Sell 48 x 40 plastic pallets

48 x 40 at a glance

Footprint

48 x 40 in (1219 x 1016 mm)

Typical use

General shipping, grocery, retail, manufacturing

Height

About 5 to 6 in

Share

Just over half of one supplier's listed plastic pallets

What a buyer reads in a 48 x 40 lot

Because it is the common size, a 48 x 40 lot has the most buyers and the most competition on quality. A buyer reads it fast: marks first, then deck condition, then whether the lot is one style or several. Of one supplier's listed plastic pallets, just over half are this size. ISO 6780 lists 1016 x 1219 mm as the North American footprint.

On wood, the 48 x 40 GMA pallet is about 30 percent of new US pallets. That is the wood market; plastic 48 x 40 sits in the same slots on the same racks, which is why it is the easy plastic size to resell.

Who sells 48 x 40 pallets

• Distribution centersHow this industry's lot is read
• Retail and groceryHow this industry's lot is read
• Third-party logisticsHow this industry's lot is read

Send this with a 48 x 40 lot

• Photos of one pallet from above and one from the side
• Whether the pallets are nestable, rackable or stackable
• The count, by stack if you can
• Any mark on a deck corner or foot, even a worn one

Put the footprint, the count and the ZIP into the pile sorter first. It rules the lot sold, returned or scrapped, then hands the same answers to the form below.

Words you will meet

GMA pallet

The 48 x 40 in North American standard footprint.

Nestable

Empty pallets stack inside one another, cutting empty storage space by up to 75 percent.

ISPM 15

The international standard for treating wood packaging against pests. Plastic pallets are outside it.

Nest increment

How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.

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.

FM 4996

FM Approvals standard that rates a pallet as equal to wood in fire tests.

UL 2335

UL fire-test standard for storage pallets, with an idle pallet test and a commodity storage test.

Dynamic load

Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.

Nest ratio

How many empty pallets fit in the height of one.

Heat treated (HT)

ISPM 15 treatment for wood: core at 56 C for 30 minutes. Not needed for plastic.

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.

Multi-trip pallet

A pallet designed to be returned and reused many times.

RFID

Radio tag moulded or fixed into a pallet so it can be tracked.

Commodity classification

Sprinkler design class of stored goods; an unlisted plastic pallet can raise it.

Who asks, and what they need

Warehouses with automated storage

Rackable pallets with a stated rack rating, cruciform base, consistent size for conveyors.

Closed-loop and captive pallet users

Large uniform lots of one size and style; repair and replacement parts.

Export shippers

Light or low-cost one-way pallets with no ISPM 15 treatment; Euro 1200 x 800 and 1200 x 1000 sizes.

What the sources say

• ISO 6780 lists 1016 x 1219 mm for North America, 1000 x 1200 mm for Europe and Asia and 800 x 1200 mm for Europe. (en.wikipedia.org)
• 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)
• North American plastic pallets in the common sizes are about 5 to 6 in tall. (blog.containerexchanger.com)
• Census Bureau: seasonally adjusted e-commerce sales were $340.2 billion, 17.1 percent of total retail sales, in the second quarter of 2026 (released August 18, 2026). (census.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)
• 48 x 48 plastic pallets hold four 55-gallon drums without overhang; 48 x 45 matches North American auto parts bulk containers. (nelsoncompany.com)
• PHS Plastic lists 19 nestable 48 x 40 and other-footprint models with dynamic ratings from 1,102 to 3,500 lb and static ratings from 2,204 to 15,000 lb, so 'nestable' spans light export pallets to heavy-duty stackers. (phsinc.com)
• PHS lists its EXP 100 nestable (48 x 40 x 5.2 in) at 78 pallets per stack and 2,340 per truckload, and its EXP 116 (48 x 40 x 5.75 in, 15,000 lb static) at 40 per stack and 1,260 per truckload: a higher static rating comes with fewer pallets per stack. (phsinc.com)
• 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)
• 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)
• Rehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 rackable pallet weighs 44.2 lb with a dynamic rating of 4,000 lb, static 10,000 lb and edge rack 2,000 lb. (rehrigpacific.com)
• 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)
• The 48 x 40 in GMA pallet makes up about 30 percent of new US wood pallets. (en.wikipedia.org)
• Metal pallets are under 1 percent of the pallet market. (en.wikipedia.org)
• UL 2335 has an idle pallet test and a commodity storage test. (iccsafe.org)
• 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)

• Container Exchanger: plastic pallet dimensions
• Nelson Company: common plastic pallet sizes
• Wikipedia: Pallet

Keep reading

• Sizes
• 48 x 45
• 48 x 48
• 48 x 32 Euro
• Styles
• Grades
• Sort your pile