Plastic pallets for beverage manufacturing, bought by the load
Beverage Bottling
- NAICS
- 3121
- US jobs, 2025
- 316,938
- Establishments
- 16,316
- Leading state
- California, 63,604
- Dock pattern
- tall stacks and the 56 x 44
Beverage lines stack heavy, tall loads, so the static load of the bottom pallet is the rating to read first. The 56 x 44 is the beverage pallet, and PHS lists examples with a 30,000 lb static rating.
The industry employs 316,938 people across 16,316 establishments. California leads with 63,604 jobs, followed by Texas (24,154), New York (13,802), Pennsylvania (13,207) and Florida (12,661).
What the receiving dock sees: stacks in the dock door and a counterbalance lift truck carrying a stack on its forks. Schematic, not to scale.
What a beverage manufacturing dock checks first
- Static load, because the bottom pallet carries the column.
- Footprint match to the filling line and the trailer plan.
- Dynamic load for conveyors and lift trucks.
- Resin and colourant documents.
- Whether the line expects a closed loop with returns.
The pattern for this dock is tall stacks and the 56 x 44. Ask for the model sheet with the three ratings and the resin and colourant papers. A beverage dock that is also a food dock should ask for the hygienic documents.
Footprints and the rating to read first
| Footprint | Why it comes up | Read first |
|---|---|---|
| 56 x 44 | The beverage pallet | Static |
| 48 x 40 | Mixed distribution | Static, then dynamic |
A line that runs every day wants a standing supply. There is no published per-trailer count for a 56 x 44 in our figures, so we size it from the maker's stack height and do not guess.
Where the jobs are
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 316,938 average private jobs in beverage manufacturing (NAICS 3121) across 16,316 establishments in 2025. That is 19 jobs per establishment on average, a computed figure (jobs divided by establishments) that shows whether the industry is made of large plants or many small sites.
| State | Jobs, 2025 | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| California | 63,604 | 20.1% |
| Texas | 24,154 | 7.6% |
| New York | 13,802 | 4.4% |
| Pennsylvania | 13,207 | 4.2% |
| Florida | 12,661 | 4.0% |
California alone holds 20.1% of the national total, and the five leading states together hold 40.2%. Shares are computed from the BLS figures shown. They show where the freight and the docks are, not how many pallets the industry buys.
Stack height decides the rating
A filling line stacks until the warehouse roof or the trailer stops it. Work out the number of layers and the weight of one layer, multiply, and ask for a static rating above the result with a margin for the load not being perfectly even. PHS STK 285 is listed at 30,000 lb static, with 2,500 lb dynamic for the move.
Beverage manufacturing employs 316,938 people at 16,316 establishments, about 19 per establishment: many smaller plants and depots, not a few giants. Those depots reorder from a standing spec.
Dock checks for a bottling line
- Bottles and cans are often stacked in layers separated by slip sheets, so the deck must stay flat under the layer.
- Wet lines make an anti-slip deck worth asking for.
- Ask whether the line runs a conveyor, since a closed deck rides on rollers more smoothly than an open one.
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.
Terms on this page
- Static load
- Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.
- Dynamic load
- Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.
- Closed loop
- Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.
- PP
- Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
- Closed deck
- Solid top deck with no gaps; keeps small items from falling through.
- 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.
- Virgin resin
- New, unblended resin that has not been through a product before.
- 4-way entry
- Forks or a jack can enter from all four sides.
- HDPE
- High-density polyethylene, resin code 2. The most common resin in plastic pallets; tough and moisture resistant.
Questions at the dock
What is the beverage pallet size?
56 x 44 in. PHS lists STK 285 at 2,500 lb dynamic and 30,000 lb static.
How many 56 x 44 pallets fit a trailer?
No published count is in our data. Send the request and we size it.
Keep reading
Last reviewed 2026-11-12.