Nestable and Stackable Pallets: San Antonio

San Antonio, by road

I-35, I-10 and I-37 meet here, on the line between Laredo and the Dallas-Fort Worth warehouses. The San Antonio area sits in Texas, and the freight pattern follows the roads above.

Motor vehicle manufacturing is where this area is most concentrated, at 3 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe and Kendall... counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 63 establishments between them. San Antonio (78218) leads with 29, 46.0 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Bexar County has 14,487 warehousing jobs, 86.5 percent of the 16,751 in the San Antonio area.
• Comal County has 2,264 warehousing jobs, 13.5 percent of the 16,751 in the San Antonio area, 12,223 fewer than Bexar.
• San Antonio (78219) has 13 fewer warehousing establishments than San Antonio (78218), 16 against 29.
• Schertz (78154) has 22 fewer warehousing establishments than San Antonio (78218), 7 against 29.
• San Antonio (78207) has 23 fewer warehousing establishments than San Antonio (78218), 6 against 29.
• San Antonio (78226) has 24 fewer warehousing establishments than San Antonio (78218), 5 against 29.
• Bexar County's 14,487 is 8.3 percent of all 175,579 warehousing jobs in Texas.
• Comal County's 2,264 is 1.3 percent of all 175,579 warehousing jobs in Texas.
• ZIP 78218 in San Antonio ranks number 1 of the five, with 29 warehousing establishments, 46.0 percent of their combined total and 5.80 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 78219 in San Antonio ranks number 2 of the five, with 16 warehousing establishments, 25.4 percent of their combined total and 3.20 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 78154 in Schertz ranks number 3 of the five, with 7 warehousing establishments, 11.1 percent of their combined total and 1.40 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 78207 in San Antonio ranks number 4 of the five, with 6 warehousing establishments, 9.5 percent of their combined total and 1.20 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 78226 in San Antonio ranks number 5 of the five, with 5 warehousing establishments, 7.9 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Motor vehicle manufacturing employs 6,165 in the area (partial), 0.37 for every warehousing job.
• Warehousing and storage employs 16,751 in the area (partial), 1.00 for every warehousing job.
• Texas's warehousing and storage employment, 175,579, is 10.48 times the San Antonio area's warehousing jobs.
• Texas's food manufacturing employment, 112,088, is 6.69 times the San Antonio area's warehousing jobs.
• Dallas-Fort Worth, also in Texas, has 82,593 warehousing jobs, 4.93 times San Antonio's.
• Houston, also in Texas, has 33,785 warehousing jobs, 2.02 times San Antonio's.
• Laredo, also in Texas, has 2,014 warehousing jobs, 0.12 times San Antonio's.

Who ships pallets here

In San Antonio-New Braunfels, motor vehicle manufacturing employs 6,165 (a partial count). Assembly plants run closed loops with fixed footprints, and 48 x 45 in matches heavy-duty auto parts bulk containers. It tends to lean on heavy-duty stackable pallets in a closed loop, usually in 48 x 45 in, and to ask about the dynamic load for the heaviest part and the pallet's fit with the bulk container.

The empty return

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 63 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in San Antonio sent back 1,200 empty pallets in a week, that would be 75,600 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 5 metros of Texas that have a page here, San Antonio ranks number 3 by warehousing jobs.

San Antonio holds 9.5 percent of Texas's 175,579 private warehousing jobs. See the Texas page for the whole state.

Other metros in Texas with their own page: Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo and Austin.

Interstates serving the area: I-35 and I-10.

Words on this page

Pallet jack

A hand or powered truck with two forks, used to move a pallet short distances.

Static load

The weight a pallet holds while standing still on a flat floor, spread evenly across the deck. It is the highest of the three ratings.

Beam span

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

3PL

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

One-way pallet

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

Reefer

A refrigerated trailer or container.

Open deck

A deck with slots or a grid, which drains water, sheds dust and weighs less than a solid one.

Last mile

The final leg of a delivery, from a local depot to the customer.

Dynamic load

The weight a pallet holds while it is moved by a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor. It is lower than static because motion adds shock.