Plastic pallets for dairy product manufacturing, bought by the load
Dairy Products
- NAICS
- 3115
- US jobs, 2025
- 168,222
- Establishments
- 2,809
- Leading state
- Wisconsin, 28,840
- Dock pattern
- cleanable decks and cold storage
Dairy plants run chilled and frozen product through the same dock. The pallet has to clean easily, stay sound in the cold and carry a stack of cartons or cases without sagging.
Nationally the industry employs 168,222 people across 2,809 establishments. Wisconsin leads with 28,840 jobs.
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 dairy product manufacturing dock checks first
- A deck that cleans well, and the maker's cleaning guidance.
- Static load for the stack and dynamic load for the move.
- Cold behaviour: ask the maker for the temperature range.
- Resin and colourant documents.
- Whether racked product needs a racking load rating at all.
The pattern for this dock is cleanable decks and cold storage. Ask for resin, colourant, a statement of intended use and the temperature range. Do not accept the word "safe" without a document, and remember that a product that touches the pallet may call for virgin resin.
Footprints and the rating to read first
| Footprint | Why it comes up | Read first |
|---|---|---|
| 48 x 40 | The North American standard | Static |
| 56 x 44 | Beverage-style stacks, where used | Static, then dynamic |
Dairy shipments tend to be regular, so a recurring supply is written once. Size the trailer from the published count for the model and treat it as an example.
Where the jobs are
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 168,222 average private jobs in dairy product manufacturing (NAICS 3115) across 2,809 establishments in 2025. That is 60 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 28,840 | 17.1% |
| California | 18,374 | 10.9% |
| New York | 11,603 | 6.9% |
| Ohio | 8,963 | 5.3% |
| Texas | 7,529 | 4.5% |
Wisconsin alone holds 17.1% of the national total, and the five leading states together hold 44.8%. Shares are computed from the BLS figures shown. They show where the freight and the docks are, not how many pallets the industry buys.
| County | Jobs, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Sheboygan County, Wisconsin | 3,238 |
| Los Angeles County, California | 3,204 |
| Franklin County, Ohio | 2,930 |
| Tulare County, California | 2,916 |
| Dodge County, Wisconsin | 2,659 |
| Marathon County, Wisconsin | 2,535 |
By share of a state's private jobs, dairy product manufacturing is largest in Wisconsin (1.1%), Vermont (0.8%), Idaho (0.7%), South Dakota (0.4%), Iowa (0.3%); the national share is 0.13%.
Chilled and frozen on one dock
A dairy dock runs chilled and frozen product through the same doors, so ask for two numbers on the same sheet: the static rating for a case stack and the temperature range for the cold room. Nestable pallets cut empty storage space by up to 75 percent, which matters when empties are held between milk runs.
- The cleaning method used between loads.
- The stack height of cases or crates.
- The temperature of the coldest room the pallet enters.
- The resin papers, as for any food dock.
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.
- Racking load
- Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.
- Nestable
- Empty pallets stack inside one another, cutting empty storage space by up to 75 percent.
- HDPE
- High-density polyethylene, resin code 2. The most common resin in plastic pallets; tough and moisture resistant.
- Virgin resin
- New, unblended resin that has not been through a product before.
- PP
- Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
- Recycled-content pallet
- A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
- Stackable
- Loaded pallets can sit on top of each other, up to the static rating.
- Nest ratio
- How many empty pallets fit in the height of one.
Questions at the dock
Where are dairy jobs concentrated?
Wisconsin (28,840), California (18,374), New York (11,603), Ohio (8,963) and Texas (7,529), per BLS QCEW 2025.
Can I use recycled-content pallets?
Recycled pallets often meet general FDA requirements, but a product that touches the pallet may need virgin HDPE. Ask for the paper.
Keep reading
Last reviewed 2026-11-12.