS Plastic's 48 x 40 stackable list starts at 3,000 lb static.
A stack two high needs the bottom pallet to carry one pallet above it. At 2,000 lb per loaded pallet, a 4,000 lb static rating is exactly one pallet of margin; at 3,000 lb per pallet it is gone. Work the stack through, as the stack height guide shows.
Where nesting still works
At this rating, a nestable keeps most of its nest. Rehrig Pacific's nestables are rated at 10,000 lb, above this band, but lighter models from other makers sit inside it and nest closer. The trade is gentle: a bit of rating for a bit of stack height.
| Pallets to return | Rehrig Pacific Standard-duty nestable (1,260 per trailer) | Rehrig Pacific Heavy-duty nestable (1,200 per trailer) | Rackable (540 per trailer) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 6,000 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 12,000 | 10 | 10 | 23 |
Loads that are not spread
A rating assumes the load is spread. Four drums, a machine on feet or a stack of bricks puts the weight on small areas, and the sheet number overstates what the deck takes.
How tall the empties stand
Stack height is the other half of the return leg. For the Rehrig Pacific heavy-duty nestable, a stack of 10 stands 29.45 in and a stack of 28 stands 75.35 in, against 182.0 in un-nested.
| Pallets in the stack | Nested height, in | Un-nested height, in | Saved, in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 29.45 | 65.0 | 35.55 |
| 13 | 37.10 | 84.5 | 47.40 |
| 16 | 44.75 | 104.0 | 59.25 |
| 19 | 52.40 | 123.5 | 71.10 |
| 22 | 60.05 | 143.0 | 82.95 |
| 25 | 67.70 | 162.5 | 94.80 |
| 28 | 75.35 | 182.0 | 106.65 |
A stack worked out
Take a stackable rated 8,000 lb static. The bottom pallet carries the pallets above it, so with each loaded pallet weighing 3,118 lb it can hold 2 above, a stack of 3. With 7,160 lb per pallet it can hold 1 above. This is a ceiling on a flat floor for a still stack, not a promise for a stack that moves or waits.
| Loaded pallet, lb | Pallets above the bottom | Stack height | Load on the bottom pallet, lb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,118 | 2 | 3 | 6,236 |
| 3,625 | 2 | 3 | 7,250 |
| 4,132 | 1 | 2 | 4,132 |
| 4,639 | 1 | 2 | 4,639 |
| 5,146 | 1 | 2 | 5,146 |
| 6,153 | 1 | 2 | 6,153 |
| 7,160 | 1 | 2 | 7,160 |
Where this band tends to disappoint
Plants step into this band from the light one and keep their habits, then find a rack bay or a long wait in a warm store asks more than a static figure suggests. The cure is a trial with the real loaded weight, in the real building, before the order for a trailer of pallets is placed.
A note on this page
This band rewards a weighing exercise. Put a typical loaded pallet on a scale, add a margin for wet cartons and uneven spacing, then see which models in the band still leave headroom. Skipping the weighing is the commonest reason this band disappoints.
Words on this page
- UL
- Underwriters Laboratories, a safety testing body that publishes fire test standards, including one for storage pallets.
- Cube utilisation
- How well loaded freight fills the volume of a trailer or container. Taller or wider-than-floor pallets waste cube.
- Dynamic load
- The weight a pallet holds while it is moved by a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor. It is lower than static because motion adds shock.
- Nest ratio
- How many empty pallets fit in the height of one: pallet height divided by nest increment.
- Pallet pooling
- A rental model where a company owns the pallets and moves them between customers, instead of each customer buying its own.
- Recycled content
- The share of a pallet moulded from reground plastic. Makers print it as a range, often by colour.
- Footprint
- The length and width of a pallet deck. It is chosen to fit the container, the drum, the bag or the receiving rack.
- Dunnage
- Loose material used to support or secure cargo inside a trailer or container.
Tell us the footprint and how many stacks you move.
We work out the empty trailer, then take the request for a load.