Nestable and Stackable Pallets: California

California, by road

The ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland set the pace, and I-5 runs the length of the state from Mexico to Oregon. For a plastic pallet buyer in California, the geography sets the route and the route sets the empty return: I-5, I-10, I-15 and I-80 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 San Bernardino (67,058), Riverside (51,310) and San Joaquin (28,518), which is 62.0 percent of the state's 236,923. It shares a land border with Oregon, Nevada and Arizona.

Warehousing in numbers

Refrigerated space matters because a freezer is hard on plastic; the cold guide says what to ask for. California held 400 million cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse capacity on October 1, 2025.

Reading the numbers

• San Bernardino County has 67,058 warehousing jobs, 28.3 percent of California's 236,923, the most in the state.
• Riverside County has 51,310 warehousing jobs, 21.7 percent of California's 236,923, 15,748 fewer than San Bernardino County.
• San Joaquin County has 28,518 warehousing jobs, 12.0 percent of California's 236,923, 38,540 fewer than San Bernardino County.
• Beverage manufacturing employs 63,604 people in California, 0.27 for every warehousing job.
• Fruit and vegetable preserving employs 27,518 people in California, 0.12 for every warehousing job.
• California holds 12.46 percent of US warehousing jobs, about one in every 8, spread over 2,776 establishments averaging 85 jobs each.
• Los Angeles accounts for 27,225 warehousing jobs, 11.5 percent of California's.
• Inland Empire accounts for 118,368 warehousing jobs, 50.0 percent of California's.
• Fresno accounts for 5,006 warehousing jobs, 2.1 percent of California's.
• Stockton accounts for 28,518 warehousing jobs, 12.0 percent of California's.
• San Francisco-Oakland accounts for 9,473 warehousing jobs, 4.0 percent of California's.
• Salinas accounts for 298 warehousing jobs, 0.1 percent of California's.
• Oregon has 16,750 warehousing jobs, 0.07 times the 236,923 in California.
• Nevada has 42,113 warehousing jobs, 0.18 times the 236,923 in California.
• Arizona has 52,054 warehousing jobs, 0.22 times the 236,923 in California.

Who ships pallets here

In California, beverage manufacturing employs 63,604. Beverage plants run square-ish footprints for cans and glass, and ask whether the model takes a full stack without bowing. It tends to lean on stackable beverage pallets, with 56 x 44 in where the line is set up for it, usually in 56 x 44 in beverage, or 48 x 40 in, and to ask about the static load of the bottom pallet in a full stack.

Beverage manufacturing is the trade where California is most concentrated, at 1.7 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 2,776 warehouse establishments in California sent back 500 empty pallets in a week, that would be 1,388,000 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 California with their own page: Los Angeles, Inland Empire, Fresno, Stockton, San Francisco-Oakland and Salinas.

Words on this page

Establishment

A single physical location where a business operates, such as one warehouse. A company with ten warehouses has ten establishments.

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.

CP9

A chemical industry pallet standard, 1140 by 1140 millimetres, about 45 by 45 inches.

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.

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.

2-way entry

A pallet that can be lifted from only two opposite sides.

Stretch wrap

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

Beam span

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