Pallets in California
Partner yards locally, specification and sourcing from us.
Request a California quote
Your postal code and volume are the two details that decide what we can honestly offer. Everything else we can work out by email.
- Service model
- Network & sourcing
- City pages
- 12
- Corridors
- I-5 · I-10 · I-15
- Ports
- Los Angeles, Long Beach
Pallets are high-cube, low-value freight: trucking them across a continent destroys both the price and the environmental case. So here we work through vetted partner yards for the physical wood, and do what travels well ourselves — specification, grading standards, sourcing audits, multi-site programme design and export documentation.
California at a glance
- Service model
- Network & sourcing — Partner yards locally, specification and sourcing from us.
- Region
- West
- City pages here
- 12
- Main corridors
- I-5 · I-10 · I-15 · I-80 · I-210
- Ports
- Los Angeles · Long Beach · Oakland · San Diego
- Sectors driving pallet demand
- import distribution, produce and agriculture, wine and beverage, electronics
- Climate band
- Mediterranean / coastal-interior split — 9–13% inland, 13–16% coastal
- Dominant wood risk
- Both, depending on which side of the hills you are
How California is served
- Specification and written grading standards for your line
- Sourcing: we find, vet and price local yards for you
- Multi-site pallet programme design and monthly reporting
- Export crating and ISPM-15 documentation review
- Load-case and racking advice before you buy anything
- Full-truckload supply where the lane genuinely works
| Detail | Why it matters | |
|---|---|---|
| Service model | Network & sourcing | Partner yards locally, specification and sourcing from us. |
| Main corridors | I-5 · I-10 · I-15 · I-80 · I-210 | How freight reaches this market |
| Local sectors | import distribution, produce and agriculture, wine and beverage | What drives pallet demand here |
| Ports | Los Angeles · Long Beach · Oakland · San Diego | Export packaging must be ISPM-15 stamped |
| Yard | 16550 Bratton Ln, Austin TX 78728 | Specification and sourcing from here, wood sourced locally |
The freight arithmetic, stated plainly
| Freight question | Answer for California | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Distance from the Austin yard | 600–2,000+ mi | Pallets are high-cube, low-value freight; distance dominates delivered cost |
| Economic haul from Austin? | No, and we will say so | Past roughly 400 miles the freight exceeds the value of the wood and the carbon saved by reusing is spent again on diesel |
| What travels well instead | Specification, grading standards, sourcing audits, programme design, export documentation review | None of it is freight-dependent, and it is where most pallet money is actually lost |
| Local wood | Vetted partner yards, priced and audited by us | You get local freight economics with our grading discipline |
| Full-truckload exception | Quoted honestly case by case | Some lanes work; most do not, and we check rather than guess |
Moisture and climate in California
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Climate band | Mediterranean / coastal-interior split |
| Outdoor equilibrium moisture | 9–13% inland, 13–16% coastal |
| Dominant wood risk | Both, depending on which side of the hills you are |
| Seasonal window | Wet November to March, dry the rest of the year. The seasonal swing is larger than the regional average suggests. |
California contains two different pallet climates. Inland and Central Valley stock behaves like an arid region — dry, prone to checking, and no realistic mould risk outside the wet season. Coastal stock behaves like a maritime one, with marine layer humidity pushing equilibrium up and condensation a genuine issue in a chilled facility near the water. A specification written for one is wrong for the other.
What to do about it in California
- Specify by facility, not by state. A Fresno dock and an Oakland dock need different moisture clauses.
- Coastal chilled operations should acclimatise pallets indoors for four to twelve hours before loading — the dew point maths catches people out.
- Inland operations should prioritise fastener quality over moisture ceilings.
- Produce and wine both demand clean, odour-free stock. Segregate from anything that has been near fuel or chemicals.
- Winter is the only statewide wet window; plan covered storage for it.
| Moisture content | What happens | Typical source | Freight weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6–12% | Indoor equilibrium. No mould risk. Dimensionally stable. | Kiln dried, stored inside | Lightest |
| 12–19% | Safe working range — our standard ceiling. | Covered dry stack | Normal |
| 19–25% | Mould within days to weeks in warm conditions. | Rain-exposed stacks, green lumber | +5–10% |
| 25–40% | Mould rapid, blue stain likely. | Pallets left in the open through a wet week | +10–20% |
| Above 40% | Saturated. You are paying freight on water. | Standing water, flooded yard | +20%+ |
Mould needs free water. Below roughly 19% the water in wood is chemically bound in the cell walls and spores cannot germinate; above it, they can. Heat treatment kills insects and confers no moisture guarantee; kiln drying reduces moisture and is not a phytosanitary treatment. They are separate claims and conflating them causes both mould claims and border holds.
What drives pallet demand here
California's pallet flow is shaped by import distribution, produce and agriculture, wine and beverage, electronics. Each of those has a different definition of an acceptable pallet: food operations care about moisture content far more than grade, construction supply cares about racked load ratings and nothing else, and anything crossing a border cares only about whether the ISPM-15 mark is true. The corridors that carry it — I-5, I-10, I-15, I-80, I-210 — decide what a full trailer costs and therefore what a unit costs.
Specify the job, not the grade
Tell a yard what the pallet has to do — weight, racking, automation, whether it returns — and let them pick the grade. Buying a grade name and hoping is the commonest expensive habit in this trade.
Put a moisture number in writing
19% is the mould threshold; 15% is what careful food operations specify. If a supplier's answer to “how do you measure?” is “we keep them inside”, that is not a measurement.
Know your return rate
Of the pallets that leave your building, what share comes back into your control? Operations assume 80% and discover 45%. That one figure decides whether pooling, ownership or buying recycled is right for you.
Re-treat after repair
A stamped pallet repaired with untreated boards carries a false mark. Plenty of shippers find this out at a port rather than at a bench.
Count what leaves
One field on the bill of lading recording units out. It is the cheapest intervention available and it closes the largest leak we find in audits.
Measure cost per trip
Unit price, divided by useful journeys, plus freight, disposal, handling labour and the cost of a failure in transit. It is the only number that moves when you change supplier properly.
Buying from us while you are in California
- 01
Tell us the load case
Weight, footprint, racking, automation, whether it returns, and your postal code. That is enough to answer properly.
- 02
We write the specification
Footprint, construction, deck gap, entry height, squareness, moisture ceiling, treatment, permitted repairs. One page, signed by both sides.
- 03
We source locally
We find, vet and price partner yards in your market against that document — including a yard walk where the volume justifies it.
- 04
You buy local freight
The wood moves a short distance at local rates. The grading discipline is ours; the diesel is not.
- 05
We stay on the thread
First three loads get checked against the standard. Failures are replaced and then investigated at the bench that caused them.
- 06
Monthly reporting if you want it
Units in and out, repair and condemnation rates, diversion tonnage, cost per trip. Written for an auditor.
Cities we cover in California
12 California markets, each with its own page covering what the local sector mix actually needs. If yours is not listed, the form at the top of this page reaches a coordinator who will answer anyway.
Los Angeles, CA
Export crating, ISPM-15 stamping and container-fit planning.
borderSan Diego, CA
ISPM-15 compliance, re-treatment after repair and documentation.
industrialSan Jose, CA
Heavy loads, racked ratings and tight dimensional tolerances.
portSan Francisco, CA
Export crating, ISPM-15 stamping and container-fit planning.
agFresno, CA
Seasonal reservation, ventilated decks and HT-only bedding stock.
capitalSacramento, CA
Documented diversion reporting and compliant procurement.
portLong Beach, CA
Export crating, ISPM-15 stamping and container-fit planning.
portOakland, CA
Export crating, ISPM-15 stamping and container-fit planning.
agBakersfield, CA
Seasonal reservation, ventilated decks and HT-only bedding stock.
logisticsStockton, CA
Paid collection, asset tracking and leakage reporting.
logisticsRiverside, CA
Paid collection, asset tracking and leakage reporting.
logisticsFontana, CA
Paid collection, asset tracking and leakage reporting.
Do you actually deliver pallets to California?
Not from Austin, no — and anyone who tells you they will truck recycled pallets that far economically is selling you freight, not pallets. We source locally through vetted partner yards and handle the specification, grading standard and reporting ourselves.
What can you do from Austin that a local yard cannot?
Write a grading standard that holds across multiple sites, model cost per trip rather than unit price, audit where your pallets actually leak, design the reporting your sustainability team needs, and review export documentation before a container is sealed. None of that is freight-dependent.
Can you handle multiple sites across several states?
Yes — that is most of what the network side of the business does. One written standard, one monthly report, local wood in each market. California sites sit alongside the rest in the same programme.
Is there a minimum?
For direct supply, 25 units delivered or 5 collected at the yard. For sourcing and specification work we ask for roughly 500 units a week before the arithmetic justifies anyone's time, and we will tell you plainly if you are below it.
What moisture ceiling should a California operation specify?
Mediterranean / coastal-interior split conditions mean both, depending on which side of the hills you are is the dominant risk, with outdoor equilibrium around 9–13% inland, 13–16% coastal. Nineteen percent maximum as a baseline, fifteen for food contact or chilled service — and name the measurement method, because a ceiling without a method is a wish.
Do you sell mulch, bedding or fiber here?
Bulk fiber delivery runs within 60 miles of the Austin yard, so not in California unless you are collecting. We will happily tell you what to ask a local grinder for: feedstock restriction, treatment segregation at intake rather than at the grinder, screen size, and how many magnetic passes.
Can you quote a full truckload into this state?
We will check the lane and answer honestly. Sometimes it works — usually on a backhaul or a dense, high-value configuration — and most of the time it does not, in which case we will say so and point you at a yard closer to you.
What does the sourcing and specification work cost?
Nothing above roughly 500 units a week, because it pays for itself if you then buy through the programme. Below that we will still answer questions by email, because it takes ten minutes and we would rather you got it right.
Reference appendix
What we can supply, what it weighs, how many fit on a trailer, and how long it takes — the same tables wherever you are reading this from.
Footprints and trailer counts
| Footprint | Inches | Millimetres | Construction | Where it lives | Our stock | Per 53' van |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GMA 48×40 | 48" × 40" | 1219 × 1016 | Stringer & block | Grocery, general distribution, retail | Deep | 480–560 |
| 48×48 | 48" × 48" | 1219 × 1219 | Stringer | Drums, reels, wire, square loads | Good | 392–420 |
| 48×45 | 48" × 45" | 1219 × 1143 | Stringer | Automotive, tyre | Good | 420–450 |
| 48×42 | 48" × 42" | 1219 × 1067 | Stringer | Telecom, paint, coatings | Good | 440–480 |
| 42×42 | 42" × 42" | 1067 × 1067 | Stringer | Chemicals, drums, paint | Good | 480–520 |
| 40×48 | 40" × 48" | 1016 × 1219 | Stringer | Beverage, rotated GMA | Good | 480–560 |
| 40×40 | 40" × 40" | 1016 × 1016 | Stringer | Dairy, beverage, bakery | Good | 520–580 |
| 36×36 | 36" × 36" | 914 × 914 | Stringer | Compact, display, light goods | Good | 640–700 |
| 32×30 | 32" × 30" | 813 × 762 | Stringer | Retail display, in-store | Limited | 900+ |
| 30×30 | 30" × 30" | 762 × 762 | Stringer | Light goods, display | Limited | 960+ |
| 48×20 half | 48" × 20" | 1219 × 508 | Stringer | Retail half pallet, promotions | Limited | 1,000+ |
| EPAL 1 | 47.24" × 31.50" | 1200 × 800 | Block, 9 blocks | European trade, retail | To order | 540–600 |
| EPAL 2 / ISO | 47.24" × 39.37" | 1200 × 1000 | Block | Europe, Asia, best container fit | To order | 480–520 |
| Asia square | 43.30" × 43.30" | 1100 × 1100 | Block | Japan, east Asia | To order | 460–500 |
| AU square | 44.88" × 44.88" | 1140 × 1140 | Block | Australia, chemical CP series | To order | 440–480 |
Trailer counts are for stacked, unstrapped loads of sound recycled stock and vary with repair thickness. We confirm the actual count on the bill of lading rather than estimating it. Anything not on this list we cut from reclaim — see custom milling.
Grades
| Grade A | Grade B | #1 premium | #2 economy | Custom cut | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original boards | All | Some replaced | All | Several replaced | Mixed |
| Companion boards | None | Permitted | None | Permitted | Permitted |
| Stringer plugs | None | Permitted | None | Permitted | Permitted |
| Metal plates | None | Permitted, disclosed | None | Permitted | Permitted |
| Squareness | Within ¼" | Within ½" | Within ¼" | Within ½" | Within ½" |
| Colour uniformity | High | Mixed | High | Mixed | Mixed, fresh saw ends |
| Protruding fasteners | Zero | Zero | Zero | Zero | Zero |
| Moisture ceiling | 19% (15% on request) | 19% | 19% (15% on request) | 19% | 19% |
| Typical service | Retail-facing, export | Internal, bulk | Automation, racking | One-way, yard storage | Odd footprints |
| Relative price | Highest recycled | −18 to −30% | High | Lowest | ≈⅓ of a new build |
| Remaining life | Longest | Shorter — already repaired once | Longest | Shortest | Varies |
Grade A and #1 overlap: we use #1 for units that needed no repair at all and A for units that are cosmetically uniform. Where a customer holds their own written standard, that document governs and supersedes these names.
Lead times and minimums
| Service | Lead time | Minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid pallet collection, Austin metro | 48 hours, routed | 100 units or 1 trailer | Counted with your team present, signed on the dock |
| Paid collection, Texas Triangle | Weekly, fixed day | 1 trailer | Backhaul lanes to SA, Houston, DFW |
| Yard drop-off | Open during yard hours | 5 units | Saturday mornings are easiest; no appointment |
| Spot load, common footprint | 2–5 business days | 25 units delivered | Subject to grade availability |
| Standing order | Fixed day each week | By agreement | Annual pricing, ≈2 weeks of safety stock held here |
| Repair, toll (your units) | 3–7 business days | 100 units | Your asset numbers and stamps retained |
| Heat treatment & ISPM-15 stamping | Usually 24 hours | By agreement | 4–9 hour cycle; chart trace filed per lot |
| New build to spec | 5–10 business days | 100 units | Tolerance ±⅛" achievable |
| Cut-down to custom footprint | 3–6 business days | 50 units | Tolerance ±¼" |
| Custom crate, one-off | 3–8 business days | 1 | On-site crating available in Austin metro |
| Custom milling, cut list | 3–6 business days | 1 shop hour | Tolerance ±1/16" dimensional |
| Bulk mulch or bedding | 2–5 business days | 10 cu yd | 60 mile delivery radius |
| Sourcing audit | By arrangement | 500 units/week | Half a day on site; free above that volume |
| Same-day, Austin metro | Same day | By arrangement | Premium rate, when a line is about to stop |
All times Central. Lead times are commitments we take seriously and not guarantees against weather, road closure or equipment failure.
Container and trailer fit
| Equipment | Internal width | Internal length | 1200×1000 per floor | 1200×800 per floor | 48"×40" per floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20' standard container | ≈2,352 mm | ≈5,898 mm | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| 40' standard container | ≈2,352 mm | ≈12,032 mm | 20–21 | 23–24 | 20–21 |
| 40' high cube container | ≈2,352 mm | ≈12,032 mm | 20–21 | 23–24 | 20–21 |
| 45' high cube container | ≈2,352 mm | ≈13,556 mm | 23–24 | 26–27 | 23–24 |
| 53' domestic dry van | ≈2,591 mm | ≈16,154 mm | 26 | 30 | 26 |
| 48' dry van | ≈2,591 mm | ≈14,630 mm | 24 | 27 | 24 |
Floor positions only; stacking depends on product height and weight. The fundamental tension in global freight is in this table: a 40-foot container's internal width does not comfortably take two 48-inch pallets, because the container and the American pallet were standardised in different traditions and never reconciled.
How to specify, in ten lines
- Footprint, length first, in inches — and the carton pattern that produced it, so we can check for overhang.
- Construction: stringer or block, two-way or four-way entry. Specify block if you cannot control racking orientation.
- Maximum deck gap in inches. This is the number that decides whether a carton falls through your rollers, and no grade implies it.
- Minimum entry height if you run powered pallet jacks. Repairs with thicker boards quietly eat clearance.
- Squareness tolerance. ±¼" for racking and automation; ±½" is fine for floor storage and cheaper.
- Moisture ceiling, with the measurement method named. 19% standard, 15% for food contact or chilled service.
- Treatment: HT and ISPM-15 marked, and re-marked after any repair introducing untreated wood.
- Species, if stiffness matters. Mixed hardwood for racked service; southern yellow pine where nothing spans anything.
- Permitted repairs: plates allowed or not, companion boards allowed or not. Automation usually wants neither.
- Load case: weight, support condition, dwell time, whether it stacks. This is what lets us pick the grade rather than you guessing it.
Moisture
| Moisture content | What happens | Typical source | Freight weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6–12% | Indoor equilibrium. No mould risk. Dimensionally stable. | Kiln dried, stored inside | Lightest |
| 12–19% | Safe working range — our standard ceiling. | Covered dry stack | Normal |
| 19–25% | Mould within days to weeks in warm conditions. | Rain-exposed stacks, green lumber | +5–10% |
| 25–40% | Mould rapid, blue stain likely. | Pallets left in the open through a wet week | +10–20% |
| Above 40% | Saturated. You are paying freight on water. | Standing water, flooded yard | +20%+ |
Mould needs free water. Below roughly 19% the water in wood is chemically bound in the cell walls and spores cannot germinate; above it, they can. Heat treatment kills insects and confers no moisture guarantee; kiln drying reduces moisture and is not a phytosanitary treatment. They are separate claims and conflating them causes both mould claims and border holds.