Strays from suppliers: whose they are
Strays are pallets that arrived with a load and never left. Some are marked and belong to a pool. Some are unmarked and are probably the dock's. Sort them before you decide.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
Why strays pile up
A receiving dock takes in pallets with every load and sends back the ones it must. Strays are the ones nobody sends back. Retail and grocery receiving managers meet this most: stacks of pallets left by suppliers, with no record of whose is whose.
A three-lane sort
Lane one: marked
Anything with a name, logo, tag or panel. This lane goes back to the owners.
Lane two: unmarked and whole
No mark anywhere, deck flat, no cracks. This lane can be read as a sale.
Lane three: broken
Cracked, burnt or crushed. If any broken pallet is marked, it stays in lane one.
| Field | Example of what to write |
|---|---|
| Date found | The day you counted the stack |
| Stack count | Pallets and stacks in the lane |
| Marks seen | Which marks, and on how many |
| Arrived with | The supplier and the delivery, if known |
| Held since | How long the stack has been on your dock |
A trade article says users rarely contact an owner before disposing of strays and seldom keep records of how long they held them or their chain of custody. California's AB 1760 sets a 35-day period before recyclers can treat strays as abandoned, but the article says how the clock runs is disputed. Do not rely on a deadline you have not confirmed. 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.
Unmarked and whole strays can sell once you have checked each stack.
Marked strays go back to their owners.
Broken unmarked strays go for scrap by weight.
How do I know a stray is unmarked?
Walk every stack. Check all deck corners, both long sides, every foot and the centre. Photograph what you check. See checking for markings.
Can I scrap strays that nobody claims?
Not marked ones. The mark means an owner exists. Ask counsel before you treat any marked stray as abandoned.
Words you will meet
- Closed loop
- Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.
- One-way pallet
- A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.
- Creep
- Slow bending of plastic under a heavy load held for a long time.
- 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.
- Multi-trip pallet
- A pallet designed to be returned and reused many times.
- UL 2335
- UL fire-test standard for storage pallets, with an idle pallet test and a commodity storage test.
- Recycled-content pallet
- A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
- Static load
- Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.
- 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.
- 4-way entry
- Forks or a jack can enter from all four sides.
- 2-way entry
- Forks enter from two opposite sides only.
- Rackable
- Rated to sit on rack beams, with a stated racking load.
- Fork pocket
- Opening in the pallet where the forks go.
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.
- Pharmaceutical and healthcare shippers
- Hygienic pallets that can be sanitised; documents on resin and colour; PP sometimes preferred for sterilisation.
- Chemical and drum shippers
- 48 x 48 and 45 x 45 pallets for drums and bags; chemical resistance.
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)
- USDA NASS counted 931 refrigerated warehouses on October 1, 2025: 476 public and 455 private or semiprivate. Public warehouses held 2.46 billion gross cubic feet, 62 percent of the total. (esmis.nal.usda.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)
- 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)
- Counties with the most private warehousing and storage jobs (NAICS 493) in 2025, BLS QCEW: San Bernardino County, California (67,058), Riverside County, California (51,310), Dallas County, Texas (44,657), Maricopa County, Arizona (42,291), San Joaquin County, California (28,518), Clark County, Nevada (28,250), Middlesex County, New Jersey (26,309), Will County, Illinois (25,357). (data.bls.gov)
- Warehousing and storage (NAICS 493) was 1.4% of the 133,160,274 private-sector jobs QCEW counted in the US in 2025. (data.bls.gov)
- Refrigerated warehouse facility counts on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS): California 106, Wisconsin 94, Georgia 62, Texas 56, Washington 52, Florida 50, Pennsylvania 38. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- 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 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 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)
- Pallet capacities are issued by the manufacturer from calculation and lab or field tests, and assume an evenly distributed load. (nelsoncompany.com)
- A 48 x 40 pallet fits 30 stacks in a turned pattern on a 53 ft dry van, per one supplier. (nelsoncompany.com)
- In 2011 a Quebec court ruled that CHEP's identified blue pallets belong to CHEP and cannot be sold. (palletenterprise.com)
- Pallet Enterprise: CHEP and the California recyclers
- Pallet Enterprise: Quebec court ruling on CHEP pallets
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