Speak fluent pallet.

103 of 103 terms

Acclimatisation

Leaving cold pallets indoors four to twelve hours before loading, so they are above the dew point of the building's air and do not condense water onto your cartons.

Air dried (AD)

Stacked with spacers and left to equilibrate with outdoor air. Cheap, slow, and limited to the local equilibrium moisture content — in a humid climate that may never fall below 15%.

Annular shank

See ring-shank. A nail with rings along the shank, giving roughly double the withdrawal resistance of a smooth nail.

ASRS

Automated storage and retrieval system. Robotic racking with a tight tolerance window — the main reason we sometimes recommend new builds over reclaim.

Backhaul

A loaded return leg on a trailer that would otherwise run empty. The cheapest mile in this industry, and how we reach Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico economically.

Bearer

A length of timber under a load, raising it for fork entry. Used with slip sheets and in crate bases. Regulated under ISPM-15 like any solid wood.

Bearing surface

The area of a member that actually carries load. Wane or a cut edge that removes bearing surface matters; the same defect elsewhere on the board usually does not.

Block pallet

A pallet supported on nine solid blocks rather than three stringers, giving true four-way entry from every face. Stiffer, heavier, costlier, and far less sensitive to racking orientation.

Blue stain

Grey-blue fungal discolouration of sapwood. Cosmetic rather than structural, but it carries a musty odour that transfers to absorbent product.

Board compression test (BCT)

The laboratory crush figure for a carton, measured new, in conditioned air, loaded quickly. Real-world strength is commonly four to six times lower once time, humidity, handling and pallet interaction are applied.

Board foot

A unit of lumber volume: 144 cubic inches, or a board 12" × 12" × 1". A standard GMA 48×40 pallet contains roughly 32 board feet.

Bridging

The tendency of a layer of cartons to behave partly like a plate rather than independent boxes. It saves many badly matched pallet-and-carton combinations, and conceals the mismatch until a weaker carton arrives.

Cant

A squared log section destined for industrial sawing. Pallet lumber is cut largely from cants rather than from graded boards.

Chamfer

The bevelled lead edge cut into a bottom deck board so a pallet jack can climb onto the pallet without catching. A destroyed chamfer makes every jack operator's day worse.

Chart recorder trace

The temperature-versus-time record for a heat treatment run, showing every probe and the 30-minute hold. The primary evidence behind an ISPM-15 mark. We retain ours for three years.

Checking

Small splits along the grain caused by rapid drying. The dominant defect in arid regions, where mould is a non-issue and shrinkage is not.

Columnar stacking

Stacking cartons corners-over-corners all the way up. Far stronger than interlocked stacking, because 60–70% of a load's vertical strength lives in the corner columns — and less stable against shear.

Companion board

A second deck board nailed alongside a cracked original rather than replacing it. Structurally sound, cosmetically obvious, and it marks the unit as Grade B.

Condemn

To take a unit permanently out of pallet service. A condemned pallet is not waste — its sound boards are harvested and the rest goes to fiber.

Containment force

The actual pressure stretch film applies to a load, measured with a plate and gauge. The meaningful measurement; wrap count and film gauge are only what you paid for.

Core

A used pallet bought from a warehouse as feedstock for a recycling yard. Core availability, not lumber price, is the main driver of recycled pallet prices.

CP pallets

The chemical industry's CP1–CP9 series of standard pallets, mostly 1200×1000 and 1140×1140 mm. A separate standard again from EPAL and ISO.

Creep

The slow, permanent deflection of wood under a sustained load. The reason a pallet that measured fine on day one can sag dangerously after six months in a rack.

Cut-down

An oversized reclaimed pallet sawn to a smaller footprint, re-nailed at the cut edge and chamfered. Roughly a third the cost of a new build at the same size.

Debarked

Wood with bark removed. Some export destinations require it in addition to ISPM-15 treatment. Ask before you load, not after.

Deck board

Any board forming the top or bottom surface of a pallet. Usually seven on top and five underneath on a GMA unit.

Deck gap

The clear space between adjacent deck boards. The number that actually matters on a conveyor, and the number almost nobody specifies.

Deflection

How much a loaded pallet sags. The usual design ceiling is span ÷ 100 — about 0.4" across a 40" unsupported span.

Derate

To reduce a published capacity figure for real conditions — long dwell times, humidity, repeated handling or outdoor service. Racked figures should be derated 20–30% for sustained load.

Dew point

The temperature at which air becomes saturated. Any surface colder than it collects water. A pallet from a cold yard in a heated warehouse is below it, which is why autumn mould claims exist.

Dielectric heating (DH)

An ISPM-15 treatment route: 60 °C for one minute throughout the wood profile. Used for thinner material; we use conventional heat treatment.

Drive-in racking

Racking where trucks enter the bay. Long unsupported spans with no support at the leading edge, so derate hard and prefer block construction.

Dry stack

Covered storage where wet incoming stock waits to come down below 19% moisture before it is repaired or shipped. A yard without one is a yard with a mould problem it has not met yet.

Dunnage

Loose wood used to brace or block a load inside a container or trailer. Regulated under ISPM-15 exactly like a pallet, and the most commonly forgotten category at borders.

Dynamic load

The load a pallet can carry while being moved by a forklift or jack. Roughly 50–60% of the static rating.

End-grain separation

A split in a board at the nail line near its end, usually caused by repeated moisture cycling. Not repairable in that board.

Entry

How forks can get into a pallet. Two-way means from the ends only; four-way means from all four faces, fully on a block pallet and partially on a notched stringer pallet.

EPAL

European Pallet Association. Licenses the manufacture and repair of EUR/EPAL pallets. A used EPAL pallet repaired by an unlicensed shop is no longer exchangeable.

Equilibrium moisture content (EMC)

The moisture level wood eventually reaches in a given temperature and humidity. Wood always drifts toward it, which is why a kiln certificate is a moment rather than a state.

Fines

The smallest particles screened out of a wood grind. We route them to animal bedding and erosion control rather than to a dumpster.

Four-way entry

Forks can enter from all four faces — fully on a block pallet, partially through notches on a stringer pallet.

GMA

Grocery Manufacturers Association, which specified the 48×40 footprint and construction that became North America's default. 'GMA pallet' and '48×40' are used interchangeably.

Grade A

Recycled pallets with all original boards, no plugs, no companion boards, uniform appearance and squareness within ¼". Our highest recycled grade.

Grade B

Recycled pallets repaired with replacement or companion boards, structurally full-strength, mixed in appearance. Typically 18–30% cheaper than A.

Hardwood

Broadleaf species: oak, maple, gum, hickory, poplar. Stiffer and heavier than softwood, with better nail retention. The right choice for racked service.

Heartwood

The older, inner wood of a tree. Denser and more decay-resistant than sapwood, and the reason pallet-derived mulch holds colour and breaks down slowly.

Hog fuel

Coarse ground wood burned for industrial steam or power. Our last resort, and the only destination for wood that cannot safely be a material.

HT

Heat treated. Core of the thickest member held at 56 °C for 30 continuous minutes. A treatment claim, not a moisture claim.

Interlocked stacking

Rotating alternate cartons so layers tie together. More stable against shear than columnar stacking and meaningfully weaker in compression.

IPPC

International Plant Protection Convention, the body behind ISPM-15. Its wheat symbol is the recognisable part of the export stamp.

ISPM-15

The international phytosanitary standard for wood packaging crossing borders. Requires treatment and marking of pallets, crates, collars, dunnage and bracing.

KD

Kiln dried. A moisture claim, usually below 19%. Frequently and wrongly treated as equivalent to HT.

Kiln dried (KD)

Dried in a controlled chamber to a target moisture content. A moisture claim, not a phytosanitary one — a KD stencil is not an ISPM-15 mark.

Lead board

The outermost top deck board at each end of a pallet, often wider than the rest. Takes every forklift impact and fails first.

Leveller

The hinged plate bridging a dock and a trailer floor. A steep one makes forks strike lead boards on entry and drag bottom boards on exit — the origin of most pallet damage.

MC

Moisture content, as a percentage of dry weight. 19% is the practical mould threshold; 15% is what careful food operations specify.

Methyl bromide (MB)

A fumigation route under ISPM-15, identified by an MB treatment code. Refused by a growing list of destinations. We do not offer it and do not intend to.

MIBANT

A bend-angle test used as a rough proxy for pallet nail quality. Too brittle and the nail snaps; too soft and the joint loosens.

Mineral streak

Dark discolouration in hardwood from mineral uptake. Cosmetically disqualifying for furniture, structurally irrelevant in a pallet.

Moffett

A truck-mounted forklift, letting a flatbed unload itself at a site with no dock or forklift. Available on our deliveries when you ask in advance.

Mono-material

Made of one material, so it separates cleanly at end of life. A pallet is wood plus magnetically separable steel, which is why its recovery rate is so high.

Nominal

The size a piece of lumber is called rather than the size it measures. A 'five-eighths' deck board may measure 0.60–0.66".

Notch

The cut-out in an outer stringer that allows partial four-way fork entry. Also the weakest point in the stringer — a crack crossing a notch is serious.

NWPCA

National Wooden Pallet & Container Association. Its recycled-pallet vocabulary is what we grade to unless a customer standard supersedes it.

One-way

A pallet that leaves and is not expected to return. Buy the cheapest grade that survives the single journey; paying for cosmetics on a disposable asset is wasted.

Overhang

Product extending beyond the pallet edge. Reduces effective load capacity sharply and is a common cause of crushed cartons.

Pallet jack

A manual or powered low-lift truck that enters a pallet from the end. Powered jacks are unforgiving about reduced entry height.

Pallet pattern

How cartons are arranged on a deck. It should be designed before the pallet footprint is chosen, because the pattern is what creates or avoids overhang.

Pin meter

A handheld moisture meter with two probe pins. Twenty seconds per unit, and it converts an argument about wet pallets into a reading.

Plug

A let-in section of timber replacing a cracked part of a stringer. A properly double-nailed plug restores the full load path.

Pool

A rental fleet of pallets, charged per trip. Excellent for closed loops and mandated retail flows; expensive when units do not come back.

Pre-stretch

Elongating stretch film before it reaches the load. High pre-stretch means less film for the same containment force — the single most commonly mis-set wrapper parameter.

Push-pull attachment

A forklift attachment that grips a slip sheet's lip and drags the load onto a platform. Needed at both ends of a slip-sheet lane, which is why most such projects fail at the receiving dock.

Racked load

The load a pallet carries resting only on two rails with nothing underneath the middle. Typically 25–35% of the static rating, and the number that actually limits real warehouses.

Re-nail

Driving or replacing every fastener on a unit. The repair most often skipped by cheap yards, and the one that most affects service life.

Reclaim

Used wood recovered for further use. The raw material of this entire business.

Remanufacture

Rebuilding harvested parts into a different object of similar value — a cut-down pallet, a crate component, a collar panel. Ranks above recycling in the waste hierarchy.

Return rate

The share of pallets leaving your building that come back into your control. The single figure that decides whether pooling, ownership or buying recycled is right, and the one almost nobody measures.

Ring-shank

A nail with annular rings along its shank, giving far higher withdrawal resistance than a smooth shank. We use nothing else.

Runner

A length of timber under a load to raise it for fork entry. Also used for the lengthwise members of some skids.

Sapstain

Blue-grey fungal discolouration of wood. Cosmetic rather than structural, but it carries a musty odour that transfers to absorbent product.

Sapwood

The outer, younger wood of a tree. Lighter and less decay-resistant than heartwood, and more prone to blue stain.

Shake

A separation along the growth rings inside a board, often invisible from the face. A pre-existing internal split that will open under load.

Skid

A pallet with no bottom deck boards. Cheaper, lighter, and unsuitable for racking or for soft floors.

Slip sheet

A thin laminated sheet with a lip, used instead of a pallet and moved with a push-pull attachment. Saves five inches of height and forty pounds of tare, and needs equipment at both ends.

Slope of grain

How far the grain runs off the length of a board. Steep slope in a stringer is a genuine strength loss, unlike most defects that demote pallet lumber.

Softwood

Coniferous species: southern yellow pine, spruce, fir. Lighter, cheaper and less stiff than hardwood. Right for floor-stored service, weaker in racking.

Soy ink

What we stamp grade, build date and lot with. Low odour, no solvent transfer to product, legible for one to three years.

Split-grade load

A single delivery containing two grades — A for customer-facing flow, B for internal. The cheapest easy saving in this business.

Static load

The load a pallet carries sitting on a solid flat floor. The largest and least useful of the four ratings.

Stringer

One of the three lengthwise members of a conventional pallet. The primary load path and the most expensive component to repair.

Stringer board

On a block pallet, the board connecting blocks in one direction. Not to be confused with a stringer, which is a load-bearing member on a stringer pallet.

Tare

The weight of packaging rather than product. On weight-limited freight the pallet's tare is lost revenue payload, which is why dry stock and lighter construction matter there.

Tie pattern

The arrangement of cartons in a layer, and how adjacent layers relate. Changing it sometimes removes overhang for free, which is the cheapest fix available.

Toll repair

Repairing a customer's own units and returning those same units, rather than swapping them. Keeps asset numbers and chain of custody intact.

Toll treatment

Heat treating a customer's own units and returning those same units, so asset numbers and chain of custody survive the process.

Two-way

A pallet that forks can only enter from two opposite faces. Cheaper, and a recurring source of frustration in tight aisles.

Unit load

The pallet, the product and the packaging considered as one structure. Most of the strength comes from the part people think of as wrapping, and designing the three separately overbuilds one and breaks another.

Wane

Bark edge on a board. Loses a construction grade and costs a pallet almost nothing, unless it removes bearing surface or carries bark into a destination that prohibits it.

Weighbridge

The yard scale. Every stream in our diversion reporting traces back to a weighbridge ticket, which is what makes the zero-landfill figure auditable rather than asserted.

Windrow

A long low pile of ground wood in the yard, turned periodically. Where mulch waits, and where we hand-inspect for stray metal.

Withdrawal resistance

How hard a nail is to pull out. Doubling it roughly doubles the number of trips a pallet survives, which is why fastener choice matters more than lumber grade.

Zone counting

Counting empties by area rather than totalling the building. A total tells you the size of a problem; a zone tells you where it lives.