Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Northern New Jersey

Northern New Jersey, by road

The New Jersey Turnpike, I-78, I-80 and I-287 knit these six counties to Port Newark-Elizabeth and to New York. The Northern New Jersey area sits in New Jersey, and the freight pattern follows the roads above.

The Port of New York and New Jersey was the nation's second-busiest port for loaded containers in 2025.

Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing is where this area is most concentrated, at 3.6 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Middlesex, Essex, Union, Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 146 establishments between them. Edison (08817) leads with 41, 28.1 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Middlesex County has 26,309 warehousing jobs, 66.8 percent of the 39,367 in the Northern New Jersey area.
• Hudson County has 4,344 warehousing jobs, 11.0 percent of the 39,367 in the Northern New Jersey area, 21,965 fewer than Middlesex.
• Bergen County has 3,580 warehousing jobs, 9.1 percent of the 39,367 in the Northern New Jersey area, 22,729 fewer than Middlesex.
• Secaucus (07094) has 13 fewer warehousing establishments than Edison (08817), 28 against 41.
• Dayton (08810) has 14 fewer warehousing establishments than Edison (08817), 27 against 41.
• Edison (08837) has 15 fewer warehousing establishments than Edison (08817), 26 against 41.
• Cranbury (08512) has 17 fewer warehousing establishments than Edison (08817), 24 against 41.
• Middlesex County's 26,309 is 34.5 percent of all 76,152 warehousing jobs in New Jersey.
• Hudson County's 4,344 is 5.7 percent of all 76,152 warehousing jobs in New Jersey.
• Bergen County's 3,580 is 4.7 percent of all 76,152 warehousing jobs in New Jersey.
• ZIP 08817 in Edison ranks number 1 of the five, with 41 warehousing establishments, 28.1 percent of their combined total and 1.71 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 07094 in Secaucus ranks number 2 of the five, with 28 warehousing establishments, 19.2 percent of their combined total and 1.17 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 08810 in Dayton ranks number 3 of the five, with 27 warehousing establishments, 18.5 percent of their combined total and 1.13 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 08837 in Edison ranks number 4 of the five, with 26 warehousing establishments, 17.8 percent of their combined total and 1.08 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 08512 in Cranbury ranks number 5 of the five, with 24 warehousing establishments, 16.4 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employs 15,663 in the area (partial), 0.40 for every warehousing job.
• Refrigerated warehousing employs 2,728 in the area (partial), 0.07 for every warehousing job.
• Chemical manufacturing employs 25,799 in the area, 0.66 for every warehousing job.
• Grocery and related product wholesale employs 22,444 in the area, 0.57 for every warehousing job.
• Warehousing and storage employs 39,367 in the area, 1.00 for every warehousing job.
• New Jersey's pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employment, 30,062, is 0.76 times the Northern New Jersey area's warehousing jobs.
• New Jersey's refrigerated warehousing employment, 5,388, is 0.14 times the Northern New Jersey area's warehousing jobs.
• New Jersey's chemical manufacturing employment, 47,966, is 1.22 times the Northern New Jersey area's warehousing jobs.
• New Jersey's grocery and related product wholesale employment, 38,127, is 0.97 times the Northern New Jersey area's warehousing jobs.

Who ships pallets here

In Northern New Jersey, pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employs 15,663 (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 146 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in Northern New Jersey sent back 1,200 empty pallets in a week, that would be 175,200 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 1 metros of New Jersey that have a page here, Northern New Jersey ranks number 1 by warehousing jobs.

Northern New Jersey holds 51.7 percent of New Jersey's 76,152 private warehousing jobs. See the New Jersey page for the whole state.

Interstates serving the area: I-95 and I-80.

Words on this page

Reefer

A refrigerated trailer or container.

4-way entry

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

Stretch wrap

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

Drayage

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

Closed loop

A route where pallets return to the sender after delivery, so the empty trip is a standing cost.

Beam span

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

QCEW

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

ZIP Code Business Patterns

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

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.