Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Denver

Denver, by road

I-25, I-70 and I-76 meet here, and the E-470 toll road rings the eastern side. The Denver area sits in Colorado, and the freight pattern follows the roads above.

Warehousing and storage is where this area is most concentrated, at 0.8 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver and Douglas... counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 118 establishments between them. Aurora (80011) leads with 42, 35.6 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Adams County has 12,162 warehousing jobs, 76.7 percent of the 15,858 in the Denver area.
• Denver County has 2,456 warehousing jobs, 15.5 percent of the 15,858 in the Denver area, 9,706 fewer than Adams.
• Arapahoe County has 944 warehousing jobs, 6.0 percent of the 15,858 in the Denver area, 11,218 fewer than Adams.
• Denver (80239) has 12 fewer warehousing establishments than Aurora (80011), 30 against 42.
• Denver (80216) has 20 fewer warehousing establishments than Aurora (80011), 22 against 42.
• Denver (80238) has 30 fewer warehousing establishments than Aurora (80011), 12 against 42.
• Commerce City (80022) has 30 fewer warehousing establishments than Aurora (80011), 12 against 42.
• Adams County's 12,162 is 49.6 percent of all 24,541 warehousing jobs in Colorado.
• Denver County's 2,456 is 10.0 percent of all 24,541 warehousing jobs in Colorado.
• Arapahoe County's 944 is 3.8 percent of all 24,541 warehousing jobs in Colorado.
• ZIP 80011 in Aurora ranks number 1 of the five, with 42 warehousing establishments, 35.6 percent of their combined total and 3.50 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 80239 in Denver ranks number 2 of the five, with 30 warehousing establishments, 25.4 percent of their combined total and 2.50 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 80216 in Denver ranks number 3 of the five, with 22 warehousing establishments, 18.6 percent of their combined total and 1.83 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 80238 in Denver ranks number 4 of the five, with 12 warehousing establishments, 10.2 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 80022 in Commerce City ranks number 5 of the five, with 12 warehousing establishments, 10.2 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Warehousing and storage employs 15,858 in the area (partial), 1.00 for every warehousing job.
• Grocery and related product wholesale employs 10,938 in the area (partial), 0.69 for every warehousing job.
• Colorado's food manufacturing employment, 26,569, is 1.68 times the Denver area's warehousing jobs.
• Colorado's warehousing and storage employment, 24,541, is 1.55 times the Denver area's warehousing jobs.

Who ships pallets here

In Denver-Aurora-Centennial, warehousing and storage employs 15,858 (a partial count). Most of the demand is for general pallets in the common footprint, with the choice split between rack service and block stacking. It tends to lean on rackable where the pallet lives on beams, stackable for block stacking, nestable for the empties that go back, usually in 48 x 40 in, and to ask about the racking load, and the beam span it was rated on.

The empty return

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 118 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in Denver sent back 1,200 empty pallets in a week, that would be 141,600 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 Colorado that have a page here, Denver ranks number 1 by warehousing jobs.

Denver holds 64.6 percent of Colorado's 24,541 private warehousing jobs. See the Colorado page for the whole state.

Words on this page

QCEW

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, a Bureau of Labor Statistics count of jobs and establishments taken from unemployment insurance records.

Commodity class

A fire-protection category for stored goods and their pallets, used to design sprinkler systems.

One-way pallet

A light pallet built to carry cargo to a destination and stay there, often used in export.

Bulk bag

A large woven bag, often sold as a Super Sack, that holds a ton or so of powder or granules and sits on a square pallet.

Beam span

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

Interstate corridor

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

Nest ratio

How many empty pallets fit in the height of one: pallet height divided by nest increment.

Recycled content

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

CP9

A chemical industry pallet standard, 1140 by 1140 millimetres, about 45 by 45 inches.