Nestable plastic pallets

Why a buyer picks nestable

The loaded trip is easy to price and the empty trip is not. A nestable pallet takes the empty trip out of the argument: each extra pallet in a stack adds only the nest increment, not its full height. One maker lists a 2.50 in increment on its 48 x 40 standard-duty model and 2.55 in on its heavy-duty one. At those numbers a stack of 15 stands about 42 in higher than one pallet, instead of 94 in higher.

That is why PHS Plastic can list a model that nests 78 to a stack at 2,340 per truckload, while a rackable pallet of the same footprint fits 540 on a 53 ft trailer. Nesting is not a small saving. For a closed loop that returns empties every week it is the largest line on the return leg.

What nestable gives up

Nestable pallets trade height for rating, and the trade has two sides. A higher static rating comes with fewer pallets per stack: PHS lists its EXP 100 at 78 per stack and 2,340 per truckload, and its EXP 116, rated 15,000 lb static, at 40 per stack and 1,260 per truckload. And standard-duty nestables usually carry no racking rating at all.

Where to go next

Trailers for your volume

Suppose 4,170 empty pallets come back in a month. At the maker figures on file that is 4 trailers of Rehrig Pacific heavy-duty nestables (1,200 each), 2 of PHS Plastic's EXP 100 (2,340 each) or 8 of a rackable (540 each). The table runs the same sum for 6 volumes, from 4,170 to 21,880.

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 12 stands 34.55 in and a stack of 24 stands 65.15 in, against 156.0 in un-nested.

Questions to put to the maker

• Is the pallets-per-trailer number for nested empties, or for loaded pallets?
• Does a nested stack need a strap or wrap to ship, and who supplies it?
• Do the legs ever jam when pallets are nested warm and then cold?
• Does the nest figure change with the deck type, open or closed?
• Is the nest increment measured on a new pallet, or one that has been in service?
• Where on the pallet is the model name moulded, so a returned stack can be matched to its sheet?
• Can nested stacks be handled by a pallet jack, or do they need a clamp or forks?
• How is a nested stack counted when it arrives: by stack, or by pallet?
• What happens to the rating if a stack is stored outside in the sun?
• How many empties can stand in one nested stack before the stack leans?

From the dock

• Warehouses with low ceilings find nested stacks fit under sprinkler lines that tall un-nested stacks would hit.
• A trailer loaded to the roof is limited by cube, not weight, which is why empties are priced by the trailer.
• Return legs are often the cheapest freight a carrier hauls, which is why closed loops lean on the nest figure.
• Mixing two models in one nested stack can fail: legs that differ by a fraction of an inch will wedge rather than seat.
• Hollow legs collect meltwater and grit; a rinse before nesting keeps stacks from sticking together.
• Forklift operators prefer stacks that stand square to the tines; a leaning stack gets re-stacked by hand.
• Stack counters, wall marks and a pencil are the cheap tools; start there before buying any scanner.
• A pallet that nests well but cracks at the corner after a season is not a bargain; ask for the service record.
• Nesting pays only when pallets come back. A one-way shipment gains nothing from a deep nest except cheaper freight out.

Words on this page

Racking load

The weight a pallet holds when it rests on two rack beams with an open gap between them. It is usually the lowest rating and only exists for pallets built for racks.

GMA pallet

The 48 by 40 inch North American standard, named for the Grocery Manufacturers Association that popularised it.

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.

Stretch wrap

Elastic film wound around a loaded pallet to hold the load together.

Footprint

The length and width of a pallet deck. It is chosen to fit the container, the drum, the bag or the receiving rack.

UL

Underwriters Laboratories, a safety testing body that publishes fire test standards, including one for storage pallets.

HDPE

High-density polyethylene, a tough resin used in many plastic pallets, valued for strength against its weight.