Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, by road

Three rivers meet here, and I-76, I-79 and I-376 funnel traffic through tunnels and bridges. Pittsburgh is counted here as the metropolitan area in Pennsylvania that the Census Bureau delineates, and its pallet traffic is set by that geography.

Warehousing and storage is where this area is most concentrated, at 0.7 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette and Lawrence... counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 30 establishments between them. Cranberry Township (16066) leads with 10, 33.3 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Allegheny County has 5,508 warehousing jobs, 56.1 percent of the 9,826 in the Pittsburgh area.
• Westmoreland County has 2,899 warehousing jobs, 29.5 percent of the 9,826 in the Pittsburgh area, 2,609 fewer than Allegheny.
• Butler County has 707 warehousing jobs, 7.2 percent of the 9,826 in the Pittsburgh area, 4,801 fewer than Allegheny.
• Pittsburgh (15233) has 5 fewer warehousing establishments than Cranberry Township (16066), 5 against 10.
• Pittsburgh (15205) has 5 fewer warehousing establishments than Cranberry Township (16066), 5 against 10.
• Imperial (15126) has 5 fewer warehousing establishments than Cranberry Township (16066), 5 against 10.
• Coraopolis (15108) has 5 fewer warehousing establishments than Cranberry Township (16066), 5 against 10.
• Allegheny County's 5,508 is 4.5 percent of all 123,481 warehousing jobs in Pennsylvania.
• Westmoreland County's 2,899 is 2.3 percent of all 123,481 warehousing jobs in Pennsylvania.
• Butler County's 707 is 0.6 percent of all 123,481 warehousing jobs in Pennsylvania.
• ZIP 16066 in Cranberry Township ranks number 1 of the five, with 10 warehousing establishments, 33.3 percent of their combined total and 2.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 15233 in Pittsburgh ranks number 2 of the five, with 5 warehousing establishments, 16.7 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 15205 in Pittsburgh ranks number 3 of the five, with 5 warehousing establishments, 16.7 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 15126 in Imperial ranks number 4 of the five, with 5 warehousing establishments, 16.7 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 15108 in Coraopolis ranks number 5 of the five, with 5 warehousing establishments, 16.7 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Warehousing and storage employs 9,826 in the area (partial), 1.00 for every warehousing job.
• Food manufacturing employs 6,239 in the area, 0.63 for every warehousing job.
• Pennsylvania's warehousing and storage employment, 123,481, is 12.57 times the Pittsburgh area's warehousing jobs.
• Pennsylvania's plastics product manufacturing employment, 34,094, is 3.47 times the Pittsburgh area's warehousing jobs.
• Pennsylvania's pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employment, 20,358, is 2.07 times the Pittsburgh area's warehousing jobs.
• Pennsylvania's refrigerated warehousing employment, 4,102, is 0.42 times the Pittsburgh area's warehousing jobs.
• Lehigh Valley, also in Pennsylvania, has 19,122 warehousing jobs, 1.95 times Pittsburgh's.
• Harrisburg, also in Pennsylvania, has 17,241 warehousing jobs, 1.75 times Pittsburgh's.
• Philadelphia, also in Pennsylvania, has 38,250 warehousing jobs, 3.89 times Pittsburgh's.

Who ships pallets here

In Pittsburgh, warehousing and storage employs 9,826 (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 30 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in Pittsburgh sent back 800 empty pallets in a week, that would be 24,000 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 6 metros of Pennsylvania that have a page here, Pittsburgh ranks number 5 by warehousing jobs.

Pittsburgh holds 8.0 percent of Pennsylvania's 123,481 private warehousing jobs. See the Pennsylvania page for the whole state.

Other metros in Pennsylvania with their own page: Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Lancaster and Scranton-Wilkes-Barre.

Words on this page

Drayage

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

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.

Commodity class

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

Closed deck

A solid deck that keeps small items and torn bags from falling through and wipes clean on top.

Closed loop

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

Recycled content

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

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.

Reefer

A refrigerated trailer or container.