Reference
White-wood pallets: the pallets that are yours
A white-wood pallet is an ordinary, unpainted wood pallet that is bought and sold outright rather than rented. Because ownership passes with the load, the business that receives one can reuse, sell or recycle it.
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How do I tell a white-wood pallet from a rental one?
Bare wood, no paint, no owner stencil. Rental (pooled) pallets are painted a solid color or molded in plastic, and carry the pool's name, because the pool needs them back. A white-wood pallet carries at most a treatment stamp and perhaps a manufacturer's brand, neither of which claims ownership. The name comes from the color of the fresh, unpainted wood.
One exception: some companies run their own pallets in a closed loop and stencil them "return to" or "property of" with their name, even on bare wood. The stencil decides. See the identifier.
Standard pallet sizes in North America
The ten most-produced sizes, in order, with the industries that use each most:
| Width × length (in.) | Commonly used for |
|---|---|
| 40 × 48 | Grocery, and many others. Usually written 48 × 40 in the US |
| 42 × 42 | Telecommunications, paint |
| 48 × 48 | Drums |
| 48 × 40 | Military, cement |
| 48 × 42 | Chemicals, beverages |
| 40 × 40 | Dairy |
| 48 × 45 | Automotive |
| 44 × 44 | Drums, chemicals |
| 36 × 36 | Beverages |
| 48 × 36 | Beverages, shingles, packaged paper |
Source: the standard-size table in Wikipedia's Pallet article. Standard sizes resell; one-off sizes built for a single product usually end up as scrap.
Stringer or block?
Most white-wood pallets in the US are stringer pallets: deck boards nailed across three long runners called stringers. Forks go in from the two ends, or from the sides through notches if the stringers are notched. A block pallet stands on nine blocks instead, so forks enter from all four sides. Block construction is stronger and common in rental pools, which is one reason a painted block pallet is rarely anyone's to sell. More in block vs stringer pallets.
What's a white-wood pallet worth?
It depends on the size, the grade and how many are in one place. A sound, standard-size pallet is reused as it is and has the most value. A repaired or repairable one has less, and scrap has none: it's collected as recycling. The grades are set out on selling pallets, and the factors in what white-wood pallets are worth.
Do white-wood pallets need to be heat treated?
Only for international shipping. Pallets that cross borders must meet ISPM 15, the international standard for wood packaging, and carry its stamp, usually marked HT for heat treated. Pallets for domestic use don't need it, though many carry it anyway. The stamp says nothing about who owns the pallet. See reading pallet stamps.