Grades · Like new, Grade A
Sell like new plastic pallets
Like new, sometimes called Grade A, means a few trips only: clean, no cracks, no missing parts, deck and runners flat. No universal plastic standard exists, so suppliers use their own words.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
What like new means
- Grade
- Like new, Grade A
- Meaning
- A few trips only. Clean, no cracks, no missing parts, deck and runners flat. No universal plastic standard exists, so suppliers use their own words.
- Quote form value
- Like new
How a buyer reads a like new lot
A seller's grade names and a buyer's grade names rarely match. One manufacturer-distributor asks sellers to place a lot on a four-step scale of Like New, Very Good, Good and Average. A pallet marketplace lets buyers filter by condition. The desk maps both to its own three: new, like new and used.
The test for like new is the flat check. Lay a straightedge across the deck; there should be no sag. Check each foot and runner for chips. Then check for marks, because a clean pallet with a pool logo is still the pool's.
| Part | What a buyer looks for |
|---|---|
| Deck | Clean and flat; light scuffs only |
| Feet and runners | No chips or cracks |
| Parts | None missing |
| Marks | None, or your own |
Who has like new pallets
Plants that retire a footprint after a few runs, and centers with pallets from a trial program. See retired footprint.
Send this with a like new lot
- Photos of the deck under a straightedge, if you can
- How many trips, roughly
- Footprint, style and count
- The ZIP
Set the grade in the pile sorter. The ruling and your other answers carry into the form below.
SOLD
Like new, Grade A pallets with no owner's mark on them.
RETURN
Pallets of any grade that carry a pool name, logo or RFID tag.
SCRAP
Cracked, burnt or crushed pallets: they leave this grade and go by weight.
Is like new the same as Grade A?
Close. Different suppliers use different words. The desk reads the pallet, not the word.
Do scuffs matter?
Light scuffs do not. Cracks, chips and missing parts do.
Words you will meet
- UL 2335
- UL fire-test standard for storage pallets, with an idle pallet test and a commodity storage test.
- Rackable
- Rated to sit on rack beams, with a stated racking load.
- Profile extrusion
- Pushing resin through a die to make long shapes that form pallet parts.
- GMA pallet
- The 48 x 40 in North American standard footprint.
- Welding repair
- Plastic is hard to glue, so cracked parts are normally welded.
- PP
- Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
- Runners
- Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
- Lip
- Raised edge on the deck, or an optional soft lip, that keeps the load in place.
- Nest ratio
- How many empty pallets fit in the height of one.
- 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.
- RFID
- Radio tag moulded or fixed into a pallet so it can be tracked.
- FM 4996
- FM Approvals standard that rates a pallet as equal to wood in fire tests.
- Commodity classification
- Sprinkler design class of stored goods; an unlisted plastic pallet can raise it.
- Thermoforming
- Heated plastic sheet formed over a mould; lighter pallets.
- CP9
- A chemical-industry pallet standard, 1140 x 1140 mm.
Who asks, and what they need
- Plastic recyclers and pallet makers
- Buy broken pallets by weight as HDPE or PP feedstock; want clean, sorted, separated by resin and colour.
- Automotive plants and suppliers
- 48 x 45 pallets that match bulk containers; closed-loop reuse; heavy dynamic and static loads.
- Closed-loop and captive pallet users
- Large uniform lots of one size and style; repair and replacement parts.
What the sources say
- 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)
- USDA NASS counted 3.99 billion cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse capacity in the US on October 1, 2025, with usable capacity of 3.25 billion cubic feet (82 percent of gross). (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- 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)
- Pennsylvania had 228 million cubic feet and New Jersey 137 million of gross refrigerated warehouse space on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS). (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- EPA's 2018 municipal solid waste data: plastics generation was 35.68 million tons, of which 3.09 million tons (8.7 percent) were recycled and 26.97 million tons landfilled; natural HDPE bottles were recycled at 29.3 percent. The page gives no pallet-specific or polypropylene figure. (epa.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)
- States where meat and poultry processing is the largest share of private jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW): Nebraska (3.7%), Arkansas (3.1%), Iowa (2.6%), Delaware (2.4%), Mississippi (2.0%); the national share is 0.42%. (data.bls.gov)
- States where dairy product manufacturing is the largest share of private jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW): Wisconsin (1.1%), Vermont (0.8%), Idaho (0.7%), South Dakota (0.4%), Iowa (0.3%); the national share is 0.13%. (data.bls.gov)
- HDPE is the most common resin in plastic pallets; PP is more rigid and the page recommends it for unsupported racking. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Private employers in the US averaged 521,212 jobs across 6,414 establishments in motor vehicle parts manufacturing (NAICS 3363) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Michigan (111,465), Ohio (62,025), Indiana (52,146), Tennessee (38,791), Kentucky (32,261). (data.bls.gov)
- 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)
- 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)
- Port Houston's public terminals handled 4,303,345 TEUs in 2025 (up 4 percent, a record) and 54,491,066 short tons of cargo; the Houston Ship Channel is described as the nation's largest port for waterborne tonnage, with more than 200 private and eight public terminals. (porthouston.com)
- Port Houston says it supports 1.54 million jobs in Texas and 3.37 million nationwide, and that its 2025 growth included petrochemical and industrial shipments, manufacturing-related freight and consumer imports. (porthouston.com)
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Send the lot
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.