Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Greenville-Spartanburg

Greenville-Spartanburg, by road

I-85 and I-26 meet here, and the inland port at Greer links the area to Charleston by rail. The Greenville-Spartanburg area sits in South Carolina, and the freight pattern follows the roads above.

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing is where this area is most concentrated, at 2.8 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Anderson, Greenville, Laurens and Pickens counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 51 establishments between them. Greer (29651) leads with 20, 39.2 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Greenville County has 2,870 warehousing jobs, 62.7 percent of the 4,575 in the Greenville-Spartanburg area.
• Laurens County has 986 warehousing jobs, 21.6 percent of the 4,575 in the Greenville-Spartanburg area, 1,884 fewer than Greenville.
• Anderson County has 719 warehousing jobs, 15.7 percent of the 4,575 in the Greenville-Spartanburg area, 2,151 fewer than Greenville.
• Piedmont (29673) has 11 fewer warehousing establishments than Greer (29651), 9 against 20.
• Greenville (29611) has 12 fewer warehousing establishments than Greer (29651), 8 against 20.
• Greer (29650) has 13 fewer warehousing establishments than Greer (29651), 7 against 20.
• Greenville (29605) has 13 fewer warehousing establishments than Greer (29651), 7 against 20.
• Greenville County's 2,870 is 10.6 percent of all 27,150 warehousing jobs in South Carolina.
• Laurens County's 986 is 3.6 percent of all 27,150 warehousing jobs in South Carolina.
• Anderson County's 719 is 2.6 percent of all 27,150 warehousing jobs in South Carolina.
• ZIP 29651 in Greer ranks number 1 of the five, with 20 warehousing establishments, 39.2 percent of their combined total and 2.86 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 29673 in Piedmont ranks number 2 of the five, with 9 warehousing establishments, 17.6 percent of their combined total and 1.29 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 29611 in Greenville ranks number 3 of the five, with 8 warehousing establishments, 15.7 percent of their combined total and 1.14 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 29650 in Greer ranks number 4 of the five, with 7 warehousing establishments, 13.7 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 29605 in Greenville ranks number 5 of the five, with 7 warehousing establishments, 13.7 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Motor vehicle parts manufacturing employs 4,058 in the area (partial), 0.89 for every warehousing job.
• Chemical manufacturing employs 6,048 in the area, 1.32 for every warehousing job.
• Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employs 2,140 in the area (partial), 0.47 for every warehousing job.
• South Carolina's motor vehicle manufacturing employment, 15,531, is 3.39 times the Greenville-Spartanburg area's warehousing jobs.
• South Carolina's motor vehicle parts manufacturing employment, 21,585, is 4.72 times the Greenville-Spartanburg area's warehousing jobs.
• South Carolina's chemical manufacturing employment, 22,678, is 4.96 times the Greenville-Spartanburg area's warehousing jobs.
• South Carolina's plastics product manufacturing employment, 13,499, is 2.95 times the Greenville-Spartanburg area's warehousing jobs.
• Charleston, SC, also in South Carolina, has 3,242 warehousing jobs, 0.71 times Greenville-Spartanburg's.

Who ships pallets here

In Greenville-Anderson-Greer, motor vehicle parts manufacturing employs 4,058 (a partial count). Parts suppliers move heavy loads in a loop with a customer, so dynamic load and a sound return plan matter together. It tends to lean on heavy-duty stackable pallets, nestable on the empty return, usually in 48 x 45 in or 48 x 40 in, and to ask about the dynamic load, since parts travel on forklifts and conveyors all day.

The empty return

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 51 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in Greenville-Spartanburg sent back 1,200 empty pallets in a week, that would be 61,200 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 South Carolina that have a page here, Greenville-Spartanburg ranks number 1 by warehousing jobs.

Greenville-Spartanburg holds 16.9 percent of South Carolina's 27,150 private warehousing jobs. See the South Carolina page for the whole state.

Other metros in South Carolina with their own page: Charleston, SC.

Interstates serving the area: I-85.

Words on this page

Pallet pooling

A rental model where a company owns the pallets and moves them between customers, instead of each customer buying its own.

Polypropylene

Another common pallet resin, lighter and stiffer than some others, with its own behaviour in the cold.

Edge rack

A rack arrangement where the pallet rests on the edges of the beams. It is the common test case for a racking rating.

3PL

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

ZIP Code Business Patterns

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

Gross cubic feet

The total volume of a refrigerated warehouse. Usable space is smaller once aisles and equipment are subtracted.

QCEW

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

Creep

Slow, permanent bending of plastic under a steady load. A pallet can hold a load for an hour and bow under it after a month.

HDPE

High-density polyethylene, a tough resin used in many plastic pallets, valued for strength against its weight.