[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":265},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page:\u002Fnestable\u002Fnesting-plastic-pallets":3},{"tier":4,"sections":5,"faq":142,"sources":143,"related":156,"plate":197,"form":215,"scene":216,"path":217,"crumb":159,"ruler":218,"answer":219,"title":220,"h1":221,"description":222,"type":223,"schema":224,"reviewed":226,"crumbs":227,"jsonld":234},3,[6,14,38,43,86,100,112],{"h2":7,"blocks":8},"Two ways to say the same thing",[9,12],{"t":10,"text":11},"p","The nest increment is a height: how many inches each extra pallet adds. Nest ratio is the count: how many empties fit in the height of one pallet. For a 6.5 in pallet with a 2.55 in increment, the ratio is about 2.5 to 1. Small increment, high ratio. Use whichever your maker prints; they are one number seen from two sides.",{"t":10,"text":13},"The ratio is not the same as pallets per stack. Pallets per stack depends on how tall a stack the maker allows. PHS Plastic prints 78 per stack for one model and 40 for another, and Nelson Company prints about 60 for its multi-use model. The ratio tells you how short an empty stack is; the per-stack figure tells you where the maker stops.",{"h2":15,"blocks":16},"From ratio to trailers",[17,36],{"t":18,"head":19,"rows":23,"caption":35},"table",[20,21,22],"Pallets per stack","Stacks per trailer","Pallets per trailer",[24,28,32],[25,26,27],"40","31.5","1,260",[29,30,31],"60","30","1,800",[33,30,34],"78","2,340","Stacks per trailer is the maker's per-trailer figure divided by its per-stack figure. One supplier prints 30 stacks of 48 x 40 in a turned pattern.",{"t":10,"text":37},"Multiply stacks by pallets per stack and you get the per-trailer figure. At 30 stacks, 60 per stack gives 1,800 and 78 gives 2,340. The 40-per-stack model at 1,260 works out to 31.5 stacks, so the maker's figure is evidently built on a different stacking pattern than 30; that is why we draw the plan but print the maker's number.",{"h2":39,"blocks":40},"What a better ratio costs",[41],{"t":10,"text":42},"The pallets with the best ratios are often lighter. A thinner section nests tighter and weighs less, and also carries less. PHS lists a model rated 15,000 lb static at 40 per stack, and a lighter one at 78. If your pallet carries 10,000 lb, you are choosing between ratio and rating, and the right pick is the lowest rating that safely clears your load.",{"h2":44,"blocks":45},"Trailers for your volume",[46,48],{"t":10,"text":47},"Suppose 3,220 empty pallets come back in a month. At the maker figures on file that is 3 trailers of Rehrig Pacific heavy-duty nestables (1,200 each), 2 of PHS Plastic's EXP 100 (2,340 each) or 6 of a rackable (540 each). The table runs the same sum for 6 volumes, from 3,220 to 16,930.",{"t":18,"head":49,"rows":57,"caption":85},[50,51,52,53,54,55,56],"Pallets to return","Rehrig Pacific Heavy-duty nestable (1,200 per trailer)","Rehrig Pacific Standard-duty nestable (1,260 per trailer)","Nelson Company Nestable, stackable, rackable (1,800 per trailer)","PHS Plastic EXP 116 nestable (1,260 per trailer)","PHS Plastic EXP 100 nestable (2,340 per trailer)","Rackable (540 per trailer)",[58,63,68,73,77,80],[59,60,60,61,60,61,62],"3,220","3","2","6",[64,65,65,66,65,60,67],"5,960","5","4","12",[69,70,71,65,71,66,72],"8,700","8","7","17",[74,75,75,71,75,65,76],"11,450","10","22",[78,67,67,70,67,71,79],"14,190","27",[81,82,83,75,83,70,84],"16,930","15","14","32","Trailers = pallets ÷ the maker's per-trailer figure, rounded up. An example of arithmetic, not a quote.",{"h2":87,"blocks":88},"Questions to put to the maker",[89],{"t":90,"items":91},"ul",[92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99],"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?","Does the nest figure change with the deck type, open or closed?","Do the legs ever jam when pallets are nested warm and then cold?","Where on the pallet is the model name moulded, so a returned stack can be matched to its sheet?","How many empties can stand in one nested stack before the stack leans?","Is the nest increment measured on a new pallet, or one that has been in service?","Is there a version of the model with a lower nest increment, and what does it give up?",{"h2":101,"blocks":102},"From the dock",[103],{"t":90,"items":104},[105,106,107,108,109,110,111],"Hollow legs collect meltwater and grit; a rinse before nesting keeps stacks from sticking together.","Nesting pays only when pallets come back. A one-way shipment gains nothing from a deep nest except cheaper freight out.","Forklift operators prefer stacks that stand square to the tines; a leaning stack gets re-stacked by hand.","A pallet that nests well but cracks at the corner after a season is not a bargain; ask for the service record.","Warehouses with low ceilings find nested stacks fit under sprinkler lines that tall un-nested stacks would hit.","Count empties by stack height against a mark on the wall, not pallet by pallet, and the tally takes seconds.","Return legs are often the cheapest freight a carrier hauls, which is why closed loops lean on the nest figure.",{"h2":113,"blocks":114},"Words on this page",[115],{"t":116,"rows":117},"dl",[118,121,124,127,130,133,136,139],[119,120],"Stretch wrap","Elastic film wound around a loaded pallet to hold the load together.",[122,123],"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.",[125,126],"Cube utilisation","How well loaded freight fills the volume of a trailer or container. Taller or wider-than-floor pallets waste cube.",[128,129],"Recycled content","The share of a pallet moulded from reground plastic. Makers print it as a range, often by colour.",[131,132],"UL","Underwriters Laboratories, a safety testing body that publishes fire test standards, including one for storage pallets.",[134,135],"GMA pallet","The 48 by 40 inch North American standard, named for the Grocery Manufacturers Association that popularised it.",[137,138],"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.",[140,141],"HDPE","High-density polyethylene, a tough resin used in many plastic pallets, valued for strength against its weight.",[],[144,147,150,153],{"label":145,"url":146},"Rehrig Pacific, 40 x 48 heavy-duty nestable pallet","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.rehrigpacific.com\u002Fsupply-chain\u002Fproducts-and-solutions\u002F40-x-48-heavy-duty-nestable-pallet",{"label":148,"url":149},"PHS Plastic, nestable plastic pallets","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.phsinc.com\u002Fpallet\u002Fplastic-pallets\u002Fnestable\u002F",{"label":151,"url":152},"Nelson Company, 48 x 40 x 4.8 in nestable, stackable, rackable pallet","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nelsoncompany.com\u002Fpallet.cfm?Pallet=296",{"label":154,"url":155},"Nelson Company, common plastic pallet sizes","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nelsoncompany.com\u002Fblog-post-common-plastic-pallet-sizes.cfm",[157,161,165,169,173,177,181,185,189,193],{"path":158,"title":159,"blurb":160},"\u002Fguides\u002Fnest-ratio-explained","Nest ratio","Nest ratio is how many empty pallets fit in the height of one. Divide pallet height by nest increment: 6.5 in over 2.55 in is about 2.5 to 1.",{"path":162,"title":163,"blurb":164},"\u002Fnest-calculator","Nest calculator","Pick a footprint and style, enter stacks, and see how many nestable pallets fit an empty 53 ft trailer against loaded ones.",{"path":166,"title":167,"blurb":168},"\u002Fnestable\u002Fnesting-pallets","Nesting pallets","How nesting pallets sit inside one another, what the nest increment adds to each stack, and why it matters on the return leg.",{"path":170,"title":171,"blurb":172},"\u002Fnestable","Nestable Plastic Pallets by Footprint","Nestable plastic pallets sorted by footprint, rating and pallets per stack, with the empty-trailer count worked out.",{"path":174,"title":175,"blurb":176},"\u002Fnestable\u002Fwhat-is-a-nestable-pallet","What is nestable?","A nestable pallet has legs that drop into the pallet below, so empties stack short. How it works and where it falls short.",{"path":178,"title":179,"blurb":180},"\u002Fnestable\u002Fheavy-duty-nestable","Heavy duty nestable","Heavy duty nestable pallets that still nest: static and dynamic ratings against the cost in stack height.",{"path":182,"title":183,"blurb":184},"\u002Fnestable\u002Ffootprints","Footprints","Every footprint a nestable plastic pallet comes in, with the rating range and pallets per stack for each.",{"path":186,"title":187,"blurb":188},"\u002Fnestable\u002Fmodel-specs","Specs by model","One nestable plastic pallet read line by line: weight, nest increment, static and dynamic load, and what the sheet leaves out.",{"path":190,"title":191,"blurb":192},"\u002Fnestable\u002Fnestable-pallets-by-footprint","Nestable by footprint","Nestable pallets in 48x40, 48x48, 45x45, 43x43 and Euro footprints, with the rating range for each.",{"path":194,"title":195,"blurb":196},"\u002Frequest","Request a Load of Plastic Pallets","Send the footprint, style and quantity of plastic pallets you need, and what the pallet will do, to start a request.",{"title":198,"rows":199},"Nest ratio, worked from maker figures",[200,204,207,211],[201,202,203],"Pallet height","6.5 in","Rehrig Pacific heavy-duty nestable",[205,206],"Nest increment","2.55 in",[208,209,210],"Ratio, in the height of one","2.5 to 1","6.5 ÷ 2.55 = 2.55",[212,213,214],"Empties in a 20-stack","54.95 in","against 130 in un-nested",false,null,"\u002Fnestable\u002Fnesting-plastic-pallets",18,"Nest ratio is how many empty plastic pallets fit in the height of one. A better ratio means fewer trailers on the return leg.","Nesting Plastic Pallets and Nest Ratio","Nesting plastic pallets and nest ratio","Nest ratio for plastic pallets: how many empties fit in the height of one, and how that turns into trailer loads.","guide",[225],"Article","November 12, 2026",[228,231,233],{"path":229,"name":230},"\u002F","Home",{"path":170,"name":232},"Nestable",{"path":217,"name":159},{"@context":235,"@graph":236},"https:\u002F\u002Fschema.org",[237,247,255],{"@type":225,"@id":238,"name":220,"url":239,"description":222,"inLanguage":240,"isPartOf":241,"publisher":243,"headline":221,"dateModified":245,"author":246},"https:\u002F\u002Fnestableplasticpallets.com\u002Fnestable\u002Fnesting-plastic-pallets#article","https:\u002F\u002Fnestableplasticpallets.com\u002Fnestable\u002Fnesting-plastic-pallets","en-US",{"@id":242},"https:\u002F\u002Fnestableplasticpallets.com\u002F#website",{"@id":244},"https:\u002F\u002Fnestableplasticpallets.com\u002F#org","2026-11-12",{"@id":244},{"@type":248,"@id":244,"name":249,"url":250,"email":251,"areaServed":252},"Organization","Nestable Plastic Pallets","https:\u002F\u002Fnestableplasticpallets.com\u002F","info@nestableplasticpallets.com",{"@type":253,"name":254},"Country","United States",{"@type":256,"itemListElement":257},"BreadcrumbList",[258,261,264],{"@type":259,"position":260,"name":230,"item":250},"ListItem",1,{"@type":259,"position":262,"name":232,"item":263},2,"https:\u002F\u002Fnestableplasticpallets.com\u002Fnestable",{"@type":259,"position":4,"name":159,"item":239},1794519997626]