Plastic pallet buying guides
Guides plate
Eight questions
- Choosing
- Supplier or manufacturer; wood to plastic
- Reading specs
- Static, dynamic and racking load; fire ratings
- Standards
- ISPM 15; food safe pallets
- Counts and options
- Pallets per truck; RFID, colours, marks
Each guide answers one question a buyer asks before a first truck. The answer comes first, then the detail, then the source. Where a figure is one maker's example it says so.
Read them in any order. If you only have time for one, read the ratings guide: racking load is the number that surprises people.
Where to start
- Moving a dock off wood: switching from wood to plastic.
- Reading a model sheet: static, dynamic and racking load.
- Shipping abroad: plastic pallets and ISPM 15.
- Food or pharma dock: food safe plastic pallets.
- Insurer asking for a listing: fire ratings.
- Planning freight: how many fit on a truck.
Check this oneGuides are general. A model sheet from the maker is the document that governs the pallet you buy.
A reading order
- Supplier or manufacturer, to know what you are asking and of whom.
- Static, dynamic and racking load, to read any model sheet.
- How many fit on a truck, to turn a model into trailers.
- Wood to plastic, if you are moving a dock.
- Then whichever of food, fire, ISPM 15 and options applies to you.
Where to start
Buyers who are new to plastic usually begin with the load-rating guide, then the guide on how many pallets fit a truck, then the one that matches their dock: food-safe, fire-rated, export or radio-tagged. A buyer who already has a specification can go straight to the matching guide and use it as a checklist.
How the guides are kept honest
Each guide cites the maker, standard or agency that published the fact it relies on, and says plainly when a figure is missing from our sources. A guide that cannot support a claim leaves it out, so a gap in a guide is an answer: ask the form and the reply will say whether the maker publishes the number.
From request to trailer
- Send the ship-to. A delivery ZIP, a footprint and a quantity, in pallets or in trailers. If you do not know a rating, describe the load.
- We match a model. We pick a maker and model whose published static, dynamic and racking load fit the load, and say so when only one maker fits.
- You get a count. The quote carries the maker's own per-trailer figure where one is published, and says plainly where none is.
- Papers and delivery. For food or pharma we attach the resin and colourant documents. A standing supply repeats the same line on every order.
What a complete request carries
- The footprint, in inches or millimetres, and whether it is fixed by a rack bay or a container.
- How many pallets, or how many 53 ft trailers.
- The ratings the load needs: static for the stack, dynamic for the move, racking only if the pallet sits on beams.
- Food, pharma, chemical, automotive, warehouse or export use, which sets the papers.
- One load now, or a standing supply with the same line on every order.
- Where it goes and when, and anything marked on the pallet: colour, logo, RFID tag.
In this section
| Guide | The first thing it tells you |
|---|---|
| Supplier or manufacturer | Use a manufacturer when you have settled on one model from one maker and only need to place the order. |
| Wood to plastic switch | Switch when the pallet comes back. |
| Static, dynamic and racking load | Static load is what the bottom pallet carries at rest in a stack. |
| ISPM 15 and plastic | Plastic pallets are exempt from ISPM 15. |
| Food safe plastic pallets | FDA does not approve pallet models. |
| Fire ratings | A listed and labelled plastic pallet, under FM 4996 or UL 2335, may be treated as a wood pallet in sprinkler design under the International Fire Code. |
| How many fit on a truck | It depends on the pallet. |
| RFID and custom options | RFID plastic pallets are pallets a maker has made compatible with RFID tags. |
- Supplier or manufacturerWhich do you need, a plastic pallet supplier or a manufacturer? Five questions that settle it, and what each route asks of you before the first truck.
- Wood to plastic switchMoving a dock from wood to plastic: weight, trip life, cost ratio, racking, fire listings and the trailer maths, with the checks to make before you order.
- Static, dynamic and racking loadStatic, dynamic and racking load in plain words: what each rating means, which is usually lowest, and how to read a pallet sheet against your handling.
- ISPM 15 and plasticISPM 15 treats wood packaging for export; plastic pallets are exempt. What the rule says, the heat-treatment numbers, and the checks that remain for export.
- Food safe plastic palletsFDA does not approve pallet models. What resin and colourant papers to ask for, when virgin resin matters, and what the sanitary transport rule covers.
- Fire ratingsFM 4996 and UL 2335 explained for pallet buyers: the test limits, what a listing changes in sprinkler design and why unlisted plastic can raise the hazard class.
- How many fit on a truckHow many plastic pallets fit on a 53 ft truck: 30 stacks for 48 x 40, then the published counts from 540 to 2,340 and the nest increment that explains them.
- RFID and custom optionsRFID plastic pallets, colours, hot-stamped marks and recycled content: what makers publish, what each option changes and what to ask before it enters a spec.
Terms on this page
- Racking load
- Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.
- ISPM 15
- The international standard for treating wood packaging against pests. Plastic pallets are outside it.
- PP
- Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
- Open deck
- Top deck with gaps between slats or ribs; lighter and drains.
- Closed deck
- Solid top deck with no gaps; keeps small items from falling through.
- Picture frame
- A raised rim around the deck edge that keeps cartons from sliding off.
- Runners
- Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
- Lip
- Raised edge on the deck, or an optional soft lip, that keeps the load in place.
- Anti-slip
- Textured deck or rubber grommets that reduce load slip.
- Multi-trip pallet
- A pallet designed to be returned and reused many times.
Last reviewed 2026-11-12.