Sell · clear the lot
Plastic pallet liquidation, lot by lot
Plastic pallet liquidation is clearing a whole stock, usually because a site is closing or moving. The lot is large, mixed and on a deadline, so it is sorted first.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
A liquidation lot is three lots
A closing dock never holds one kind of pallet. It holds the pallets you own, the pallets that belong to pools, and the pallets that broke on the way. Treat them as three piles before you send the lot.
Mark the dock
Use floor tape or chalk to lane the dock into three zones: yours, theirs, broken. Anyone who has handled a receiving dock knows the lanes.
Count each zone
A count per zone. Tally marks on a wrapped stack are a fine record. Then the desk can rule each pile.
Photograph each zone
One wide shot of the zone and one close shot of the worst pallet. For the marked zone, photograph the marks.
Send one lot
Send the lot once, with the three counts in the message. The sorter handles one zone at a time.
What a rushed lot gets wrong
| Mistake | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Selling marked pallets as your own | Disputes with the pool, and the sale may be reversed |
| Mixing broken and whole | The whole lot is valued as the worst of it |
| No count by size | A buyer cannot plan trucks |
| Pallets left outdoors uncovered | Cracks the buyer has to inspect for |
Trade press has described pool owners going to court over marked pallets in recyclers' hands, and a Quebec court ruled in 2011 that a pool's identified blue pallets belong to the pool and cannot be sold. A liquidation is the moment strays move, so check the marks even if you are in a hurry.
Can you take a whole dock at once?
Send the lot as it stands. The desk reads it and says what it can take and how. It does not promise a pickup date on this page.
What if the lot is spread across several sites?
Send one lot per site with its own ZIP. The form takes one ZIP at a time.
Words you will meet
- Cruciform base
- Bottom with a cross-shaped member as well as a perimeter, for strength and automated handling.
- 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.
- 2-way entry
- Forks enter from two opposite sides only.
- Rackable
- Rated to sit on rack beams, with a stated racking load.
- Closed loop
- Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.
- Regrind
- Plastic ground from used or scrap parts into flakes for moulding again.
- Static load
- Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.
- Dynamic load
- Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.
- Nestable
- Empty pallets stack inside one another, cutting empty storage space by up to 75 percent.
- 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.
- UL 2335
- UL fire-test standard for storage pallets, with an idle pallet test and a commodity storage test.
- 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.
Who asks, and what they need
- Closed-loop and captive pallet users
- Large uniform lots of one size and style; repair and replacement parts.
- Plants changing packaging or pallet size
- Retire a whole stock of one footprint at once; want it sold or ground up, not landfilled.
- Warehouses with automated storage
- Rackable pallets with a stated rack rating, cruciform base, consistent size for conveyors.
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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- Private employers in the US averaged 1,901,976 jobs across 23,345 establishments in warehousing and storage (NAICS 493) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (236,923), Texas (175,579), Pennsylvania (123,481), Florida (105,401), Ohio (98,354). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 73,136 jobs across 1,811 establishments in refrigerated warehousing (NAICS 49312) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (9,969), Texas (6,638), New Jersey (5,388), Georgia (4,453), Pennsylvania (4,102). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 1,775,008 jobs across 42,763 establishments in food manufacturing (NAICS 311) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (166,660), Texas (112,088), Illinois (98,300), Pennsylvania (82,538), Wisconsin (81,993). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 168,222 jobs across 2,809 establishments in dairy product manufacturing (NAICS 3115) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Wisconsin (28,840), California (18,374), New York (11,603), Ohio (8,963), Texas (7,529). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 173,844 jobs across 2,936 establishments in fruit and vegetable preserving (NAICS 3114) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (27,518), Wisconsin (11,014), Washington (10,988), Ohio (10,327), Texas (9,194). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 316,938 jobs across 16,316 establishments in beverage manufacturing (NAICS 3121) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (63,604), Texas (24,154), New York (13,802), Pennsylvania (13,207), Florida (12,661). (data.bls.gov)
- 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)
- Private employers in the US averaged 892,426 jobs across 25,801 establishments in chemical manufacturing (NAICS 325) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Texas (90,310), California (75,499), Ohio (49,328), Illinois (48,745), New Jersey (47,966). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 288,633 jobs across 934 establishments in motor vehicle manufacturing (NAICS 3361) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Michigan (44,870), Texas (28,069), California (27,690), Kentucky (23,308), Alabama (22,311). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 829,364 jobs across 49,933 establishments in grocery and related product wholesale (NAICS 4244) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (109,827), Texas (75,474), Florida (63,967), New York (50,594), Illinois (48,629). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 575,006 jobs across 12,344 establishments in plastics product manufacturing (NAICS 3261) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Ohio (42,286), Texas (40,945), California (35,933), Pennsylvania (34,094), Indiana (33,122). (data.bls.gov)
- Pallet Enterprise: Quebec court ruling on CHEP pallets
- Pallet Enterprise: CHEP and the California recyclers
Keep reading
Receiving desk
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.