Used plastic pallets in Orlando

Orlando's warehousing belt

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford spans 4 counties (Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole). In the counties where the Bureau of Labor Statistics can publish, private employers had 13,928 warehousing and storage jobs in 2025, 1.1% of local private jobs.

Orlando against Florida

The metro's disclosed-county total set beside the state's whole count, so the two can be read together.

Where a Orlando lot lands: the busy ZIPs

Census ZIP Code Business Patterns for 2023 list 5 ZIPs here with the most warehousing establishments, 80 between them. 32824 (Orlando) leads with 28, 35% of the listed total.

• 32824 Orlando: 28 warehousing establishments, 1.3 times 32809.
• 32809 Orlando: 22 warehousing establishments, 79% of the count in 32824.
• 32837 Orlando: 11 warehousing establishments, 39% of the count in 32824.
• 32819 Orlando: 11 warehousing establishments, 39% of the count in 32824.
• 32808 Orlando: 8 warehousing establishments, 29% of the count in 32824.

What the ratios say

Hidden counties mean Orlando's figure of 13,928 is the disclosed part of its warehousing work, not a ceiling.

• Orlando ranks 30th of the 60 metros in the data by disclosed warehousing jobs, with 13,928 against a median of 13,652.
• Spread across 4 counties, that is 3,482 warehousing jobs per county on average.
• Orange County holds 89% of the metro's jobs and Lake County 11%; the gap between them is 10,949 jobs.
• 32824 has 28 warehousing establishments, 3.5 times as many as 32808 (8) at the other end of the list.
• Florida has 105,401 warehousing jobs in all, so the disclosed counties of Orlando are 13% of the state.
• Warehousing is 1.1% of private jobs in these counties; where it is higher than average, pallets are a daily cost and sellers of surplus are common.
• The metros closest in size are Louisville (14,533, 605 above) and Cleveland (13,652, 276 below).
• The top three ZIPs, 32824, 32809, 32837, hold 61 of the 80 establishments in the ZIP list, or 76%.
• The ZIP list averages 16.0 warehousing establishments per ZIP across 5 ZIPs, and the quietest, 32808 Orlando, has 8.
• Of the 4 counties in the metro, the BLS discloses 3 for warehousing, which together account for 13,928 of the 13,928 jobs counted.
• Orlando has 1.0 times the disclosed warehousing jobs of the median metro.
• For every warehousing job in these counties there are about 90 other private jobs, so pallet-using work is spread thinly across 4 counties.

Where Orlando ranks

Orlando and the 29 metros above it hold 85% of the 1,116,650 warehousing jobs across the 60 metros in the data. The largest, Inland Empire, counts 118,368.

The roads a lot travels in Orlando

No Interstate corridor in our data lists Orlando, so the county and ZIP figures carry this page.

The ladder around Orlando

Metros ranked by disclosed warehousing jobs: Orlando with the two above it and the two below.

Local industries that use pallets

Against the national share of employment, warehousing and storage is the most concentrated pallet-using line in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, at 0.8x. Warehouses with automated storage need a consistent size for conveyors and a rack rating they can read.

• Warehousing and storage: 13,928 jobs in the disclosed counties, 0.7% of the 1,901,976 across the US, or 1.00 for every warehousing job here.
• Grocery and related product wholesale: 8,723 jobs in the disclosed counties, 1.1% of the 829,364 across the US, or 0.63 for every warehousing job here.

Comparing two lots fairly

• Use the same footprint for both, measured in the same units.
• Compare grade by wear, not by the seller's letter.
• Count makers present in each, since fewer makers means a more uniform lot.
• Compare the share of repaired pieces, and where the repairs sit.
• Set freight, timing and handling beside the wear, rather than in place of it.

Yard storage and weather

• Rain does little harm to plastic, but standing water in the ribs adds weight and breeds odours.
• Freezing weather makes some resins brittle, so avoid dropping or hard-forking cold pallets.
• Hot sun softens decks under load, which is how a stack ends up bowed.
• Wind can topple tall unstrapped stacks, so strap them or keep them short.
• Mud and grit on runners wear floors and conveyors, so brush them off before indoor use.

Questions to put to any seller

• Where did these pallets work, and what did they carry?
• How were they sorted, and who walked the lot?
• Are any welded, riveted or fitted with replacement parts?
• Can the maker's plate be photographed on several pallets?
• Will the description be sent in writing before payment is discussed?

What to send for a Orlando lot

• Footprint: 48 x 40 in, one maker
• Grade: used and clean with a stated rating
• Dock ZIP, for example 32824 or 32809
• Quantity band

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