Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Chicago

Chicago, by road

Geography first: a rail and highway crossroads: I-55, I-57, I-80, I-90 and I-94 all meet within its reach, and Will County holds the largest distribution parks. That is the setting for a pallet buyer in the Chicago area of Illinois.

Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing is where this area is most concentrated, at 2.1 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Cook, DuPage, Grundy, McHenry, Will and DeKalb... counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 133 establishments between them. Romeoville (60446) leads with 36, 27.1 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Will County has 25,357 warehousing jobs, 42.6 percent of the 59,586 in the Chicago area.
• Cook County has 16,057 warehousing jobs, 26.9 percent of the 59,586 in the Chicago area, 9,300 fewer than Will.
• DuPage County has 8,368 warehousing jobs, 14.0 percent of the 59,586 in the Chicago area, 16,989 fewer than Will.
• Chicago (60638) has 5 fewer warehousing establishments than Romeoville (60446), 31 against 36.
• Joliet (60436) has 12 fewer warehousing establishments than Romeoville (60446), 24 against 36.
• Bolingbrook (60440) has 14 fewer warehousing establishments than Romeoville (60446), 22 against 36.
• Elk Grove Village (60007) has 16 fewer warehousing establishments than Romeoville (60446), 20 against 36.
• Will County's 25,357 is 31.7 percent of all 80,071 warehousing jobs in Illinois.
• Cook County's 16,057 is 20.1 percent of all 80,071 warehousing jobs in Illinois.
• DuPage County's 8,368 is 10.5 percent of all 80,071 warehousing jobs in Illinois.
• ZIP 60446 in Romeoville ranks number 1 of the five, with 36 warehousing establishments, 27.1 percent of their combined total and 1.80 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 60638 in Chicago ranks number 2 of the five, with 31 warehousing establishments, 23.3 percent of their combined total and 1.55 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 60436 in Joliet ranks number 3 of the five, with 24 warehousing establishments, 18.0 percent of their combined total and 1.20 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 60440 in Bolingbrook ranks number 4 of the five, with 22 warehousing establishments, 16.5 percent of their combined total and 1.10 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 60007 in Elk Grove Village ranks number 5 of the five, with 20 warehousing establishments, 15.0 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employs 21,442 in the area (partial), 0.36 for every warehousing job.
• Chemical manufacturing employs 40,767 in the area (partial), 0.68 for every warehousing job.
• Grocery and related product wholesale employs 35,891 in the area (partial), 0.60 for every warehousing job.
• Illinois's pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employment, 24,257, is 0.41 times the Chicago area's warehousing jobs.
• Illinois's grocery and related product wholesale employment, 48,629, is 0.82 times the Chicago area's warehousing jobs.
• Illinois's refrigerated warehousing employment, 4,095, is 0.07 times the Chicago area's warehousing jobs.
• Illinois's food manufacturing employment, 98,300, is 1.65 times the Chicago area's warehousing jobs.

Who ships pallets here

In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employs 21,442 (a partial count). The questions are what the pallet is made of, how it is cleaned, and what documents travel with it. It tends to lean on clean, washable stackable or nestable with a paperwork trail, usually in 48 x 40 in, and to ask about resin and colourant documents and the maker's cleaning guidance.

The empty return

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 133 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in Chicago sent back 500 empty pallets in a week, that would be 66,500 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 1 metros of Illinois that have a page here, Chicago ranks number 1 by warehousing jobs.

Chicago holds 74.4 percent of Illinois's 80,071 private warehousing jobs. See the Illinois page for the whole state.

Interstates serving the area: I-65 and I-80.

Words on this page

4-way entry

A pallet that forks or a pallet jack can enter from all four sides.

UL

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

Euro pallet

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

3PL

A third-party logistics company that stores and ships goods for other businesses.

Cruciform base

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

Stretch wrap

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

Cube utilisation

How well loaded freight fills the volume of a trailer or container. Taller or wider-than-floor pallets waste cube.

Reefer

A refrigerated trailer or container.

Interstate corridor

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