Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Arkansas

Arkansas, by road

I-40 and I-30 cross it east to west, and I-49 now links the Northwest Arkansas corner to the Gulf. For a plastic pallet buyer in Arkansas, the geography sets the route and the route sets the empty return: I-40, I-30, I-55 and I-49 carry most of what leaves, and every empty pallet that comes back has to ride the same road.

The counties with the most warehousing jobs are Pulaski (7,477), Benton (2,670) and Crittenden (505), which is 68.2 percent of the state's 15,624. It shares a land border with Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.

Warehousing in numbers

Refrigerated space matters because a freezer is hard on plastic; the cold guide says what to ask for. Arkansas held 93 million cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse capacity on October 1, 2025.

Reading the numbers

• Pulaski County has 7,477 warehousing jobs, 47.9 percent of Arkansas's 15,624, the most in the state.
• Benton County has 2,670 warehousing jobs, 17.1 percent of Arkansas's 15,624, 4,807 fewer than Pulaski County.
• Crittenden County has 505 warehousing jobs, 3.2 percent of Arkansas's 15,624, 6,972 fewer than Pulaski County.
• Meat and poultry processing employs 34,773 people in Arkansas, 2.23 for every warehousing job.
• Food manufacturing employs 51,799 people in Arkansas, 3.32 for every warehousing job.
• Refrigerated warehousing employs 1,941 people in Arkansas, 0.12 for every warehousing job.
• Fruit and vegetable preserving employs 4,153 people in Arkansas, 0.27 for every warehousing job.
• Plastics product manufacturing employs 6,804 people in Arkansas, 0.44 for every warehousing job.
• Arkansas holds 0.82 percent of US warehousing jobs, about one in every 122, spread over 218 establishments averaging 72 jobs each.
• Northwest Arkansas accounts for 3,065 warehousing jobs, 19.6 percent of Arkansas's.
• Missouri has 26,726 warehousing jobs, 1.71 times the 15,624 in Arkansas.
• Tennessee has 53,427 warehousing jobs, 3.42 times the 15,624 in Arkansas.
• Mississippi has 25,454 warehousing jobs, 1.63 times the 15,624 in Arkansas.
• Louisiana has 15,312 warehousing jobs, 0.98 times the 15,624 in Arkansas.

Who ships pallets here

In Arkansas, meat and poultry processing employs 34,773. These plants ask about drainage and cleaning first, then about static load for the product stacked on the pallet. It tends to lean on a washable nestable or stackable that drains, usually in 48 x 40 in, and to ask about whether the deck drains and how the maker says to clean it.

Meat and poultry processing is the trade where Arkansas is most concentrated, at 7.5 times the national share of employment. A buyer in that trade will tend to ask the questions in the last column first.

The empty return

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 218 warehouse establishments in Arkansas sent back 500 empty pallets in a week, that would be 109,000 pallets. The table counts the 53 ft trailers that takes at three makers' published nestable figures, beside the 540 per trailer of a rackable.

Next door

Metros in Arkansas with their own page: Northwest Arkansas.

Words on this page

4-way entry

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

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.

Drayage

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

RFID tag

A small radio tag moulded into or attached to a pallet so readers can track it through a plant or a loop.

Reefer

A refrigerated trailer or container.

Racking load

The weight a pallet holds when it rests on two rack beams with an open gap between them. It is usually the lowest rating and only exists for pallets built for racks.

Slip sheet

A thin sheet of plastic or fibreboard used under a load in place of a pallet, handled by a push-pull attachment.

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.