Index · footprints

Plastic pallets by footprint: what happens when one is retired

Last reviewed Nov 12, 20266 stages

The short answer

A pallet’s footprint tells you who used it and how it was moved. This hub lists twelve plastic pallet sizes, from the 48 x 40 that fills most US warehouses to the smaller sizes for drums, beverage and display.

A pallet is shredded and ground to flake, sorted by resin and colour, and moulded into a pallet again.

12footprints

17sizes in the dossier

48 x 40the common US size, in inches

Why size matters for a load

A recycler measures a trailer in pallets of one size. A mixed lot of three footprints takes more care to count and to load. Say which sizes are in the pile, even roughly.

How the pages work

Each page gives the inches and millimetres, the deck area and how it compares with a 48 x 40, who retires pallets of that size, and what a load of them needs to describe.

If you do not know the size

Measure the deck with a tape. Photograph the tape on the deck. Round to the nearest inch. The form takes a note.

Footprints come from the industries that moved them

The 48 x 40 grew with the grocery trade and then the rest of the US followed. Other sizes belong to automotive, to beverage, to chemical drums or to export. The footprint of a retired pallet often points to its previous owner.

Metric and imperial

Euro and ISO sizes appear alongside inches. A 1200 x 1000 pallet is close to 47.2 x 39.4 inches. Close is not the same, which is why the pages show both measurements and the difference between them.

Counting a mixed pile

Count each footprint separately. A trailer of three sizes is three lines on the form, not one. The pages show how each size compares in area, so you can see which ones are close enough to mistake.

What the sources say

blog.containerexchanger.comThe 800 x 1200 mm Euro footprint is the second most popular plastic pallet size worldwide.
blog.containerexchanger.comNorth American plastic pallets in the common sizes are about 5 to 6 in tall.
nelsoncompany.comNelson Company defines dynamic capacity as the load a pallet carries in motion, always below static; static as the load at rest and the bottom pallet's limit in a stack; racking as the load across an open rack span, often the lowest and given only for pallets designed for it.
phsinc.comPHS lists a 56 x 44 beverage pallet (STK 285) at 2,500 lb dynamic and 30,000 lb static.
nelsoncompany.com48 x 48 plastic pallets hold four 55-gallon drums without overhang; 48 x 45 matches North American auto parts bulk containers.
phsinc.comPHS 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.
cabka.comCabka says plastic export pallets are exempt from ISPM-15 treatment, that there is no single export size, and that its nestable export designs include extra-lightweight and air-freight versions.
nelsoncompany.comA used Nelson 48 x 40 x 6.3 in HDPE one-piece pallet weighs 49 lb with 30,000 lb static, 5,000 lb dynamic and 2,200 lb racking ratings.
nelsoncompany.comThat used pallet is listed as pharma and food safe but not approved for direct food contact, in colours that vary.
nelsoncompany.comPallet capacities are issued by the manufacturer from calculation and lab or field tests, and assume an evenly distributed load.
palletenterprise.comCalifornia 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.
aphis.usda.govUSDA APHIS lists plastic pallets among products not subject to APHIS regulation, as an alternative to wood packaging material.
phsinc.comPHS 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.comPHS lists a 48 x 48 stackable pallet (STK 207) at 4,000 lb dynamic and 30,000 lb static.

Terms on this page

Footprint: The length and width of a pallet’s deck, for example 48 x 40 inches.
Trailer fill: How much of a trailer a load takes: a quarter, half or full. It sizes the freight job.
Deck: The flat surface that carries the load. A pallet may have a top deck, a bottom deck or both.
Euro pallet: 800 x 1200 mm footprint.
GMA pallet: The 48 x 40 in North American standard footprint.

Questions people ask

Which footprint is most common?

The 48 x 40 inch GMA pallet is the one US grocery and general freight standardised on.

Do you take odd sizes?

Describe them. A non-standard size is a sorting question, not a refusal.

Does size change the resin?

No. Resin is checked on the pallet itself, whatever the footprint.

Does a bigger pallet mean more value?

Not as scrap. As a pallet it can, if someone needs the size. Obsolete sizes are harder to sell than common ones.

Can I measure with a tape?

Yes. Measure the deck edge to edge, round to the nearest inch and photograph the tape on the deck.

Got a load like this?

Five questions and a photo. We say what we think happens next once the pallets have been seen.

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Sources, reviewed Nov 12, 2026: Nelson Company, common plastic pallet sizes; Container Exchanger, plastic pallet dimensions.