Orbis-branded pallets: whose they are
An Orbis-branded pallet is the owner's, not the holder's. Count it, photograph the mark and tell the owner. Do not sell it.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
A worked walk of one Orbis-marked stack
Stop at the first mark
The moment a name shows on a corner, stop sorting that stack. Whatever else is true of it, the name decides the lane.
Shoot it close and wide
One frame of the mark itself, one of the whole stack with the mark in view, so the owner can match both to a site.
Write down where it came from
Which supplier delivered it, which door it came through and roughly when. A stray with a delivery trail is far easier to hand back.
Leave it standing
Do not restack, wrap over or move a marked stack to hide it among others; the sorter will route the lot as a return.
Markings to look for
Orbis is another name that can appear on a plastic pallet or container. This page makes no claim about its design, because the pallets differ and the desk will not guess. The rule does not depend on the design: if a name or logo is moulded or stamped in, treat the pallet as owned.
- A name or logo moulded into the deck corner or the long side.
- A stencilled or hot-stamped panel on a foot or a runner.
- A tag or label that has partly worn away.
- A serial or code you cannot match to your own records.
Who the owner is
The owner is the company whose name is on the pallet, or the operator of the fleet it belongs to. A holder is whoever has it on the dock. Your supplier may be a holder too, passing the pallet along with a load.
What a holder should record
| Record | Why |
|---|---|
| Count and stack photos | Shows what you hold |
| Close photo of the mark | Shows who owns it |
| Delivery and supplier | Shows how it got to you |
| Date found | Starts your record of how long you held it |
| Contact attempts | Shows you acted |
Trade press describes users who seldom keep records of how long they held strays or of their chain of custody. A record fixes that.
Not for marked pallets. Your unmarked pallets can sell.
Orbis-branded pallets go back to the owner.
A marked pallet that broke is still not yours to scrap.
Can I sell Orbis pallets?
No, not if they are Orbis-branded. They are not yours. Contact the owner.
What if I am not sure it is an Orbis mark?
Photograph it and keep the pallet with the marked pile until you know. See checking pallets for markings.
Words you will meet
- Dynamic load
- Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.
- 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.
- RFID
- Radio tag moulded or fixed into a pallet so it can be tracked.
- Thermoforming
- Heated plastic sheet formed over a mould; lighter pallets.
- Profile extrusion
- Pushing resin through a die to make long shapes that form pallet parts.
- 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.
- Runners
- Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
- Stackable
- Loaded pallets can sit on top of each other, up to the static rating.
- Rackable
- Rated to sit on rack beams, with a stated racking load.
- Fork pocket
- Opening in the pallet where the forks go.
- Heat treated (HT)
- ISPM 15 treatment for wood: core at 56 C for 30 minutes. Not needed for plastic.
- FM 4996
- FM Approvals standard that rates a pallet as equal to wood in fire tests.
- Creep
- Slow bending of plastic under a heavy load held for a long time.
Who asks, and what they need
- Automotive plants and suppliers
- 48 x 45 pallets that match bulk containers; closed-loop reuse; heavy dynamic and static loads.
- Warehouses with automated storage
- Rackable pallets with a stated rack rating, cruciform base, consistent size for conveyors.
- 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.
What the sources say
- 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 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)
- 48 x 48 plastic pallets hold four 55-gallon drums without overhang; 48 x 45 matches North American auto parts bulk containers. (nelsoncompany.com)
- 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)
- 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)
- FDA's Food Traceability Rule (FSMA section 204) requires businesses that make, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List to keep Key Data Elements for Critical Tracking Events and share them within 24 hours of a request; FDA says Congress directed it not to enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. (fda.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)
- That used pallet is listed as pharma and food safe but not approved for direct food contact, in colours that vary. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Plastic pallets are made by injection molding, structural foam molding, thermoforming, compression molding, rotational molding and profile extrusion. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Metal pallets are under 1 percent of the pallet market. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Advanced composite material pallets are 100 percent recycled polyolefins, cheaper with a shorter life, and suit export where the pallet is not returned. (nelsoncompany.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)
- 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)
- Private employers in the US averaged 350,886 jobs across 7,786 establishments in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing (NAICS 3254) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (42,575), New Jersey (30,062), North Carolina (26,998), New York (25,087), Illinois (24,257). (data.bls.gov)
- 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)
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