What are Pallets

What are Pallets

What are pallets? They are a type of platform that is used to help transport large amounts of merchandise. Most pallets are square and usually made out of wood. They are manufactured to be easily moved with a forklift, front loader and any other type of lifting machine. You can find pallets at any warehouse, or behind closed doors of most businesses. Even your nearby grocery store uses pallets to accept shipments of food and then stock the shelves. Whether you were aware or not, you probably have seen a pallet before, but at least now you know its name.

Find Pallets like these at Repalletize.

Aside from recognizing pallets, you might still be asking what are pallets made from? Well pallets come in many types of materials. Although wood pallets are the most common, certain types of goods require different types of pallets. For stacking chopped up logs it requires metal pallets whereas it is light plastic pallets that are good for holding lighter merchandise such as boxed food. Some pallets are made of paper. These are rare but used for very short trips and extremely light loads. Plus paper pallets are lighter than wood, steel and sometimes plastic pallets.

What are pallets doing for businesses? Pallets have many functions. They save businesses money through convenience and safety of transportation of goods. Pallets make it possible to move larger loads of goods at once. With a little bit of shrink wrap or straps, boxes can be stacked on a pallet and hold more at once. Plus pallets can also be stacked. Not just for storing unused pallets, but pallets loaded with merchandise are like blocks which can be stacked on top of one another. Using standard pallet dimensions saves space in the business warehouse and makes transportation more cost affective.

Another question you might be asking is what are pallets sizes? Like most computers, pallets come in various sizes. Depending on the type of merchandise, goods and company the size of the pallets matter. If you are a business dealing with small computer parts such as transistors or chips, you don't need a full sized pallets. A company that deals with shipping exercise equipment will require slightly larger pallet. There are international restrictions on the sizes of the pallets allowing worldwide shipping easier by using a standard.

What are pallets used for after they are broken? It does in fact happen. Like most things on this planet, they deteriorate and break and so do pallets. Steel pallets can be fixed but at a price. Wooden pallets are easily repaired with wood, and the old rotted pieces recycled. If you are recycling pallets you should follow a pallet recycling guide. Plastic pallets are made from recycled bottles and can be sent back to a recycling center to be remade. Paper pallets also are recyclable and disposable. So if possible and cost affective, most companies will repair their pallets. Sometimes the pallets are beyond repair, but that does not stop people from being creative and up-cycling pallets.

Another thing to consider is what are pallet regulations? Pallets made of wood require certain chemical and heat treatment to prevent spreading plant disease and bugs to a new environment. Since all pallets are used in transportation it is important to have laws and requirements that will protect not only your own country but other countries from environmental problems. Even the plastic pallets are required to be sanitized before you can ship them across the country. Again the dimensions of the pallets are regulated so that there is no problem from one company buying pallets of merchandise from another.

Next time someone asks you what are pallets, you can show off your knowledge.