A pallet is a flat platform that goods are stacked on so they can be moved as one unit by a forklift or pallet truck. It is the least glamorous object in logistics and arguably the most important, because almost nothing moves through a modern supply chain without spending part of its journey on one.
The pallet exists to solve a simple problem: a person can move one box at a time, and a forklift can move a tonne. The pallet is the interface between the two.
A quick note on spelling. Three similar words get confused, and only one of them is this one. A pallet is the wooden or plastic platform this guide is about. A palette is an artist’s board for mixing colours, or the range of colours in a design. A palate is the roof of your mouth, and by extension a sense of taste. If you are searching for the thing a forklift picks up, it is the double-l spelling — pallet.
What a pallet does
It creates a unit load. Forty cartons become one thing to lift, count, book in and store. Everything downstream — racking, vehicle loading, stock records — is built around that unit.
It lifts goods off the floor. The gap underneath is what forks slide into. It also keeps stock clear of damp concrete and spillage, which matters more than people expect in cold stores and older buildings.
It standardises handling. Because pallets come in known sizes, racking, vehicles, conveyors and lifting equipment can all be designed around them. This is why pallet dimensions are surprisingly consequential — change the pallet and you may find you have changed the racking, the truck utilisation and the trailer plan.
It protects goods. Stacked and wrapped on a pallet, cartons brace each other. Loose cartons in a trailer shift, topple and get crushed.
Standard pallet sizes
There is no single world standard, which causes more friction in international trade than any other packaging decision.
The ISO 6780 standard recognises six sizes, and in practice four dominate:
- 1200 × 800 mm — the Euro pallet (EUR/EPAL). The dominant size across Europe. Sized to fit standard European truck widths two abreast, and to pass through standard doorways.
- 1200 × 1000 mm — the standard UK/industrial pallet. Common in the UK, parts of Europe and Asia. Slightly wider footprint, often preferred for heavier or bulkier goods.
- 1219 × 1016 mm (48 × 40 inches) — the North American GMA pallet. The dominant size in the US, and the one the American grocery supply chain is built around.
- 1100 × 1100 mm — the Asian standard. Common in Japan, Korea and parts of South East Asia, and sized for square-footprint container loading.
Two practical consequences follow.
Container fit is the reason this matters. A standard 40-foot container takes a different number of pallets depending on which size you use, and the difference is not marginal. Choosing the pallet that fits your dominant lane, rather than the one your warehouse happens to stock, can change your shipping cost per unit meaningfully.
Mixed estates cost money. An operation handling several pallet sizes needs racking that accommodates the largest, which wastes space on the smallest, and staff who notice the difference, which they will not always do.
Pallet height is less standardised but no less important. Racking beam spacing, trailer internal height and any stacking rules set a practical maximum, and loads built above it get rebuilt at the dock — a job nobody has allowed time for.
The main types of pallet
Wooden pallets are the default, and roughly nine in ten pallets in circulation are wood. They are cheap, strong for the price, repairable, and recyclable. Their drawbacks are weight, moisture absorption, splinters and nails, and the fact that they can harbour pests — which is why international shipments require treatment (see below).
Plastic pallets cost several times more upfront and repay it only where they are reused many times. They are hygienic, washable, dimensionally consistent, immune to moisture, and free of nails, which makes them standard in food, pharmaceutical and closed-loop systems. They cannot usually be repaired — a cracked plastic pallet is scrap.
Metal pallets — steel or aluminium — carry the heaviest loads and last longest. Heavy, expensive, and used for machinery, aerospace and military applications rather than general distribution.
Presswood or moulded pallets are made from compressed wood fibre. Light, nestable so they stack compactly when empty, and exempt from timber treatment requirements because the manufacturing process sterilises them. Popular for one-way export.
Corrugated (cardboard) pallets are very light and fully recyclable, suited to light one-way shipments and air freight where every kilogram is chargeable. They do not tolerate moisture or repeated handling.
Pallets also differ in construction:
- Stringer pallets use three parallel beams supporting the deck. Often two-way entry, meaning forks enter from two sides only.
- Block pallets use nine blocks instead of stringers, allowing true four-way entry. Sturdier, and the standard for Euro pallets.
- Double-faced pallets have boards on the bottom as well as the top, spreading load better and allowing them to be used either way up when reversible.
Heat treatment and international shipping
Any pallet made of solid wood crossing an international border must comply with ISPM 15, the standard preventing timber pests from travelling with freight.
In practice this means the wood must be heat treated or fumigated, and the pallet stamped with an IPPC mark showing the country code, the producer’s registration number, and the treatment method — HT for heat treated.
Points that catch exporters out:
- The mark must be on the pallet itself, legible, and on at least two opposite sides.
- An untreated pallet can result in the whole consignment being refused, re-palletised at your cost, or destroyed at the port.
- Processed materials — plywood, presswood, corrugated, plastic and metal — are exempt, because the manufacturing already eliminates the risk. This is a genuine reason to choose presswood for export.
- Repairs matter. A treated pallet repaired with untreated timber is no longer compliant.
If you export at all, check the stamp before loading rather than trusting the supplier. It costs seconds and the alternative is expensive.
Pallet exchange and pooling
You can own your pallets, or rent them.
Pooled pallets are hired from a provider, used, and collected for reuse. The provider handles quality, repair and redistribution. You pay per movement rather than buying an asset, and the quality is consistent — which matters for automated handling, where a broken board stops a conveyor. Pooled pallets are usually a distinctive colour so they are easy to identify as not yours.
Exchange schemes work on a like-for-like basis: a delivery arrives on ten pallets, you hand back ten equivalent pallets. The administration is real, and disputes over condition are common.
One-way or “white” pallets are bought cheaply and not expected back. Sensible for export, where recovery is impractical, and wasteful for short domestic loops.
Whichever model you use, track the balance. Pallets are an asset that walks out of the building on every vehicle, and operations that do not count them typically discover a significant annual leakage they had been treating as consumable cost.
How pallets are used in a warehouse
Goods arrive palletised, or get palletised at receiving. The pallet is then booked in as a unit, often with its own licence plate number so the whole load can be tracked with a single scan.
From there it goes to a pallet location in racking, or to a bulk stack on the floor. Fast-moving lines may be broken down into case or item picking locations, with the remaining full pallets held as reserve stock that replenishes the pick face.
On the way out, picked cases are built onto a fresh pallet, stretch-wrapped, labelled and loaded. Dunnage fills voids so nothing shifts in transit.
A few operational points worth attention:
- Pallet quality affects safety. A damaged pallet in racking is a genuine collapse risk. Inspect at receiving and reject what fails.
- Overhang is a common fault. Cartons hanging over the edge lose their support and get crushed, and the pallet no longer fits the racking aperture cleanly.
- Load stability matters more than tightness. Over-wrapping crushes; under-wrapping lets loads shift. Both cause damage.
- Empty pallet storage is space nobody plans for. A few hundred empties occupy real floor area and become an obstruction if there is no designated place for them.
Where to go deeper
- Selective pallet racking — the most common way to store them.
- What is dunnage — the packing material that stops loads shifting.
- What is a warehouse — how pallet handling shapes the building.
- Warehouse processes — where palletising fits in the flow.
- What is shrink wrap — securing the load once it is built.
The one-line takeaway
A pallet is a standard platform that turns many cartons into one moveable unit — and because racking, vehicles and handling equipment are all designed around its dimensions, the size you choose has consequences well beyond the pallet itself.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard pallet size? It depends on the region. Europe uses 1200 × 800 mm (the Euro pallet), the UK commonly uses 1200 × 1000 mm, North America uses 1219 × 1016 mm (48 × 40 inches), and much of Asia uses 1100 × 1100 mm. There is no single global standard.
How much weight can a pallet hold? A standard wooden pallet in good condition typically handles around a tonne of evenly distributed static load, though the safe figure depends on construction, condition and how the weight is spread. Dynamic capacity — being moved — is lower than static capacity, and racked capacity lower again.
What is the difference between a Euro pallet and a standard pallet? The Euro pallet is 1200 × 800 mm, block-built for four-way entry, and made to the EPAL specification with a registered stamp. “Standard pallet” usually refers to the 1200 × 1000 mm size in the UK or the 48 × 40 inch size in North America.
Do pallets need to be heat treated? Solid wood pallets crossing international borders do, under ISPM 15, and must carry the IPPC stamp with the HT mark. Plastic, metal, presswood and corrugated pallets are exempt.
How long does a pallet last? A wooden pallet in a pooled system may complete many trips over several years with periodic repair. A one-way pallet is often used once. Plastic pallets in a closed loop routinely last a decade.
What is the difference between a stringer and a block pallet? Stringer pallets use parallel beams and commonly allow forks to enter from two sides. Block pallets use nine blocks, allowing entry from all four sides, and are generally stronger. Euro pallets are block pallets.
Should I buy pallets or use a pooling service? Buy if your pallets stay in the building or go out and reliably come back, and if you are content managing repair and quality yourself. Pool if pallets leave and do not return, if you need consistent quality for automated handling, or if you would rather pay per movement than tie up capital in an asset that walks out of the door.
Can pallets be recycled? Yes. Wooden pallets are repaired and reused, then broken down for chipboard or biomass. Plastic pallets are granulated and remoulded. Corrugated pallets go into paper recycling.
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