Plastic pallets, by the industry on the dock
Industries plate
Twelve docks
- Food and beverage
- Meat, dairy, fruit and vegetable, beverage, grocery
- Cold
- Refrigerated warehousing
- Pharma and chemical
- Pharmaceutical, chemical
- Industrial
- Plastics, warehousing, automotive
Every dock is a different buyer. A dairy cares about washing. A car plant cares about a closed loop and a 48 x 45 footprint. A cold store cares about what freezing does to a resin. Pick your industry to see what it checks and where its jobs are.
Employment counts on each page come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW 2025 files. They show where the industry is, not how many pallets it buys.
What changes by industry
| Dock | What it checks first |
|---|---|
| Hygienic food and pharma | Resin and colourant documents, cleanable surfaces |
| Automotive | Closed loop, 48 x 45 footprint, uniform lots |
| Cold storage | What freezing does to the resin |
| Beverage | 56 x 44 footprint and stack load |
| Chemical | 45 x 45 or 48 x 48 and drum load |
| Warehouse and 3PL | Racking load and 4-way entry |
The same pallet can be right for one dock and wrong for another. The page for your industry says which rating to read first.
Reading an industry page
Each industry page begins with the national employment figure, then the handling rules that govern the pallet, then the sizes and types that suit it. The employment numbers describe where the industry is, and the handling rules describe what the dock checks before it accepts a pallet.
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
| Industry | NAICS | US jobs, 2025 | Establishments | Jobs per site | Leading state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food manufacturing | 311 | 1,775,008 | 42,763 | 42 | California, 166,660 |
| Motor vehicle manufacturing | 3361 | 288,633 | 934 | 309 | Michigan, 44,870 |
| Motor vehicle parts manufacturing | 3363 | 521,212 | 6,414 | 81 | Michigan, 111,465 |
| Meat and Poultry Processing | 3116 | 556,647 | 4,689 | 119 | Texas, 44,780 |
| Dairy Products | 3115 | 168,222 | 2,809 | 60 | Wisconsin, 28,840 |
| Fruit and Vegetable Processing | 3114 | 173,844 | 2,936 | 59 | California, 27,518 |
| Beverage Bottling | 3121 | 316,938 | 16,316 | 19 | California, 63,604 |
| Grocery Wholesale | 4244 | 829,364 | 49,933 | 17 | California, 109,827 |
| Refrigerated Warehousing | 49312 | 73,136 | 1,811 | 40 | California, 9,969 |
| Pharmaceutical Manufacturing | 3254 | 350,886 | 7,786 | 45 | California, 42,575 |
| Chemical Manufacturing | 325 | 892,426 | 25,801 | 35 | Texas, 90,310 |
| Plastics Product Manufacturing | 3261 | 575,006 | 12,344 | 47 | Ohio, 42,286 |
| Warehousing and 3PL | 493 | 1,901,976 | 23,345 | 81 | California, 236,923 |
- Hygienic food and pharmaHygienic plastic pallets for food and pharma docks: what FDA does and does not approve, the resin and colourant papers to ask for, and how to request a load.
- AutomotiveAutomotive plastic pallets in 48 x 45 and heavy duty: the closed loop, the ratings to read, and the states where motor vehicle jobs concentrate, for a spec request.
- Meat and Poultry ProcessingPlastic pallets for meat and poultry processing: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 556,647 jobs across 4,689 sites, with leading states.
- Dairy ProductsPlastic pallets for dairy product manufacturing: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 168,222 jobs across 2,809 sites, with leading states.
- Fruit and Vegetable ProcessingPlastic pallets for fruit and vegetable preserving: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 173,844 jobs across 2,936 sites, with leading states.
- Beverage BottlingPlastic pallets for beverage manufacturing: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 316,938 jobs across 16,316 sites, with leading states.
- Grocery WholesalePlastic pallets for grocery and related product wholesale: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 829,364 jobs across 49,933 sites, with leading states.
- Refrigerated WarehousingPlastic pallets for refrigerated warehousing: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 73,136 jobs across 1,811 sites, with leading states.
- Pharmaceutical ManufacturingPlastic pallets for pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 350,886 jobs across 7,786 sites, with leading states.
- Chemical ManufacturingPlastic pallets for chemical manufacturing: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 892,426 jobs across 25,801 sites, with leading states.
- Plastics Product ManufacturingPlastic pallets for plastics product manufacturing: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 575,006 jobs across 12,344 sites, with leading states.
- Warehousing and 3PLPlastic pallets for warehousing and storage: what the dock checks first, the footprints to start from and 1,901,976 jobs across 23,345 sites, with leading states.
Terms on this page
- Racking load
- Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.
- 4-way entry
- Forks or a jack can enter from all four sides.
- Closed loop
- Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.
- 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.
- One-way pallet
- A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.
- Captive pallet
- A pallet owned and kept inside one company or loop.
- Edge rack
- Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.
- Recycled-content pallet
- A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
Last reviewed 2026-11-12.