48 x 20 half plastic pallets, by the trailer
48 x 20 half
- Inches
- 48.0 x 20.0
- Millimetres
- 1,219 x 508
- Deck area
- 6.67 sq ft
- Typical use
- Retail-ready display bases
- Area vs 48 x 40
- Exactly half
A 48 x 20 in half pallet, 1200 x 500 mm, is exactly half the area of a 48 x 40. The dossier lists North American retail-ready display bases as its use.
It is a base for a display that goes from dock to shelf without being repacked.
Where the 48 x 20 half is used
Retail-ready displays: product is built up on the half pallet at the plant and moved to the sales floor without being repacked.
The footprint, worked out
The 48 x 20 half figures below are arithmetic on the footprint (48.0 by 20.0 in), not a maker's claim. Inches convert to millimetres at 25.4, deck area is length times width, and the comparison is against the 48 x 40 GMA at 1,920 sq in.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Nominal length x width, inches | 48.0 x 20.0 |
| Length x width, mm | 1,219 x 508 |
| Deck area | 960 sq in (6.67 sq ft) |
| Area against a 48 x 40 | 50.0 percent |
| Corner to corner | 52.0 in |
| Long side over short side | 2.40 |
Half the area of a 48 x 40 is 960 sq in, so the display holds about half the product at most. Ask the retailer for its display specification before you order.
Next to its closest footprints
| Footprint | Deck area | Compared with this one |
|---|---|---|
| 40 x 24 half | 960 sq in | 100.0 percent of this footprint |
| 36 x 36 | 1,296 sq in | 135.0 percent of this footprint |
| 24 x 20 quarter | 480 sq in | 50.0 percent of this footprint |
| 48 x 32 Euro | 1,536 sq in | 160.0 percent of this footprint |
A half pallet is often one of several in a mixed pallet load. Ask how many halves fit a full pallet footprint.
What to settle before the order
- The weight of a fully stocked display, in lb.
- Whether the retailer's vendor guide names a footprint.
- Jack or forklift entry at the store dock.
- Branding on the deck or on a skirt.
- How many displays go in one promotion.
Because it is small, a lift truck can miss an opening; check the entry.
All sixteen footprints against the 48 x 20 half
The table sets every other footprint on this site against the 48 x 20 half, whose deck is 960 sq in. A figure under 100 percent means the other deck is smaller. The last column is the plain difference in area, which is what a lift truck driver would call extra or missing deck.
| Footprint | Deck area, sq in | Against the 48 x 20 half | Difference, sq in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 x 40 | 1,920 | 200.0% | +960 |
| 48 x 48 | 2,304 | 240.0% | +1,344 |
| 48 x 45 | 2,160 | 225.0% | +1,200 |
| 45 x 45 | 2,025 | 210.9% | +1,065 |
| 43 x 43 | 1,849 | 192.6% | +889 |
| 42 x 42 | 1,764 | 183.8% | +804 |
| 40 x 40 | 1,600 | 166.7% | +640 |
| 36 x 36 | 1,296 | 135.0% | +336 |
| 48 x 32 Euro | 1,536 | 160.0% | +576 |
| 1200 x 1000 mm | 1,860 | 193.8% | +900 |
| 1200 x 1200 mm | 2,232 | 232.5% | +1,272 |
| 1100 x 1100 mm | 1,876 | 195.4% | +916 |
| 56 x 44 | 2,464 | 256.7% | +1,504 |
| 40 x 24 half | 960 | 100.0% | +0 |
| 24 x 20 quarter | 480 | 50.0% | -480 |
Measure this on your own dock
Check what the retailer's display specification allows. Two 48 x 20 pallets side by side make exactly one 48 x 40, so a display built as a half can ship two to a full pallet footprint. Ask your retail customer whether it takes displays that way or only full pallets.
Specifying a 48 x 20 half pallet
The 48 x 20 in half is a long, narrow base: 48 in on the long side, 20 in across. It is the shape of a display that stands along an aisle wall, or two of them set back to back to make one 48 x 40. Before ordering, check the retailer's vendor guide for the footprint it will take at the back door, because the vendor guide, not the pallet maker, sets what is allowed.
- Long side 48 in, or 1200 mm.
- Short side 20 in, or 500 mm.
- Two of them side by side along the long edge make one 40 in wide, 48 in long footprint.
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
- 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.
- 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.
Questions at the dock
How big is a half pallet?
48 x 20 in or 1200 x 500 mm, half the area of a 48 x 40.
What is it for?
Retail-ready display bases, per the dossier.
Keep reading
Last reviewed 2026-11-12.