Pool-marked · whose are they

Pool-marked pallets: whose are they?

A pallet with a pool name, logo or RFID tag usually belongs to the pool that rents it, not to the dock it ended up on. If you hold one, it is probably not yours to sell.

Last reviewed November 12, 2026

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Pooled and captive pallets

Pooling means renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them. The renter never owns the pallet. A captive pallet is the opposite: owned and kept inside one company. A closed loop is in between: pallets that move between known sites and come back. If your own loop made them, they are yours.

Most disputes happen at the edge. A supplier's pooled pallets arrive on your dock with a load and stay there. Nobody sends them back. Months later there are stacks of them, and someone asks what they are worth. The answer starts with whose they are.

Pick a case

Ownership cases
Case	What you see	The ruling
iGPS	A pooled, all-plastic pallet with an RFID tag	RETURN to the owner
CHEP	A CHEP name on a plastic pallet	RETURN to the owner
Orbis	An Orbis-branded pallet	RETURN to the owner
RFID-tagged	A moulded or fixed tag, with or without a name	Treat as owned until shown otherwise
Strays from suppliers	Mixed marked and unmarked stacks left by deliveries	Sort, record, then rule each pile
Your own brand	Your own name or tag	SOLD if your loop made them

What the trade press says

A trade article reports that California's AB 1760 (2022) lets recyclers take possession of stray proprietary pallets if the owner cannot be identified or fails to retrieve them in time, with a 35-day period before they can be declared abandoned. The same article says the law does not define what a timely basis is for an owner to retrieve strays, that when the 35 days start is in dispute, and that what records must be kept remains an open question. It also reports that users rarely contact a pallet's owner before disposing of strays, and seldom keep records of how long they held them.

In 2011 a Quebec court ruled that CHEP's identified blue pallets belong to CHEP and cannot be sold. In December 2011 a Los Angeles County Sheriff task force recovered over $250,000 of illegally obtained plastic pallets, including iGPS pallets, from a plastic recycler. This page describes what trade articles and courts have said. It is not legal advice. Confirm with the owner of the pallets or with counsel before you act on a disputed lot.

What this desk will and will not do

SOLD

We read unmarked pallets and your own branded pallets, and say whether the lot sells.

RETURN

We tell you the pallets are the pool's, and point you to the owner. We do not buy a marked pallet from a holder.

SCRAP

A marked pallet that is broken is still the owner's. We do not scrap it for you.

We will not help remove, cover or hide a mark. Not for any lot, at any size.

Can I sell pooled pallets with another company's name on them?

No. Pooled pallets are never the holder's to sell. Contact the owner. Keep a record of the count and where they came from.

What if the mark is worn off?

Look for a moulded panel, a tag or a serial. If a mark was there and is gone, treat the pallet as owned until you can show otherwise. The desk will not guess.

Does the desk help return them?

We say what to record and who to ask. The owner arranges the return. CHEP return lists the steps.

Words you will meet

Pooling: Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them instead of buying.
Captive pallet: A pallet owned and kept inside one company or loop.
Closed loop: Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.
RFID: Radio tag moulded or fixed into a pallet so it can be tracked.
One-way pallet: A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.
Recycled-content pallet: A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
Edge rack: Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.
Lip: Raised edge on the deck, or an optional soft lip, that keeps the load in place.
Commodity classification: Sprinkler design class of stored goods; an unlisted plastic pallet can raise it.
Creep: Slow bending of plastic under a heavy load held for a long time.
Injection moulding: Pallet made by forcing molten resin into a mould at high pressure.
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.
Anti-slip: Textured deck or rubber grommets that reduce load slip.
Nest increment: How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.
Rackable: Rated to sit on rack beams, with a stated racking load.

Who asks, and what they need

Retailers that collect pooled or one-way pallets: Stacks of marked and unmarked pallets left by suppliers; need to know which can be sold and which belong to a pool.
Plastic recyclers and pallet makers: Buy broken pallets by weight as HDPE or PP feedstock; want clean, sorted, separated by resin and colour.
Distribution centres with surplus pallets: Sell or recycle excess lots, mixed makers and colours, broken pallets.

What the sources say

California AB 1760 (2022) lets recyclers take possession of stray proprietary pallets if the owner cannot be identified or fails to retrieve them in time, with a 35-day period before they can be declared abandoned. (palletenterprise.com)
In December 2011 a Los Angeles County Sheriff task force recovered over $250,000 of illegally obtained plastic pallets, including iGPS pallets, from a plastic recycler. (eponline.com)
In 2011 a Quebec court ruled that CHEP's identified blue pallets belong to CHEP and cannot be sold. (palletenterprise.com)
CHEP USA sued two California recyclers over CHEP-marked pallets they would not return; a Los Angeles court granted CHEP's motion to retrieve pallets in one case (article dated February 1, 2024). (palletenterprise.com)
PHS lists a 48 x 32 stackable pallet (STK 783) at 3,500 lb dynamic and 15,000 lb static. (phsinc.com)
iGPS announced FM approval in 2008 for its all-plastic RFID-tagged pooled pallet, which had UL 2335 certification from 2007. (freightwaves.com)
Rehrig Pacific's heavy-duty nestable can be made with post-consumer or post-industrial recycled material, up to 30 percent in black and up to 10 percent in colour, and is RFID compatible. (rehrigpacific.com)
An ICC article says unlisted plastic pallets may require raising the commodity hazard class by two classes, and gives an example needing about 55 percent more sprinkler water. (iccsafe.org)
Rehrig Pacific says its reusable products are designed to be recyclable at end of life and run a buyback program. (rehrigpacific.com)
Cabka says plastic export pallets are exempt from ISPM-15 treatment, that there is no single export size, and that its nestable export designs include extra-lightweight and air-freight versions. (cabka.com)
Port of Los Angeles handled 9,447,731 TEUs from January through November 2025, 1 percent more than the same months of 2024; its executive director called 2025 firmly a top-three year in the port's history. (portoflosangeles.org)
Steel, aluminum, plastic and engineered-wood pallets are exempt from ISPM 15; wood must reach a core temperature of 56 C for at least 30 minutes for heat treatment. (en.wikipedia.org)
PHS lists 48 x 40 stackable plastic pallets with dynamic ratings of 2,500 to 5,000 lb and static ratings of 3,000 to 30,000 lb. (phsinc.com)
Plastic pallets weigh about 3 to 15 lb when light and up to 300 lb when heavy; a typical GMA wood pallet weighs about 37 lb. (en.wikipedia.org)
Plastic pallets are made by injection molding, structural foam molding, thermoforming, compression molding, rotational molding and profile extrusion. (en.wikipedia.org)
HDPE is the most common resin in plastic pallets; PP is more rigid and the page recommends it for unsupported racking. (nelsoncompany.com)

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Size, count, grade, branding and ZIP. Photos help, and you can reply to the first answer with them. This site states no price or pickup date.