Technical reference

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Thirty-three reference sections, the same ones our benches and coordinators work from. Nothing here is behind a form, a login or a download gate — if you only bookmark one part of this site, make it this.

Ask us to apply any of this to your operation

Send the load case — weight, footprint, support condition, dwell time, whether it returns — and we will tell you which of these tables decides your answer.

Reference sections: 33
Footprints documented: 15
Glossary terms: 103
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Very tall stacks of sorted wooden pallets filling an outdoor yard on a clear sunny day. — **Sorted by footprint, stacked by grade**Fourteen footprints on the ground at any time; 48×40 is the deepest pile.

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33Reference sectionsnothing gated

4Load rating typesstatic, dynamic, racked, stacked

19%The moisture thresholdwhere mould becomes possible

56 °CISPM-15 core temperatureheld 30 continuous minutes

15Footprints documentedinches, mm, trailer counts

16Defects, with severitywhat the bench does to each

12Standards documentedincluding the ones we do not hold

20Point inspection checklist≈12 minutes on your dock

01 · Footprints and stock depth

Fifteen footprints, in inches and millimetres, with construction, the sectors that use each one, how deep our stock is, and how many fit on a 53-foot van. Anything not on this list we cut from reclaim — see custom milling.

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.

02 · Grades, side by side

Grade is a description of a pallet's history, not a promise about its strength — those are different questions and they get confused constantly. Where an account holds its own written standard, that document governs and supersedes these names.

	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.

03 · Load ratings, unit weights and deflection

Four ratings get used interchangeably and mean entirely different things. The one that will hurt you is almost always the racked rating.

Construction	Static	Dynamic	Racked (unsupported)	Unit weight
Recycled GMA 48×40 stringer, sound	4,600 lb	2,800 lb	1,500 lb	33–45 lb
Recycled 48×40 block, sound	5,200 lb	3,000 lb	1,900 lb	40–55 lb
Recycled 48×40 stringer, repaired (B)	4,400 lb	2,650 lb	1,400 lb	35–48 lb
New southern yellow pine, 5 top boards	4,200 lb	2,500 lb	1,400 lb	33–38 lb
New mixed hardwood block, 7 top boards	6,000 lb	3,500 lb	2,400 lb	48–58 lb
Heavy-duty new build, doubled stringers	9,000 lb	5,000 lb	3,800 lb	62–78 lb
Skid (no bottom deck)	3,800 lb	2,200 lb	Not for racking	24–32 lb

Representative planning figures for sound stock, not engineering certifications. Racked ratings assume the load spans two rails with nothing under the middle. Derate a further 20–30% for dwell times beyond a few weeks, because wood creeps under sustained load.

Deflection, orientation and creep

Design ceiling: deflection of span ÷ 100 — about 0.4 inches across a 40-inch unsupported span.
Orientation: rack a stringer pallet across the wrong axis and the deck boards carry the span instead of the stringers. Capacity can halve.
Creep: wood deflects progressively under sustained load. A unit measured inside tolerance on day one can exceed it after six months in a rack.
Stiffness, not strength, is the limit. Mixed hardwood outperforms southern yellow pine in racking by more than their strength figures suggest, because it is substantially stiffer.
Drive-in racking gives a long unsupported span with no support at the leading edge. Derate hard, use block construction, consider full-perimeter bottom boards.

04 · Tolerances that actually get argued about

Overall footprint: ±¼" is normal in recycled stock. ±⅛" is achievable on new builds and worth paying for only if you run automation.
Squareness: Diagonal difference under ½". Beyond that, racking and ASRS reject it, and stretch wrap tightens on two corners and slackens on the other two.
Deck gap: Typically 3½" between boards. Conveyor lines often need a maximum of 3". Specify the number in inches — it is not implied by a grade.
Entry height: Nominal 3½". A repair with thicker boards can lose ¼" and still look fine, then wedge a powered pallet jack.
Board thickness: Nominal ⅝" may measure 0.60–0.66". Specify a minimum if deck flatness matters to your product.
Protruding fasteners: Zero tolerance. Any nail standing above the deck surface condemns the unit at our bench.
Moisture content: 19% is the mould threshold and our standard ceiling. 15% on request for food contact and chilled service.
Bark: Some export destinations require debarked wood. Ask before you load, not after.

05 · Wood species and what each is good for

Pallet lumber is the material the appearance and construction grades rejected, and almost every defect that demoted it is irrelevant to the job a pallet does. Knots in a face, colour variation and mineral streak cost a pallet nothing; slope of grain, shake and moisture content cost it a great deal.

Species	Relative density	Stiffness	Nail holding	Weight	Where we use it
Mixed hardwood (oak, maple, gum, hickory)	High	Highest	Excellent	Heaviest	Racked service, stringers, blocks, bedding feedstock
Red / white oak	High	High	Excellent	Heavy	Heavy-duty stringers, furniture stock
Southern yellow pine	Medium	Medium	Good for a softwood	Light	New builds, floor-stored service, crate framing
Poplar	Low–medium	Low	Moderate	Light	Collar panels, crate sheathing, light decks
Spruce / fir (inbound EU & Canadian units)	Low	Low	Moderate	Lightest	Arrives on imported pallets; harvested for light components
Mixed reclaim (unknown)	Varies	Varies	Varies	Varies	Graded on behaviour, never on a species claim

A single Grade B recycled pallet can contain four species in no reliable proportion, which is why we grade on inspection rather than on a species label. Where stiffness genuinely matters, specify mixed hardwood — it is the cheapest real structural upgrade available.

06 · Fasteners

A pallet is a nailed structure that happens to be made of wood. Its stiffness comes almost entirely from the joints, and roughly forty cents of steel is the difference between five trips and twelve.

Fastener	How it holds	Relative withdrawal	Correct for	Wrong for
Ring (annular) shank	Rings bite into the fibre; withdrawal must tear wood	1.8–2.2	Deck boards, repairs, anywhere a fork strikes	—
Helical (screw) shank	Threads itself into the fibre as it drives	1.7–2.1	Stringers, blocks, hardwood	—
Smooth shank	Friction only; wood shrinks away from it	1.0 (baseline)	Nothing in a pallet	Every pallet joint
Staples	Two thin legs, wide crown, large bearing area	0.5–0.8	Collar panels, crate sheathing, lids	Deck and stringer joints
Galvanised (any shank)	As above, corrosion resistant	As above	Outdoor and wash-down service	—

Doubling withdrawal resistance roughly doubles the number of trips a unit survives, for a fastener cost measured in cents. We use ring-shank and helical only, and every unit that has been apart is fully re-nailed. The MIBANT bend-angle test is the industry's rough proxy for nail ductility: too brittle and it snaps on impact, too soft and the joint loosens.

07 · Moisture, equilibrium and dew point

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.

Where wood ends up, and when it sweats

Air temperature	Relative humidity	Equilibrium moisture content	Dew point — a pallet colder than this will sweat
68 °F	30%	≈6%	≈36 °F
68 °F	40%	≈7.7%	≈43 °F
68 °F	55%	≈10.2%	≈51 °F
68 °F	70%	≈13.1%	≈58 °F
68 °F	85%	≈18.5%	≈64 °F
55 °F	60%	≈11.3%	≈41 °F
75 °F	65%	≈12.4%	≈62 °F

Approximate, for planning. Two separate lessons: wood will eventually equilibrate to whatever air it sits in, and any pallet colder than the dew point of your building's air will condense water on itself and then on your cartons. Acclimatise cold stock indoors for four to twelve hours before loading.

08 · Climate bands

The biggest regional difference in how a pallet behaves is how much water is in the air around it. Five bands, each with a different dominant risk and a different right answer.

Arid / high desert

Checking and splitting, not mould

Dry air pulls moisture out of wood faster than most buyers expect. Pallets stored outside here drop to single-figure moisture content, and dry wood shrinks: deck boards check along the grain, nail holes open up, and fasteners lose some of their bite as the fibre pulls away from the shank. The mould problem that dominates the humid states barely exists; the splitting problem that nobody warns about does.

Outdoor EMC: 5–9% outdoor equilibrium
Window: Monsoon or storm season is the only moisture event worth planning around; the rest of the year is a shrinkage story.

Wet maritime

Mould, blue stain and freight weight

Outdoor equilibrium moisture content sits close to the 19% mould threshold for much of the year and above it through a wet winter. Anything stored uncovered is effectively a mould experiment with a long run time, and wet wood is heavy wood — a trailer of saturated empties can be carrying two to five tons of water at freight rates.

Outdoor EMC: 14–19% outdoor equilibrium, higher in winter
Window: October to April is the exposure window. Summer stock behaves like anywhere else.

Mediterranean / coastal-interior split

Both, depending on which side of the hills you are

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.

Outdoor EMC: 9–13% inland, 13–16% coastal
Window: Wet November to March, dry the rest of the year. The seasonal swing is larger than the regional average suggests.

Humid subtropical

Mould — the dominant regional risk

Warm and wet is the worst combination for wood packaging. Equilibrium moisture content runs in the low-to-mid teens and climbs in summer, and the temperature is high enough that mould moves from a theoretical risk to a visible one in days rather than weeks. Nearly every recurring 'the pallets ruined our cartons' problem in this band is a moisture-content problem that nobody measured.

Outdoor EMC: 12–17% outdoor equilibrium, higher in summer
Window: May to September is the high-risk window, with the worst mould claims arriving in August and September.

Cold continental

Condensation in the shoulder seasons

The problem in this band is not rain; it is temperature difference. A pallet that has been outside overnight and comes into a heated warehouse is colder than the dew point of the indoor air, so it condenses water on itself and then on the bottom of whatever carton is placed on it. Deep winter is relatively safe because cold air is dry, and deep summer is safe because everything is warm. Spring and autumn are when the claims arrive.

Outdoor EMC: 10–15% outdoor equilibrium, large seasonal swing
Window: March to May and September to November are the condensation windows. Watch the first heated week of autumn particularly.

09 · 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.

10 · ISPM-15, in full

Standard: ISPM-15, issued under the International Plant Protection Convention. Applies to solid-wood packaging crossing most national borders.
Heat treatment (HT): The core of the thickest member must reach 56 °C and hold it for 30 continuous minutes. Surface temperature is irrelevant; chamber time is not the measure.
Dielectric (DH): An alternative route: 60 °C for one minute throughout the profile. Used for thinner material.
The mark: IPPC wheat symbol, two-letter country code (US), the facility's registration number, and the treatment code. On at least two opposite sides, legible without moving the load.
No certificate exists: The mark is the certificate — the standard defines no travelling document. We issue a voluntary treatment statement and the chart-recorder trace on request.
Regulated: Pallets, crates, cases, skids, bearers, dunnage, blocking and bracing, collars, lids, reels. The dunnage category causes most holds.
Not regulated: Plywood, OSB and particleboard; wood 6 mm thick or less; sawdust, shavings and wood wool; wine and spirit barrels.
After repair: A stamped unit repaired with untreated wood carries a false mark. It must be re-treated and re-marked. This is the commonest compliance failure in recycled stock.
What we refuse: Methyl bromide fumigation, and applying a mark to wood we did not treat — for anybody, at any price, for any deadline.

11 · The repair vocabulary

Repair	What it is	Bench time	Effect on grade
Board swap	Cracked deck board out, sound reclaimed board of equal thickness in	60–90 sec	A → B
Companion board	A second board nailed alongside a cracked original	45 sec	A → B
Stringer plug	Cracked stringer section cut out, matching plug let in and double-nailed	3–5 min	A → B
Metal plate	Galvanised plate across a stringer crack	45 sec	A → B, disclosed
Full re-nail	Every fastener on the unit driven or replaced	90–120 sec	No change — standard on anything apart
Trim / cut-down	Oversized unit sawn to a smaller footprint, cut edge re-nailed and chamfered	4–8 min	Becomes a custom unit
Re-stamp	ISPM-15 mark re-applied after re-treatment	—	No change
Condemn & harvest	Sound boards to the repair bench, remainder to fiber	2 min	—

We never plate a stringer and call it Grade A, and never hide a companion board under a label. The four checks at the bench, in order: stringers sound? how many deck boards gone? end-grain separation? is the footprint worth the labour?

12 · Accessories

Item	What it does	Material	Typical life	Collapsed
Hinged collar	Four-panel wooden wall; stack two or three for height	New pine or reclaimed deck boards	30–60 cycles	≈1.4"
Plywood lid	Closes the stack, takes a strap, allows stacking above	Reclaimed or new ply	20–40 cycles	Flat
Pallet cap	Rigid top distributing a stacked load across collar walls	Mixed hardwood	40+ cycles	Flat
Top frame	Shallow frame squaring a soft load before strapping	Reclaimed	25+ cycles	Flat
Runners & bearers	Raise a slip-sheeted load for fork entry	Reclaimed hardwood	One-way or reused	—
Corner blocks	Protect strapped corners, add vertical crush strength	Reclaimed block stock	Many	—

A pallet with four collars and a lid is a box that folds flat when empty — around an eighth of the return cube of a crate. Collars are regulated wood packaging under ISPM-15 exactly like the pallet underneath them, which people forget constantly.

13 · Fiber and ground wood

Product	Screen	Feedstock restriction	Goes to	Minimum
Landscape mulch	1"–2" single grind	Pallet wood only; no C&D, no painted, no engineered panel	Municipal and commercial landscaping, residential bulk	10 cu yd delivered
Playground & path fiber	Double grind, fines screened out	HT stock only	Trails, dog parks, riding arenas	10 cu yd
Animal bedding	Fine grind, kiln run, triple screened	HT stock only, segregated at the grinder	Equine and livestock operations	10 cu yd
Arena fiber	Coarse, de-fined	HT stock only	Riding arenas, paddocks	20 cu yd
Boiler biomass	3" minus hog fuel, moisture declared	Takes the chemically treated and unknown-origin stream	Regional industrial steam and co-generation	By the ton

Three magnetic separation passes — one after each size change — plus a hand inspection of the finished windrow before anything is loaded. Grinding does not remove steel; it exposes new steel, which is why the magnets come after every stage rather than only at the start. Iron-oxide colourant available on landscape mulch; natural undyed always available and recommended for vegetable beds.

14 · Where every pound goes

Stream	Destination	Share of intake mass	Verified by
Reusable whole	Grading and resale	71%	Unit counts + weighbridge
Repairable	Repair benches	20%	Bench lot records
Board harvest	Repair stock for other units	3%	Internal transfer tickets
Remanufacture	Cut-downs, crate components, collar panels, furniture	2%	Shop records
Material grind	Mulch, bedding, path and arena fiber	3%	Grind batch weights
Industrial fuel	Regional boiler — never called recycling	1%	Outbound scale tickets
Metal	Scrap recycler by weight	<1%	Scrap receipts
Landfill	—	0.0%	Quarterly third-party audit since 2016

2025 averages by mass. Landfill has no row because it has no tonnage. Part of how that stays true is refusing material we cannot route: painted, stained or pressure-treated lumber, engineered panel, and anything contaminated with food residue, chemicals or hydrocarbons.

15 · The carbon ledger method

Quantity	Figure	What it covers	Why it is conservative
Avoided emissions per reuse	1.62 kg CO₂e	Lumber production, milling and assembly of the new-build pallet not manufactured	Excludes avoided landfill methane and avoided transport of new stock
Net of our own operations	≈1.4 kg CO₂e	After grinder, chambers, forklifts and fleet diesel	This is the figure we will put in writing
Lumber kept in service	32 board feet	A standard GMA 48×40 unit	Measured at the low end of observed board thickness
Trips added per repair cycle	5–7	Useful journeys gained by repairing rather than replacing	Our fleet data shows 6.8 average; we publish 5
Diverted mass	35 lb per unit per cycle	Weight kept out of landfill	Dry weight at 15% MC, not as-received
Material recovery at end of life	96%	Material streams only	Excludes the 1% that becomes industrial fuel

Deliberately low. We leave out avoided landfill methane (which would roughly double the headline) and in-wood carbon storage, because both are contested in accounting conventions and a claim that cannot survive an auditor is worse than no claim.

16 · 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.

17 · What happens between the gate and the trailer

01
Gate & segregation
Weighbridge ticket, then sorting by treatment type and origin before anything is cut. Painted, treated or unknown-origin wood is separated here and never enters the mulch or bedding lines. Contaminated material is refused.
02
Breakdown & inspection
Units are broken down and inspected board by board. Deck boards are flexed by hand; anything that creaks, splits at a nail hole or shows end-grain separation comes off.
03
Stringer judgement
Cracks longer than a third of the stringer depth, or any crack crossing a notch, send the member to the plug bench or condemn it. This single check decides most of the economics.
04
Repair & re-nail
Board swap, companion board, plug, plate, trim. Then every fastener on the unit is driven or replaced — the invisible half of the work, and the part cheap yards skip.
05
Moisture & square
Pin meter on random units per lot, reading recorded. Diagonals measured; out-of-square beyond ½" is corrected, not shipped. Above 19% MC the load waits in the dry stack or goes through the kiln.
06
Grade, stamp & lot
Grade, build date and lot in soy ink on a stringer face, so a disputed load traces back to the bench and shift that built it. Heat treatment and IPPC marking for anything crossing a border.

18 · 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.

19 · Price structure and seasonality

Cost component	Share of a recycled unit	What moves it
Labour	35–45%	Local wages. The largest and stickiest cost.
Core acquisition	20–30%	What we pay warehouses for their empties. The main driver of market swings.
Freight	15–25%	Diesel, driver availability, truckload capacity. Pallets are mostly air.
Repair materials	5–10%	Fasteners; harvested boards cost labour rather than lumber.
Yard, plant and compliance	5–10%	Rent, grinder, chambers, audits, insurance.
New lumber	0% on a recycled unit	Sets the price of a new pallet, which sets a ceiling on recycled by substitution.

This is why a falling lumber futures chart does not translate into a proportional fall in recycled prices: there is no new lumber in the cost structure. Lumber spikes pull recycled prices up quickly on demand; lumber crashes push them down slowly, because the cost floor is labour and nobody's wages fell.

And when in the year you are asking

Period	Core supply	Demand	Price pressure
January – February	Plentiful — post-holiday backlog clears	Soft	Lowest
March – May	Normal	Rising — spring construction and beverage	Firming
June – August	Tightening — summer slowdowns, heat limits bench output	High — beverage peak	Firm
September – November	Tight — everything is shipping, nothing is sitting still	Peak — pre-holiday build	Highest
December	Erratic	Falling fast after mid-month	Falling

Central Texas pattern. Agricultural regions invert parts of it — harvest demand can make September the tightest month for an entirely different reason. A standing order with annual pricing gives up the January bargain and avoids the September shock, which is a trade most operations should make.

20 · Conversions

Inches	mm	Millimetres	Inches	Other
20"	508	600 mm	23.62"	1 board foot = 144 in³
24"	610	800 mm	31.50"	1 cu yd = 27 cu ft
30"	762	1,000 mm	39.37"	1 short ton = 2,000 lb
32"	813	1,100 mm	43.30"	1 kg = 2.205 lb
36"	914	1,140 mm	44.88"	1" = 25.4 mm exactly
40"	1,016	1,200 mm	47.24"	56 °C = 132.8 °F
42"	1,067	1,219 mm	48.00"	19% MC = mould threshold
44"	1,118	1,016 mm	40.00"	32 bf ≈ one GMA unit
45"	1,143	914 mm	36.00"	L/100 = deflection ceiling
48"	1,219	762 mm	30.00"	≈500 units per 53' van

21 · Standards and documents

What governs wood packaging, who issues it, and — stated as deliberately — which of it does not bind us. A supplier vague about that is the main avoidable risk in this trade.

Document	Issued by	What it governs	Does it bind us?
ISPM-15	IPPC / FAO	Phytosanitary treatment and marking of solid wood packaging crossing borders	Yes — we are a registered treating facility
ISO 6780	ISO	The six recognised pallet footprints for international trade	Reference; we stock four of the six
ISO 8611-1/2/3	ISO	Test methods, performance requirements and maximum working loads for flat pallets	Methods we quote; we do not issue certifications for recycled stock
ISO 18613	ISO	Repair of flat wooden pallets	Our bench practice aligns with it
ASTM D1185	ASTM	Standard test methods for pallets and related structures	Reference for new-build testing
ASTM D6179	ASTM	Rough handling of unitised loads — incline impact, drop, vibration	Reference for unit-load advice
MIL-STD-1660	US DoD	Design criteria for ammunition unit loads	Only on defence-adjacent work, by request
GMA specification	Grocery Manufacturers Association (historic)	The 48×40 footprint, board count and notch geometry	The de facto North American default
NWPCA uniform standard	National Wooden Pallet & Container Association	Recycled pallet grading vocabulary	Yes, unless a customer standard supersedes it
EPAL technical regulations	European Pallet Association	Licensed manufacture and repair of EUR/EPAL pallets	No — we hold no EPAL licence and say so
NHLA rules	National Hardwood Lumber Association	Hardwood lumber grading	Upstream of us; pallet stock sits below the appearance grades
ANSI MH1	ANSI / MHI	Pallets, slip sheets and other material handling definitions	Terminology reference

We list what does not bind us as deliberately as what does. A supplier vague about which standards it actually holds is the main avoidable risk in this trade.

22 · Test methods and what each tells you

Test	What it simulates	What it tells you	Where it matters
Compression, edge-supported	Racking across two rails	Racked working load and deflection	The binding constraint in most warehouses
Compression, floor-supported	A load sitting on a flat floor	Static capacity — the biggest and least useful figure	Floor storage only
Bending, fork-supported	Lifting on forks	Dynamic capacity	Every movement
Incline impact (conbur)	Railcar coupling and hard braking	Whether the unit load stays together	Rail and long-haul road freight
Vibration, random and fixed-frequency	Hours of road or rail travel	Fastener loosening and load settlement	Long lanes; this is what kills smooth-shank nails
Drop and corner drop	Dock mishandling	Lead board and corner survivability	High-touch distribution
Fastener withdrawal	Joint failure under cycling	Service life more than anything else does	Every pallet, every time
Creep / sustained load	Months in a rack	Long-term deflection; derate 20–30%	Slow-moving stock, bagged goods
Moisture determination	Storage reality	Mould risk and freight weight	All food, chilled and humid-climate work

We publish tested figures for new builds and representative figures for recycled stock. Every unit of reclaim has an individual history, so an engineering certification on recycled wood would imply a precision nobody can hold.

23 · Defects, severity and what the bench does

Sixteen defects in the order a grader meets them, with what each one means and what happens to the unit. This is the document behind our grading, not a summary of it.

Defect	Where it shows	Severity	What our bench does
Lead board split lengthwise	Outermost top board, either end	Low	Board swap. Commonest repair in the trade; usually means a steep dock leveller
Interior deck board crack	Any top or bottom board	Low	Board swap, or companion board where removal would damage the stringer
End-grain separation	Board end, at the nail line	Terminal for that board	Board removed and harvested short, or ground. It predicts the next failure
Stringer crack, not crossing a notch	Outer or centre stringer	Medium	Plug if over a third of the depth; otherwise re-nail and pass
Stringer crack crossing a notch	At a notch corner	High	Plug or condemn. The load path through that stringer is gone
Protruding fastener	Anywhere on the deck	Zero tolerance	Driven or replaced before the unit leaves, no exceptions
Loose joint / creak	Whole unit	Medium	Full re-nail. A creaking pallet has already failed at the joints
Missing chamfer	Bottom board lead edge	Medium	Re-chamfer. Without it every pallet jack fights the unit
Out of square beyond ½"	Diagonals	Medium–high	Corrected or condemned. Racking, ASRS and stretch wrap all reject it
Moisture above 19%	Whole unit	High	Dry stack or kiln before repair. Mould is then a question of time
Blue stain / sapstain	Sapwood faces	Cosmetic, plus odour	Rejected for food and absorbent product; fine elsewhere
Bark / wane	Board edges	Low, unless export	Removed where a destination requires debarked wood
Mould, visible	Any surface	Reject	Never shipped to a food account; dried and re-graded or ground
Paint, stain, coating	Any surface	Reject	Segregated at the gate; industrial fuel stream only
Oil or chemical contamination	Any surface	Refused	Refused at the gate and the customer is told why
Embedded metal beyond fasteners	Anywhere	High	Removed by hand before any grind; it destroys knives

24 · Twenty-point incoming inspection

What to do on your own dock when a load arrives. It takes about twelve minutes on a sample of ten units, and four weeks of logs turns a supplier conversation into one with evidence in it.

Count the load. Against the BOL, before the driver leaves. A count agreed later is not a count.
Sample from the back of the trailer, not the front. That is where the weather got in and where the worst units ride.
Pin-meter five units. Record the readings. Above 19% raises a hold; above 24% refuses the load.
Smell it. A musty or fuel odour disqualifies the load for food and absorbent product regardless of appearance.
Run a thumb across five decks. Any proud fastener is an immediate reject of that unit.
Flex a corner on five units. A creak means loose joints and a shorter life than you paid for.
Check both outer stringers at all four notches on ten units. A crack crossing a notch is the one that matters.
Measure the diagonals on five units. More than ½" of difference will fight your racking and your wrapper.
Measure entry height on five units if you run powered jacks. A repair with thick boards eats clearance quietly.
Measure deck gaps against your carton's short dimension. This is the number that drops product through rollers.
Look for metal plates if you run scanners or metal detection. They should be disclosed; check anyway.
Confirm the grade stamp — grade, build date and lot. No stamp, no traceability, no argument you can win later.
Check the ISPM-15 mark if anything exports: wheat symbol, country code, facility number, HT, two opposite sides.
Look for fresh repair under an old mark. Bright board faces and clean saw ends next to a weathered stamp is a false mark.
Check the chamfers on the bottom lead boards. Missing chamfers slow every jack movement for the unit's whole life.
Count species if stiffness matters. A mixed-hardwood specification is not met by a load of pine.
Check for bark if your destination prohibits it.
Photograph anything you will raise. One photograph resolves what three emails cannot.
Log the result against the lot number, pass or fail. Four weeks of logs is a supplier conversation with evidence.
Raise failures within five business days. After that, assessment is case by case, and rightly so.

25 · Fastener specifications

Fastener	Typical length	Wire gauge	MIBANT bend angle	Used in
Helical, hardened	2¼"–2½"	0.099–0.120"	10–20°	Stringers and blocks, hardwood
Helical, standard	2"–2¼"	0.099–0.113"	20–30°	Stringers in softwood
Ring shank, hardened	1¾"–2¼"	0.099–0.113"	15–25°	Deck boards, repairs
Ring shank, standard	1½"–2"	0.092–0.105"	25–35°	Deck boards, lighter stock
Ring shank, galvanised	1¾"–2¼"	0.099–0.113"	20–30°	Outdoor and wash-down service
Staple, crown	1¼"–1¾"	16–15 gauge	n/a	Collar panels, crate sheathing, lids
Smooth shank	any	any	any	Nothing we build

A lower MIBANT angle means harder, more brittle steel — better withdrawal, more prone to shearing on impact. A higher angle means softer steel that bends rather than snapping, and joints that loosen. Pallet builders pick a window; cheap builders pick a price. 60 to 78 fasteners go into a standard GMA unit.

26 · Unit load design, in ten steps

The pallet, the product and the packaging are one structure. Design them separately and you will overbuild one and break another.

Start from the carton, never the pallet. Its footprint decides the pattern; the pattern decides the footprint.
Fit the pattern flush or very slightly underhung. Underhang costs a little cube; overhang costs product, up to a fifth of stack strength per inch.
Compare the carton's short dimension to the deck gap. This single comparison explains most bottom-layer crushing.
Choose a stacking geometry. Columnar is far stronger (60–70% of strength is in the corner columns); interlocked is more stable against shear. Pick for your actual risk.
Derate the carton. The box compression figure is a new box in a conditioned room. Apply time, humidity and handling: four to six times lower is normal.
Specify the pallet dimensionally, not by grade: deck gap, entry height, squareness, board thickness, moisture ceiling.
Set the wrap by containment force, measured at three heights. High at the base and engaging the pallet; light at the top so corners stay loaded.
Lock the film to the pallet. Two to three base revolutions over the deck edge, roped on heavy loads, finishing downward.
Add corner boards or a top cap if the load is strapped or stacked on.
Then test the real thing. Build it as shipped, store it as stored, for as long as it is stored, in the actual humidity — then open the bottom layer.

27 · Trailer loading patterns

Pattern	How it loads	Positions in a 53' van	Trade-off
Straight / square	Pallets squared to the trailer walls, two across	26	Simplest, fastest, most stable. The default
Turned (rotated 90°)	Pallets turned so the 48" face runs across	24–26	Fits some footprints better; check racking orientation at the far end
Pinwheel	Alternating orientation in each row	24–26	Fills awkward widths; slower to load and harder to brace
Chimney / centre gap	Deliberate void down the middle	22–24	Air movement for produce; loses positions
Double stack	Two tiers where product and height allow	up to 52	Doubles capacity; needs a cap or a strong top layer
Floor loaded (no pallets)	Cases hand-stacked	n/a	Maximum cube, maximum labour, and the reason pallets were invented

Positions assume 48×40 units. Bracing matters more than pattern: void fillers and marked, treated bracing timber prevent the shifting that incline-impact testing is designed to simulate.

28 · Dunnage and bracing

Void fill: Airbags, honeycomb panels or marked bracing timber. Any solid wood used is regulated under ISPM-15 exactly like the pallet.
Bracing timber: Keep a bundle of pre-treated, IPPC-marked 2×4 at the dock and make it the only wood permitted into a container. This single rule removes the commonest border hold there is.
Load bars and straps: Not regulated, and not a substitute for bracing on a shifting load.
Corner boards: Reclaimed block stock protects strapped corners and adds vertical crush strength. Cheap, and routinely omitted.
Slip sheets: Not solid wood, so outside ISPM-15 entirely — a real advantage on export lanes, offset by needing a push-pull attachment at both ends.
Top caps: Rigid hardwood caps distribute a stacked load across collar walls rather than into the product below.
Loading checklist line: “All solid wood in this container is ISPM-15 marked”, signed by the loader. One line, and it changes behaviour.

29 · Export destination notes

Destination region	ISPM-15	Notable additional measures	Practical advice
European Union / UK	Required	Debarked wood required; strict on dunnage	Debark, treat, mark two sides, and audit your bracing
China	Required	Documentation scrutiny; MB increasingly unwelcome	Heat treatment only; keep the chart trace in the file
Australia / New Zealand	Required	Among the strictest inspection regimes anywhere	Expect inspection; immaculate marks and no bark
Canada / Mexico	Required between NAFTA-region states for most wood	Land crossings inspect quickly and unsentimentally	Treat and mark everything, including the skid under an awkward item
Brazil / Mercosur	Required	Marking legibility enforced	Two opposite sides, nothing obscured by labels
Japan / South Korea	Required	Fumigation records examined closely	Heat treatment removes the question
Middle East / Gulf	Required	Variable national measures	Check per country before loading, not after
India	Required	Additional declarations in some states	Confirm with your forwarder in advance
Within the United States	Not required	—	Treatment only matters for onward export

Indicative only, and national measures change. Confirm the destination's current requirements with your forwarder before loading — we will review the packaging side of your documentation at no charge if you send it to us.

30 · Cost per trip, worked

The only number worth negotiating on. Unit price is what people argue about; cost per trip is what they actually pay.

Line	One-way recycled	Repaired recycled, 6 trips	New build, 10 trips	Pooled rental
Unit cost delivered	$11.50	$13.00	$26.00	$0 capital
Useful trips	1	6	10	per trip
Cost of the asset per trip	$11.50	$2.17	$2.60	$5.50 issue fee
Freight per trip	$1.80	$1.80	$1.80	included
Repair share per trip	—	$0.55	$0.42	included
Handling labour per trip	$0.90	$0.90	$0.90	$0.90
Loss / non-return per trip	n/a	$0.30	$0.75	$2.10–6.00
Disposal	$0.40	credit	credit	n/a
Cost per trip	$14.60	$5.72	$6.47	$8.50–12.40

A worked illustration using mid-2020s Central Texas figures, not a quotation. The decisive line is loss: pooling and new builds are both excellent until units stop coming back, and the pooled range above reflects return rates between 90% and 55%. Model your own return rate before you model anything else.

Building your own model

Delivered unit cost. Not the quoted unit price — add the freight to your dock.
Useful trips per unit. Ask your supplier, then halve it until you have your own data.
Return rate. Of units leaving your building, how many come back into your control? Operations assume 80% and discover 45%.
Repair cost and repair rate. What share needs work per cycle, and at what price.
Handling labour. Count touches, multiply by minutes, multiply by fully loaded labour cost.
Disposal or credit. A yard that pays for broken units turns this line from a cost into revenue.
Failure cost. Rare, expensive, and the reason cheapest-per-unit is not cheapest-per-trip.
Then divide. Total cost ÷ useful trips. That is the only number worth negotiating on.

31 · Sector matrix

Sector	Usual footprint	Usual grade	The spec that matters most	Failure that costs most
Grocery & retail distribution	48×40	A / #1	Deck gap and appearance	Rejection at a retail DC door
Food manufacturing	48×40	A / #1	Moisture ≤15%	Mould transfer to packaging
Beverage	48×40, 40×48	A / B	Racked rating, deck strength	Rack deflection under dense load
Construction & building supply	48×40, 48×48	B / #2	Racked rating, outdoor creep	Rack incident under bagged goods
Agriculture & produce	48×40, bins	B, HT only	Ventilation, treatment segregation	Chemically treated wood near feed
Chemicals & paint	42×42, 48×48	A / B	Square footprint, drum stability	Drum shift in transit
Automotive	48×45, custom	A / new	Tolerance, returnable design	Line stoppage
Pharmaceutical	48×40, new	New / plastic	Documented custody, cleanability	Audit failure
3PL & warehousing	Mixed	Per client	Asset tracking, written standards	Unbilled pallet leakage
Manufacturing & electronics	Custom, 48×40	A / #1 / new	Squareness, entry height	ASRS rejection, jammed jack
Export & freight forwarding	Destination's	B + HT	ISPM-15 truth	Container held on a quay
Hospitality & events	48×40, half	B / #2	Collection frequency	Service corridor blocked

32 · Fiber weights and coverage

Product	Bulk density	Coverage per cubic yard	Typical depth	Moisture at dispatch
Landscape mulch, single grind	400–550 lb/yd³	100 sq ft at 3"	2–4"	18–28%, declared
Landscape mulch, dyed	420–570 lb/yd³	100 sq ft at 3"	2–4"	20–30%, declared
Playground & path fiber	450–600 lb/yd³	65 sq ft at 5"	4–6"	16–24%
Animal bedding, fine	280–380 lb/yd³	varies by stall	3–6"	Below 15%, kiln run
Arena fiber	400–520 lb/yd³	55 sq ft at 6"	4–8"	16–24%
Boiler biomass, 3" minus	500–700 lb/yd³	sold by the ton	n/a	Declared per load

Bulk density varies with moisture, which is why we declare moisture on every load — it changes the volume you need and the freight you pay. One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet; a tandem dump trailer carries 12–16 yards depending on product.

33 · Decision trees

Four decisions, walked in order. Each one starts with the question that actually determines the answer rather than the one people usually ask first.

Recycled, new, or cut down?

Does a standard footprint fit your carton pattern with no overhang? If yes → recycled.
If no: does an oversized footprint exist in reclaim that can be sawn to your size? If yes → cut down, at roughly a third of a new build.
Does anything automated read the pallet's geometry, or do you need ±⅛"? If yes → new build.
Is the racked load above about 2,500 lb? If yes → new build, mixed hardwood, block construction.
Is a documented chain of custody for the wood itself part of an audit? If yes → new build.
Otherwise → recycled, at the lowest grade that survives the journey.

Buy, own a fleet, or rent from a pool?

Measure your return rate first. Everything below depends on it and nothing else matters as much.
Below 50% return → your pallet is packaging. Buy recycled one-way and price it as consumable.
50–85% return → the messy middle. Buy recycled on a managed programme, with collection on the same movements.
Above 85% return, with controlled geography → own a fleet and use toll repair to keep your asset numbers.
Mandated by a retailer's pool, or shipping to hundreds of points needing identical quality → pool rental, and budget for loss charges.
Wash-down hygiene is a process requirement → plastic, and we will point you to somebody who sells it.

Stringer or block?

Does it go into racking where you cannot guarantee orientation? Block.
Do powered jacks enter from the 48" side? Block.
Automated storage and retrieval? Block, or new.
Heavy load sitting for months? Block, mixed hardwood.
European or ISO-metric footprint? Block by specification, not preference.
Otherwise → stringer: lighter, cheaper, deeper in recycled stock and easier to repair.

Repair or replace?

Crack crossing a notch, or more than a third of a stringer's depth? Plug, or condemn.
Three or more stringer repairs already present? Condemn — that is a pallet held together by optimism.
Four or more deck boards gone on a low-value footprint? Harvest the boards.
Above 24% moisture? Dry stack first, then decide.
Contaminated with oil, chemicals or paint? Out of every reuse stream, permanently.
Otherwise → repair and re-nail fully, at roughly a third of replacement cost.

Why none of this is gated

A specification you can check is worth more to us than a lead we captured.

Most pallet money is lost to the wrong grade, an ignored racked rating, an unmeasured moisture content or a false ISPM-15 mark. None of that depends on who hauls the wood, and none of it should sit behind an email form.

103-term glossary 63 questions answered Size guide

Using this page

Four ways people actually use it

Writing a purchase specification

Start at section 18, then pull the specific numbers from sections 01, 03, 04 and 07. Those five together are a complete, defensible pallet specification, and we will sign it as a per-account grading standard.

Diagnosing a damage problem

Section 03 for the load case, section 04 for deck gap and entry height, section 07 for moisture and condensation. If the damage is in the bottom layer of a load, it is usually overhang plus a wide deck gap, or humidity plus a long dwell time — rarely one cause alone.

Preparing an export shipment

Section 10 end to end, then section 11 to understand what a repair does to a mark, then section 09 for container fit. The commonest hold is untreated dunnage, not the pallet.

Building a sustainability report

Sections 14 and 15. Both are deliberately conservative, both exclude avoided landfill methane and in-wood carbon storage, and we will provide them on letterhead with every assumption attached.

We would rather you argued with our numbers than took our word for them.