Used plastic pallets by style
A pallet's style decides what it can do, and a used pallet keeps its style however worn it is. Nestable, stackable, rackable, heavy duty, food grade and black each say something different, and this page lines them up.
- Nestable
- Legs fit into each other when empty
- Stackable
- Loaded pallets sit on top of each other
- Rackable
- Rated to sit on rack beams
- Others
- Heavy duty, food grade, black
Six styles, plainly
| Style | What it means | The number to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Nestable | Empty pallets stack inside one another, cutting empty storage space by up to 75 percent | Nest increment and static rating |
| Stackable | Loaded pallets sit on each other up to the static rating | Static rating of the bottom pallet |
| Rackable | Designed to bridge rack beams with a stated load | Racking rating, and edge rack if listed |
| Heavy duty | A maker's word for a stronger build, not a rating | Static, dynamic and racking, separately |
| Food grade | A pallet that may touch packaged food; direct contact has stricter rules | The maker's resin and colourant papers |
| Black | Often a pallet with recycled content | The maker's statement of recycled content |
Style is not grade
A nestable can be like new or repaired. A rackable can be mixed into a lot. Grade says how worn a pallet is, and style says what it was built to do. A used rackable pallet that has been welded is no longer described for racking, even though the style is rackable.
More styles with a used-buyer angle
- Nestable, stackable and rackable in one model
- Export and one-way pallets
- Fire-rated pallets, under FM 4996 or UL 2335
- Pool-marked pallets, which are an ownership question
- Injection moulded pallets, one of six processes
Style first, then grade
A style describes how a pallet is built: nestable, stackable, rackable, heavy-duty, food-grade, fire-rated and so on. Grade describes how worn it is. A buyer needs both, and the order matters, since a rackable style in a worn grade is a different purchase from a nestable style in the same grade. Pick the style your equipment demands, then use the grade to decide how much wear you can accept.
Reading the style pages together
The style pages are meant to be read in pairs. Nestable and stackable describe space and weight; heavy-duty and rackable describe rating; food-grade and fire-rated describe papers; export one-way and pooled rental describe ownership and the pallet's journey. A buyer rarely needs one in isolation, and the request form lets you write more than one.
What the pages leave out
These pages do not recommend a brand, and they do not publish a rating for any model, because ratings belong to makers and vary by model and date. They describe the questions to ask. Use the style that matches your equipment, then use the grade pages to decide how much wear you can accept.
Storing a lot properly
- Keep stacks on a flat, dry slab, away from heaters, doorways and loading-bay draughts.
- Limit stack height to what the bottom pallet and the lift truck can safely manage.
- Shield pallets from sunlight with a tarp or a roof, since ultraviolet light chalks and embrittles some resins.
- Separate footprints, makers and grades with floor markings so pickers never guess.
- Leave an aisle wide enough for a fork truck to turn without clipping a corner.
Wear you can measure
- Deck bow: lay the straight edge across and slide a feeler between it and the deck.
- Runner flattening: compare the thickness of a worn runner with an unworn one.
- Corner loss: hold a square against the corner and note any missing plastic.
- Pocket height: measure the opening at both ends of each fork pocket.
- Weight: weigh three pallets on a platform scale and note the spread.
Walk-around checklist
The same four stops for every lot, in order. Tick each as you go.
- 1Deck: open or closed, flat
- 2Corners: square, no chips
- 3Runners: whole, no splits
- 4Fork pockets: open on the entries the style needs
- Rating located for the style's job
Words used on this page
- Edge rack
- Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.
- Welding repair
- Plastic is hard to glue, so cracked parts are normally welded.
- Fork pocket
- Opening in the pallet where the forks go.
- Static load
- Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.
- Runners
- Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
What the sources say
- Rehrig Pacific offers the standard-duty nestable with recycled content of up to 90 percent in black, and describes it as 100 percent recyclable. rehrigpacific.com
- Rehrig Pacific's heavy-duty nestable can be made with post-consumer or post-industrial recycled material, up to 30 percent in black and up to 10 percent in colour, and is RFID compatible. rehrigpacific.com
- Static capacity is the highest of the three ratings; racking is often the lowest; dynamic is always lower than static. nelsoncompany.com
- Rehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 rackable pallet weighs 44.2 lb with a dynamic rating of 4,000 lb, static 10,000 lb and edge rack 2,000 lb. rehrigpacific.com
How a request works
- Pick the footprint, then the grade you can live with.
- Say what the pallets will carry and how many you need.
- Read the written lot description that comes back.
- Agree the lot before anything moves.
The four grades, in a line each
- Like new. A few trips only. Clean, no cracks, no missing parts, deck and runners flat.
- Used and clean. Many trips, scuffs and colour variation, but whole and usable for general-purpose or closed-loop work.
- Repaired. A cracked or chipped part welded or swapped. Some designs use snap-lock parts for repair.
- Mixed lot. Mixed makers, colours and sizes sold by the truckload, sorted by footprint.
Questions people ask
Can one pallet be nestable and rackable?
One maker lists a 48 x 40 x 4.8 in model as nestable, stackable and rackable, with 10,500 lb static, 3,100 lb dynamic and 2,700 lb racking.
Does nestable mean lighter?
Often, but nestable spans light export pallets to heavy-duty stackers in one supplier's range.
Is black a style?
It is a colour, and the colour often tells you about recycled content.
Pages in this section
Ask for a lot
Pick a footprint and a grade. The reply describes a matched lot in writing.