Used Grade B plastic pallets

Grade B, as the sources use it

A reconditioning guide groups reconditioned pallets into Grade A (good as new), Grade B (serviceable, may show visible wear or cosmetic repairs) and Grade C (utility, single trips and light storage). A marketplace lists a Grade B pallet that matches a described Grade A twin but never defines the letter on the Grade B page.

So Grade B can mean "scuffed but sound" or "welded and swapped". Those are different pallets.

Questions that turn a letter into a lot

Where our grades map

Our used and clean grade covers the sound end of Grade B. Our repaired grade covers the welded end. If a seller gives you Grade B without more, the safe reading is: visible wear, maybe repairs, and a rating you must verify.

• Sound and scuffed: used and clean
• Welded or swapped: repaired
• Many makers: mixed lot

Grade B as a bargaining word

Grade B is used for pallets with real wear that still work. What that wear is varies, so ask the seller to name it: scuffed runners, corner gouges, faded colour, a bowed deck. A bow in the deck is more serious than scuffing, because a bowed pallet may not sit flat on a conveyor or in a rack. If the seller will not describe the wear, the grade is only a number.

Translating B into this site's names

In practice a B from a seller usually lands between used and clean and repaired. If the seller can confirm that no piece has been welded or swapped and that the pallets carry no cracks, treat the lot as used and clean. If they cannot, treat it as repaired until they can. That rule of thumb costs nothing and protects you from buying on a letter alone.

Pricing language to question

Phrases such as good enough, mostly fine or as is tell you what the seller will not stand behind. Ask what is meant by each and whether the lot may be returned if the description proves wrong. Plain commitments in writing are the real mark of a grade.

On the receiving dock

• Count stacks before pallets, then count the pallets in two stacks to confirm the tally.
• Lay a tape across the deck and along the runners of three pallets from different stacks.
• Look for pooled marks, bar codes and moulded owner names before anything is put away.
• Sign for the count and note any shortfall on the delivery receipt in the driver's presence.
• Photograph the stacks from both ends while the trailer doors are still open.

Paperwork to keep

• The written lot description and the date it was sent.
• Your own count, signed and dated by whoever received the load.
• Photographs of stacks, plates and any marks, stored with the order number.
• The maker's papers for resin, colour or rating, where the job needs them.
• A line naming who agreed to which exceptions, so a later dispute has a record.

Words used on this page

Fork pocket

Opening in the pallet where the forks go.

Runners

Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.

Racking load

Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.

Pooling

Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them instead of buying.

Welding repair

Plastic is hard to glue, so cracked parts are normally welded.

What the sources say

• Only pallets designed for unsupported racking carry a racking rating. nelsoncompany.com
• HDPE is the most common resin in plastic pallets; PP is more rigid and the page recommends it for unsupported racking. nelsoncompany.com
• An ICC article says unlisted plastic pallets may require raising the commodity hazard class by two classes, and gives an example needing about 55 percent more sprinkler water. iccsafe.org
• Plastic pallets are often described as lasting 100 trips or more, and can cost roughly 10 times as much as hardwood pallets. en.wikipedia.org

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