Nesting pallets and the return leg
Nesting pallets sit inside one another when empty. What each extra pallet adds to the stack is the nest increment, and it sets the cost of the return leg.
The return leg, counted
Every closed loop has two trips. Pallets go out loaded and come back empty, and the second trip carries air. Nesting is what takes the air out. A stack of empties is short, so the trailer holds hundreds more than it would of a style that does not nest.
| Style, same 48 x 40 footprint | Per 53 ft trailer, empty | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PHS Plastic EXP 100 nestable | 2,340 per truckload | PHS Plastic |
| Nelson Company nestable, stackable, rackable | about 1,800 | Nelson Company |
| Rehrig Pacific standard-duty nestable | 1,260 | Rehrig Pacific |
| Rehrig Pacific heavy-duty nestable | 1,200 | Rehrig Pacific |
| Rehrig Pacific rackable (does not nest) | 540 | Rehrig Pacific |
A worked example
Say a plant returns 6,000 empty pallets in a month. At 540 per trailer, a rackable style needs 12 trailers (6,000 รท 540 = 11.1, rounded up). At 1,200 per trailer, Rehrig Pacific's heavy-duty nestable needs 5. At 1,260 it needs 5 as well. At 2,340 it needs 3. This is an example, not a quote; run your own count in the nest calculator.
What the stack looks like
For a stack of 12, the ruler shows the point: un-nested, 12 pallets of 6.5 in stand 78 in. Nested at 2.55 in, the same 12 stand 34.55 in. Each pallet after the first costs 2.55 in, which is why the nest increment, and not the pallet height, is the number to compare between models.
Stack height has limits that have nothing to do with trailers. A tall stack is a tipping risk on a dock, and a hand truck or forklift needs to reach it. Ask the maker what stack height it recommends, and keep stacks on a flat floor.
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 9 stands 26.90 in and a stack of 21 stands 57.50 in, against 136.5 in un-nested.
| Pallets in the stack | Nested height, in | Un-nested height, in | Saved, in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 26.90 | 58.5 | 31.60 |
| 11 | 32.00 | 71.5 | 39.50 |
| 13 | 37.10 | 84.5 | 47.40 |
| 15 | 42.20 | 97.5 | 55.30 |
| 17 | 47.30 | 110.5 | 63.20 |
| 19 | 52.40 | 123.5 | 71.10 |
| 21 | 57.50 | 136.5 | 79.00 |
Stacks on the dock
Stacks of empties need a plan as much as a count. Keep them on a flat floor, away from the dock edge, and limit the height to the maker's figure. A tall stack is a tipping risk, and the person most likely to be hurt by it is the one who walks past to get a trailer door.
Where possible, bring the empties to the trailer in stacks, using a clamp or a forklift carrying a whole stack. Loading one pallet at a time costs the time the nesting saved.
Questions to put to the maker
- Where on the pallet is the model name moulded, so a returned stack can be matched to its sheet?
- Does a nested stack need a strap or wrap to ship, and who supplies it?
- Is the pallets-per-trailer number for nested empties, or for loaded pallets?
- Is there a version of the model with a lower nest increment, and what does it give up?
- Does the nest figure change with the deck type, open or closed?
- What happens to the rating if a stack is stored outside in the sun?
- Can nested stacks be handled by a pallet jack, or do they need a clamp or forks?
- Which exact model is the figure for, and does the sheet give the nest increment or only the pallets per stack?
From the dock
- Stack counters, wall marks and a pencil are the cheap tools; start there before buying any scanner.
- Count empties by stack height against a mark on the wall, not pallet by pallet, and the tally takes seconds.
- Nesting pays only when pallets come back. A one-way shipment gains nothing from a deep nest except cheaper freight out.
- Warehouses with low ceilings find nested stacks fit under sprinkler lines that tall un-nested stacks would hit.
- Hollow legs collect meltwater and grit; a rinse before nesting keeps stacks from sticking together.
- Mixing two models in one nested stack can fail: legs that differ by a fraction of an inch will wedge rather than seat.
- Return legs are often the cheapest freight a carrier hauls, which is why closed loops lean on the nest figure.
Words on this page
- Footprint
- The length and width of a pallet deck. It is chosen to fit the container, the drum, the bag or the receiving rack.
- Cube utilisation
- How well loaded freight fills the volume of a trailer or container. Taller or wider-than-floor pallets waste cube.
- 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.
- 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.
- UL
- Underwriters Laboratories, a safety testing body that publishes fire test standards, including one for storage pallets.
- 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.
- Recycled content
- The share of a pallet moulded from reground plastic. Makers print it as a range, often by colour.
Questions people ask
Do all plastic pallets nest?
No. Stackable and rackable pallets generally do not; their empties take full height. The style page for each says so.
Tell us the footprint and how many stacks you move.
We work out the empty trailer, then take the request for a load.