48 x 40 pallets
The 48 x 40 is the GMA pallet and the North American standard: 48 inches long and 40 wide, and 30% of all new wood pallets made in the US.
Turn it over and look
A 3D model built from the dimensions in the table. It loads when you ask.
- 48 x 48
- 48 x 45
- 48 x 42
- 48 x 40
- 42 x 42
- 800 x 1200 mm (Euro)
The numbers
- Size
- 48 x 40 inches, or 1,219 x 1,016 millimeters
- Deck area
- 1,920 square inches, which is 13.3 square feet
- Height
- Typically 5.5 to 6 inches
- Weight empty
- About 33 to 49 pounds for a standard wood one
- Entry
- Four-way entry is how the GMA pallet of the 1960s was defined
- Share of production
- 30% of all new wood pallets made in the US
- Standard
- ISO accepts the CBA 48 x 40 specification as the North American standard pallet size
- Boxes per layer
- Nine 16 x 12 inch boxes fit on one layer
The deck area is 48 times 40, which is 1,920 square inches. Divided by 144 it is 13.3 square feet, the same figure Mecalux gives for the usable surface of a standard American pallet. The GMA organization no longer governs pallet specifications, so the name is a convention rather than a rule: measure before you commit a truckload.
Why it is the default
Racks, trailers, pallet jacks and conveyors across North America were laid out for a pallet this size, which is why a 48 x 40 can be bought, sold and swapped with almost anyone. It is the pallet in most used stacks, the one a recycler places most easily, and the one the grade names were written for. If a request does not say a size, 48 x 40 is the assumption most people make.
In a trailer
On the floor of a 53 ft trailer, taken as 636 by 100 inches and loaded one layer high, a 48 x 40 gives 26 pallets straight or 30 turned. Turned is better for this size, because 40 inches along the trailer gives 15 rows where 48 gives only 13. The trailer guide shows the working.
Where it shows up in Metro Detroit
- Fulfillment and air cargo. Romulus handled 354,581,419 pounds of cargo at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 2025, and the buildings around it move general freight on the standard pallet. Fulfillment and air cargo.
- Food wholesale. Eastern Market covers 43 acres with more than 150 businesses, and the produce, meat and specialty food trade there wants clean, dry stock. Eastern Market.
- Automotive suppliers. The 48 x 40 sits next to the 48 x 45 on many supplier docks. 48x45 or 48x40.
- Everyone else. Steel, chemicals, furniture and light industrial freight all ride on it.
Buying and selling 48 x 40
Used stock in this size is the easiest to find in Grade A and Grade B. A Grade B repaired with plugs and plates carries the same load as a Grade A for most freight. To sell, a stack of one grade in this size is the easiest to place. See used pallets to buy or used pallets to sell.
Questions about the 48 x 40
Is a GMA pallet the same as a 48 x 40?
In everyday use, yes. The name comes from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, whose pallet of the 1960s was a 48 by 40 inch platform with four-way entry. The organization no longer governs pallet specifications, so the name now describes a habit, not a rule.
How tall is it?
A standard 48 x 40 is typically 5.5 to 6 inches high. Some references give 6.5 inches, so measure if a rack opening is tight.
How much will one carry?
A standard wood pallet of this size has a static capacity of about 3 short tons and a dynamic capacity of about 1 short ton. Other sources give 2,000 to 2,800 pounds dynamic and 2,500 to 4,600 pounds static, which is why the capacity guide shows the ranges rather than one number.
Why does a Metro Detroit dock need to know the width as well as the length?
Because the 48 x 45 and the 48 x 42 share its 48-inch length. Two docks can both say "48 by something" and mean different pallets.
Loading it by the layer
Because nine 16 by 12 inch boxes fit on one layer, a case-pick operation can plan a layer pattern without cutting or trimming cartons. That is part of why distribution centres in Romulus and Canton prefer this footprint: the arithmetic of the pallet, the carton and the trailer all line up, and little floor space is wasted. A pallet loaded to the edge with no overhang keeps its corners from catching on rack uprights and dock doors.
What to write when you order
Size in inches, grade, count, entry type and whether the lumber must be stamped. Add the delivery address and the best hours. Those seven items answer nearly every question a seller has.
Mixing it with others
If your stack holds 48 x 40 alongside other sizes, separate them before anyone arrives. A buyer of the standard wants the standard, and a pile with a few oddities loses value faster than the oddities are worth.
The default, with exceptions
Because it is the default, the 48 x 40 is the size sellers assume when a request does not say. If you want another size, say so first. If you want the standard, say it anyway, since a clear request leaves no room for a wrong guess.
Stamps on the standard
Many 48 x 40 pallets carry a heat-treatment mark from an earlier life, even if the current job does not need one. It does not hurt to photograph it, and it can raise a stack's value to a shipper bound for Canada.