Nestable Pallets, 1200 x 1000 mm Footprint

What rides on a 1200 x 1000 mm pallet

• Europe and Asia
• ISO 2, one of the six ISO pallet footprints
• Nelson Company lists a nestable model in this size

1200 x 1000 mm, about 47.2 x 39.4 in, is the ISO 2 footprint used across Europe and Asia. Nelson Company lists a nestable model in this size, which makes it one of the few where a US maker publishes a figure.

It sits close to the 48 x 40 in North American pallet, a difference of under an inch on each side, so one rack can often take both. Ask before assuming that.

Shape and size

• Perimeter: 173.2 in (4,400 mm).
• Diagonal corner to corner: 61.5 in (1,562 mm), which is the room a pallet needs to turn in an aisle.
• Area: 1.200 square metres, 12.91 square feet.
• Aspect: the long side is 1.198 times the short side.

In practice

The 1200 x 1000 mm pallet is the neighbour of the North American standard. At about 47.2 x 39.4 in it is under an inch smaller than 48 x 40 in on each side, so shuttle racks and trailers can often take both. The exception is a rack with tight lateral clearance, where the extra inch on one side is the whole margin.

A buyer who exports to Europe or Asia from a 48 x 40 in plant may find this the easiest second size to adopt, because the loads, the stretch wrap and the forklift habits barely change. The cost is a second pallet to stock and a second set of ratings to read, so keep the two lists separate.

Before committing a plant to the size, load one test pallet on the real rack and the real trailer. An inch of difference shows up in the first physical fit and in no spreadsheet, and the test costs an afternoon rather than a season of rework.

Against its nearest footprints

The table orders the closest four by area. A 1200 x 1000 mm pallet is 1,860 sq in; the nearest listed footprint differs by 11 sq in. Footprint is the choice the container makes for you, and a small difference in area is a large difference to a rack beam or a drum.

Counting the empty trailer

Few makers print per-stack or per-trailer figures for a 1200 x 1000 mm nestable, so this site does not invent them. Ask for the two numbers, enter them in the calculator under another footprint, and the trailers follow.

As an illustration of the arithmetic only: if a maker printed 1,500 per trailer, 3,000 returning pallets would need 2 trailers, 5,000 would need 4, and 10,325 would need 7. Use the maker's real figure, not this one.

1200 x 1000 mm against every other footprint

Questions for the maker

• Whether your rack tolerates the small difference from 48 x 40
• The maker's nest figure
• The receiving country's preference

From the dock

• Forklift operators prefer stacks that stand square to the tines; a leaning stack gets re-stacked by hand.
• A trailer loaded to the roof is limited by cube, not weight, which is why empties are priced by the trailer.

Words on this page

Stretch wrap

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

Static load

The weight a pallet holds while standing still on a flat floor, spread evenly across the deck. It is the highest of the three ratings.

Nest increment

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

Dunnage

Loose material used to support or secure cargo inside a trailer or container.