Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Baltimore

Baltimore, by road

Geography first: i-95, I-83 and I-70 reach the Port of Baltimore, which sits on the Patapsco River. That is the setting for a pallet buyer in the Baltimore area of Maryland.

Grocery and related product wholesale is where this area is most concentrated, at 1.4 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard and Queen Anne's... counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 64 establishments between them. Jessup (20794) leads with 18, 28.1 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Harford County has 3,435 warehousing jobs, 53.9 percent of the 6,377 in the Baltimore area.
• Howard County has 1,651 warehousing jobs, 25.9 percent of the 6,377 in the Baltimore area, 1,784 fewer than Harford.
• Anne Arundel County has 1,291 warehousing jobs, 20.2 percent of the 6,377 in the Baltimore area, 2,144 fewer than Harford.
• Baltimore (21224) has 3 fewer warehousing establishments than Jessup (20794), 15 against 18.
• Curtis Bay (21226) has 5 fewer warehousing establishments than Jessup (20794), 13 against 18.
• Baltimore (21230) has 9 fewer warehousing establishments than Jessup (20794), 9 against 18.
• Elkridge (21075) has 9 fewer warehousing establishments than Jessup (20794), 9 against 18.
• Harford County's 3,435 is 11.5 percent of all 29,966 warehousing jobs in Maryland.
• Howard County's 1,651 is 5.5 percent of all 29,966 warehousing jobs in Maryland.
• Anne Arundel County's 1,291 is 4.3 percent of all 29,966 warehousing jobs in Maryland.
• ZIP 20794 in Jessup ranks number 1 of the five, with 18 warehousing establishments, 28.1 percent of their combined total and 2.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 21224 in Baltimore ranks number 2 of the five, with 15 warehousing establishments, 23.4 percent of their combined total and 1.67 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 21226 in Curtis Bay ranks number 3 of the five, with 13 warehousing establishments, 20.3 percent of their combined total and 1.44 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 21230 in Baltimore ranks number 4 of the five, with 9 warehousing establishments, 14.1 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 21075 in Elkridge ranks number 5 of the five, with 9 warehousing establishments, 14.1 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Grocery and related product wholesale employs 10,051 in the area, 1.58 for every warehousing job.
• Food manufacturing employs 11,590 in the area, 1.82 for every warehousing job.
• Maryland's pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employment, 9,019, is 1.41 times the Baltimore area's warehousing jobs.
• Maryland's warehousing and storage employment, 29,966, is 4.70 times the Baltimore area's warehousing jobs.
• Hagerstown, also in Maryland, has 1,842 warehousing jobs, 0.29 times Baltimore's.

Who ships pallets here

In Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, grocery and related product wholesale employs 10,051. 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

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 64 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in Baltimore sent back 500 empty pallets in a week, that would be 32,000 pallets. The table counts the 53 ft trailers that takes at three makers' published nestable figures, beside the 540 per trailer of a rackable.

In its state

Among the 2 metros of Maryland that have a page here, Baltimore ranks number 1 by warehousing jobs.

Baltimore holds 21.3 percent of Maryland's 29,966 private warehousing jobs. See the Maryland page for the whole state.

Other metros in Maryland with their own page: Hagerstown.

Interstates serving the area: I-95.

Words on this page

GMA pallet

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

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.

FM Approvals

A testing and certification body whose classifications insurers and sprinkler designers read.

Beam span

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

Euro pallet

A 1200 by 800 millimetre pallet, about 48 by 31.5 inches, widely used in Europe.

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.

UL

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

RFID tag

A small radio tag moulded into or attached to a pallet so readers can track it through a plant or a loop.

Reefer

A refrigerated trailer or container.