Pallet guides
Eight short guides, each answering one question a dock lead asks, with the answer in the first sentence and the source at the bottom.
Start with your question
| If you are asking | Read |
|---|---|
| What is a used pallet worth? | What a used pallet is worth |
| What do the marks on a pallet mean? | Reading the ISPM 15 stamp |
| Do my pallets need heat treating for Ontario? | Pallets across the bridges |
| Is 48 x 45 the same as 48 x 40? | 48x45 or 48x40? |
| How many fit on a truck? | Pallets per 53 ft trailer |
| Why is there mold on my stack? | Keeping mold off pallets |
| How are cracked pallets fixed? | How a pallet gets repaired |
| How much does a pallet carry? | Weight and load capacity |
How these are written
Each guide answers its question first and then explains. Claims about standards or rules link their source and show the date they were last reviewed. Where a number comes from a calculation, the guide shows the working. Where something is not known, the guide says so rather than guessing.
Which guide first
- Selling: what a pallet is worth and repairs.
- Buying: weight and capacity and 48x45 versus 48x40.
- Shipping: pallets per trailer, the ISPM 15 stamp and pallets to Canada.
- Storing: mold on pallets.
How the guides are checked
Each guide ends with its sources and the date they were read. Where a figure comes from a vendor, it is worded as the vendor's claim. Where sources disagree, the guide gives the range. If you spot a number that no longer holds, tell us through the request page and name the guide.
What the guides do not cover
Prices, legal advice and contracts. The guides explain the pallets, the sizes and the rules in plain terms. For a contract or a compliance question, consult the right professional.
Updates
Guides are reviewed on the date shown at the bottom of each page.
Reading order
New to pallets? Read the repairs guide, then the weight guide. Shipping abroad? Read the stamp guide and the Canada guide. Packing a trailer? Read the trailer guide. Worried about damp wood? The mold guide covers storage, airflow and warning signs, with a moisture line to stay under.
On this page
- What a used pallet is worth What decides what a used pallet is worth: size, grade, count and how often. Plain answers without made-up prices.
- Reading the ISPM 15 stamp The IPPC wheat mark, country code, producer number and HT: what each part of an ISPM 15 stamp means.
- Pallets to Canada Wood packaging from the continental US into Canada is exempt from CFIA D-98-08 for now. What that means at the Detroit bridges.
- 48x45 or 48x40 Why automotive parts ship on 48x45, how it differs from the GMA 48x40, and what mixing them does to racks and trailers.
- Pallets per 53 ft trailer Floor counts for 48x40 and 48x45 pallets in a 53 ft trailer, straight and turned, and what changes with double stacking.
- Mold on pallets Why pallets mold, why heat treatment does not stop it, and how moisture content and airflow keep a stack dry.
- Pallet repairs How a cracked pallet is repaired with plugs, plates or a companion stringer, and what a repair does to its grade.
- Pallet weight and capacity A wood 48x40 weighs about 33 to 49 lb and carries far more static than dynamic load. The numbers, plainly.
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