Plastic Pallets Along I-5

I-5 from end to end

It is the one continuous Interstate between the two borders and the West Coast's main north-south freight road. It runs from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, by way of Los Angeles, Stockton, Portland and Seattle.

States that list I-5 among their main Interstates: California, Oregon and Washington. A pallet that rides I-5 loaded rides it back empty, and the length of that haul is what a nestable's short stack pays for.

Metros on the route

Together the route's metros hold 86,962 warehousing jobs, led by Stockton (28,518) and Los Angeles (27,225). That is 4.6 percent of the US trade on one road.

What the table means

Stockton-Lodi is the largest warehousing metro on I-5 in this table, with 28,518 jobs, 32.8 percent of the route total. Grocery and related product wholesale is the largest trade listed along it, with 68,684 jobs (partial) in the route's metros. Together the metros hold 4.6 percent of US private warehousing jobs, about one in every 22.

California, Oregon and Washington list I-5 among their main Interstates, so the route's metros sit inside those states' wider warehousing trade.

Trades that ship along it

In Interstate 5, grocery and related product wholesale employs 68,684 (a partial count). Wholesalers handle mixed cases and rewrap often, so they ask about deck type first and whether the pallet nests when it goes back. It tends to lean on nestable and stackable in the common footprint, usually in 48 x 40 in, and to ask about static load for mixed stacks and whether the deck is open or closed.

The empty return, mile by mile

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 145 route warehouse sites (jobs ÷ 600, rounded) in I-5 sent back 1,200 empty pallets in a week, that would be 174,000 pallets. The table counts the 53 ft trailers that takes at three makers' published nestable figures, beside the 540 per trailer of a rackable.

Words on this page

2-way entry

A pallet that can be lifted from only two opposite sides.

Drayage

The short haul of a container between a port or rail ramp and a warehouse.

Recycled content

The share of a pallet moulded from reground plastic. Makers print it as a range, often by colour.

Closed deck

A solid deck that keeps small items and torn bags from falling through and wipes clean on top.

Interstate corridor

A freight route named for its highway, together with the metros along it.

Cruciform base

A base shaped like a plus sign under the pallet, which gives a stable footprint and slides well on conveyors.

ISPM 15

An international standard on treating and marking wood packaging material. Plastic is outside it.

ZIP Code Business Patterns

A Census Bureau series that counts establishments by ZIP code and industry.

Beam span

The open gap between two rack beams. The longer the span, the lower the load the pallet can carry across it.

Footprint

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

Location quotient

A place's share of employment in a trade divided by the national share. Above 1 means the trade is more concentrated there than average.

Last mile

The final leg of a delivery, from a local depot to the customer.