Pallets for defense and machining
Defense and machining freight is heavy and concentrated, so it leans on block pallets and sound Grade B stock. Macomb County is where much of it is.
Macomb County and defense
65% of Michigan's federal defense contract dollars went to Macomb County in 2024, which is $3.21 billion in contracts. The county has more than 1,100 aerospace and defense companies and an employment concentration of 6.72 in military armored vehicle and tank component manufacturing. Warren is home to Army TACOM and the Detroit Arsenal.
In Shelby Township, SAPA Transmission announced a roughly $163 million, 200,000 sq ft plant with at least 328 jobs, making transmissions for military vehicles such as the Abrams tank. That is a 2026 announcement, not a finished plant, and it shows where gear and transmission work is heading.
What this freight needs
- Strength. Gears, castings and housings are dense. Block pallets spread a point load better than a plain stringer pallet.
- Known capacity. Check the pallet against the load before you stack. Many pallets can handle 1,000 kg (2,200 lb), but a standard 48 x 40 is rated well under that when it moves, and the capacity guide shows the numbers.
- Sound grade. A Grade B with tight repairs is usually right; a loose Grade C is not, with this weight on it.
- Clean wood. Oil and chips on pallets is common here. Say so when you sell.
Machine shops and gear makers
Smaller shops make up the long tail: machining, gears, tooling and fabrication, many serving both the automotive and the defense trade. They tend to ship in small counts on mixed sizes, which makes them a good fit for a scheduled pickup rather than a spot sale.
Selling or buying
Machining docks accumulate pallets that are sound but oily or marked, and pallets that have failed under weight. Keep the two apart. For buying, say the load per pallet, so the stock offered can carry it. Buy used pallets, new and custom when the load is unusual, or sell used pallets.
Questions from machine shops
Our pallets are covered in cutting oil. Can they be sold?
A light film on the deck is acceptable to some buyers. Heavy oil is a core.
A contract forbids us from releasing anything. What do we do?
Follow the contract. Pallets that carried controlled items may be restricted, and only you can say.
How do we pick the right load rating?
Weigh a loaded pallet, add a margin and compare it with the pallet's rating. The capacity guide has the figures.
A cluster of small shops
Behind the big contracts is a crowd of small suppliers: gear cutters, heat treaters, fabricators and inspectors. Each is too small to fill a trailer but together they make a route. Naming the nearest neighbor in your request is an easy way to make it work.