Photos buyers want of a plastic pallet lot

The five shots

1. 1

   From above

   One pallet, top deck, flat on the floor. Include the whole deck.

2. 2

   From the side

   One pallet at fork height. It shows the feet, the runners and any sag.

3. 3

   A whole stack

   A stack from three paces back, with the tally on the wrap.

4. 4

   The marks

   A close shot of every mark, tag or panel. If there is none, say so in the message.

5. 5

   The worst deck

   Photograph the worst one. A buyer trusts a seller who shows the bad one.

What ruins a photo

• Shooting from a distance where cracks cannot be seen.
• Light behind the pallet, which hides the deck.
• Cropping the mark out.
• One photo of the best pallet only.

Photos and rulings

The desk reads the photo against your answers. A pallet drawn as sound in the form but cracked in the photo is ruled on the photo. Photograph what you would want to see if you were buying.

The form fields this guide fills

• Condition
• Branding
• Message

How this guide ends

Words you will meet

Runners

Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.

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.

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.

Rotational moulding

Resin heated in a rotating mould to make a hollow jointless part.

Edge rack

Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.

Cruciform base

Bottom with a cross-shaped member as well as a perimeter, for strength and automated handling.

2-way entry

Forks enter from two opposite sides only.

Nest increment

How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.

ISPM 15

The international standard for treating wood packaging against pests. Plastic pallets are outside it.

Pooling

Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them instead of buying.

Structural foam

Low-pressure moulding where a blowing agent expands the resin in the mould.

Compression moulding

Moulding by pressing resin in a closed mould; one of six processes in use.

Profile extrusion

Pushing resin through a die to make long shapes that form pallet parts.

Who asks, and what they need

Export shippers

Light or low-cost one-way pallets with no ISPM 15 treatment; Euro 1200 x 800 and 1200 x 1000 sizes.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare shippers

Hygienic pallets that can be sanitised; documents on resin and colour; PP sometimes preferred for sterilisation.

Automotive plants and suppliers

48 x 45 pallets that match bulk containers; closed-loop reuse; heavy dynamic and static loads.

What the sources say

• In 2011 a Quebec court ruled that CHEP's identified blue pallets belong to CHEP and cannot be sold. (palletenterprise.com)
• A 2010 insurer figure cited by ICC puts fire spread to a pallet above at about 18 minutes for plastic versus nearly 50 for wood. (iccsafe.org)
• The five states with the largest gross refrigerated warehouse capacity on October 1, 2025 were California (400 million cubic feet), Georgia (304 million), Washington (301 million), Wisconsin (297 million) and Texas (254 million), per USDA NASS. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
• Port of Long Beach moved a record 9,881,595 TEUs in 2025 (imports 4,779,559; exports 1,141,113; empties 3,960,925), per Container News reporting the port's year-end results. (container-news.com)
• The Northwest Seaport Alliance (Seattle and Tacoma) handled 3,156,598 TEUs of international and domestic containers in 2025, down 5.5 percent from 2024, with full imports down 10.3 percent and full exports down 4.9 percent. (nwseaportalliance.com)
• Georgia Ports Authority moved 5.7 million TEUs in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025), up 8.6 percent or 450,000 TEUs, the Port of Savannah's second-busiest year after 5.76 million in FY2022. (container-news.com)
• The Port of New York and New Jersey was the nation's second-busiest port for loaded containers in 2025, per the Port Authority's full-year volume release as reported by Air Freight News. (airfreight.news)
• Counties with the most private meat and poultry processing jobs (NAICS 3116) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Hall County, Georgia (11,123), Cook County, Illinois (8,367), Sussex County, Delaware (8,212), Marshall County, Alabama (7,387), Fresno County, California (6,499), Douglas County, Nebraska (6,452). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3254) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Lake County, Illinois (16,883), Marion County, Indiana (16,292), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (11,878), Suffolk County, New York (10,760), Los Angeles County, California (8,300), San Diego County, California (8,028). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private motor vehicle manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3361) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (24,188), Bexar County, Texas (6,165), Cook County, Illinois (5,473), Eaton County, Michigan (4,432), Oakland County, Michigan (735), Los Angeles County, California (643). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private motor vehicle parts manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3363) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (20,888), Macomb County, Michigan (20,279), Oakland County, Michigan (16,970), Kent County, Michigan (8,688), Spartanburg County, South Carolina (6,496), Cook County, Illinois (6,273). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private dairy product manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3115) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (3,238), Los Angeles County, California (3,204), Franklin County, Ohio (2,930), Tulare County, California (2,916), Dodge County, Wisconsin (2,659), Marathon County, Wisconsin (2,535). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private fruit and vegetable preserving jobs (NAICS 3114) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (3,695), Stanislaus County, California (3,669), Fresno County, California (3,355), Cook County, Illinois (2,861), Franklin County, Washington (2,520), Marion County, Oregon (2,273). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private grocery and related product wholesale jobs (NAICS 4244) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (36,194), Cook County, Illinois (23,404), Miami-Dade County, Florida (14,422), Harris County, Texas (14,172), Dallas County, Texas (12,337), Maricopa County, Arizona (9,996). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private refrigerated warehousing jobs (NAICS 49312) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (2,320), Middlesex County, New Jersey (1,661), San Bernardino County, California (1,565), Cook County, Illinois (1,552), Wayne County, Michigan (1,041), Maricopa County, Arizona (871). (data.bls.gov)
• Private warehousing and storage (NAICS 493) paid an average of $56,706 a year across 1,901,976 jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW). (data.bls.gov)

• Custom Packaging Products: used plastic pallets
• Nelson Company: sell used pallets

Keep reading

• Guides
• Count your lot
• Checking for markings
• Damaged pallets
• Sell
• Sort your pile