IQS Newsroom Articles on Plastic Pallets
About Plastic Pallets and Plastic Pallet Manufacturers
Including: Custom Pallets, Drum Pallets, Euro Pallets, Export Pallets, Nestable Pallets, Plastic
Skids, Rackable Pallets, Recycled Pallets, Shipping
Pallets, Spill Containment Pallets, Stackable Pallets & Used
Plastic Pallets
Plastic pallets are platforms which are used for the storing and transporting of products. They are designed to be long-lasting, hygienic, safe and low maintenance. Plastic pallet manufacturers mold their products as standard stackable pallets, rackable pallets, nestable pallets or export pallets in order to suit a wide range of material handling applications. In Europe, the standard block style type of pallet is called the Euro pallet; typically wooden, plastic versions of this pallet are emerging. They are water, chemical and extreme temperature resistant and may be used for outdoor storage, for use in automated warehouses and for use as shipping pallets which must undergo a range of potentially harsh temperature, chemical and salt spray environments. Custom pallets are designed to accommodate
special requirements of size, handling and storage, such as drum pallets or spill containment pallets. Because plastic pallets are capable of being reused many times, used plastic pallets are a popular cost-effective alternative to new pallets. Plastic skids and pallet frames are often used in conjunction with stackable pallets to keep loaded pallets off the ground.
Beverage manufacturers, agriculturalists, warehouse suppliers and virtually every other product industry use pallets for shipping and storage, and many manufacturers choose plastic pallets above wooden or metal pallets for their light weight and their reusability. Typically compression injection molded from high density polyethylene, plastic pallets are sometimes fabricated with abrasive materials such as sand to give added traction. Plastic pallet manufacturers typically offer sizes from 20" x 28" to 48" x 72" but can easily meet custom specifications. Like all other pallets, plastic pallets are configured to be forklifted from all four sides. Pallets may have top surfaces which are open deck or closed deck, and pallet bottom decks may be supported by a full surface, two runners, three runners or distributed legs. Pallets with bottom runners are rackable pallets; pallets with closed bottom decks are stackable pallets, and pallets which rest on legs or skids which nest inside one another when stacked empty are nestable pallets.
Plastic pallets hold a distinct advantage over wooden pallets. Although plastic pallets are initially more expensive than wooden pallets, plastic pallets have a much longer lifespan, averaging between 50 to 500 uses, whereas wooden pallets only average 10-50 uses. HDPE and other polymers are far more hygienic and easy to clean than wooden materials and may be sterilized in industrial pallet washers at high temperatures. Plastic pallets are also lighter than wooden pallets by about 30 to 40%, and they may be designed to hold more weight. They are safer than wooden pallets, as plastic pallets contain no splinters, nails or sharp corners. Plastic pallets are 100% recyclable, are non-absorbent and impervious to odors, acids, fats or solvents. Because of plastic pallets' high resistance to bacterial infection, plastic export pallets are unlikely to cause product contamination or to be delayed or quarantined due to infestation.
Many international industries, including food, pharmaceutical, rubber, electronics, building and construction, automotive, freight forwarding, agriculture and plant nurseries have switched from using wooden pallets to plastic. Companies using closed-loop distribution systems which allow plastic pallets to be returned benefit greatly from the recycled pallets, since returned pallets may be used up to 500 times before repair or remanufacture is required. Non-closed loop companies, which are often hesitant to invest initially in plastic pallets, often use bar-coding systems to track the whereabouts of pallets to ensure their eventual return. Smaller companies have used a deposit system or imprinted the company name on the plastic pallet itself.
Plastic Pallet Types
- are designed to accommodate
special requirements of size, handling and storage.
- Drum pallets are specifically designed to transport or store a number of drums, typically either two or four, as a result of circular recessed grooves molded into the top of the pallet.
- Euro pallets also called E or EU pallets, are the standard type of block pallet used in Europe.
- are used to ship products overseas and are usually
made of wood.
- Nestable pallets are defined by their ability to be tightly stacked upon one another when empty.
- are usually wooden platforms on which products are placed and wrapped for transportation and storage.
- have walls or a basket to better stabilize
and contain products.
- can be held on pallet racks for storage.
- are used to stack and transport products
or materials.
- with wheels for easier movement.
- Rackable pallets can be edge supported for indefinite periods of
time on either the width or the length side.
- Recycled pallets can refer to two different aspects of plastic pallets: one being that plastics pallets can be easily recycled since they are very durable and two being that plastic pallets can be made from recycled plastic materials.
- are platforms used in packaging on which goods are placed for transportation.
- Spill containment pallets or spill pallets for short, are pallets that ensure materials and wastes will be contained to the pallet if they leak, drip or spill from the primary container, such as a drum or IBC tote.
- Stackable pallets are pallets with closed bottom decks that are designed to be placed one on top of another when fully loaded.
- have been used to ship or store a product but
are still in working condition.
Plastic Pallet Terms
- Assemble
products on pallets by themselves or with little assistance; often part
of a larger shipping system.
- Devices with gripping
modifications specifically designed to arrange bags on pallets for shipping and/or
movement; may be in-line or robotic.
- A pallet
with its sides painted blue, indicating it is owned by the rental company
CHEP.
- A pallet which stays within a facility and is not
exchanged, traded or delivered off-site.
- A product typically
extruded from polypropylene that has been fluted in a way that is similar to
corrugated board and is waterproof, durable, resistant to chemicals, available
in a variety of transparent and translucent colors and has a good strength to
weight ratio.
- The side of the pallet that
faces upward or downward.
- A pallet that permits
forklift entry on all four sides, as well as diagonally at each corner.
- The entry place for forks
to move the pallet, usually between decks or under the top deck.
- A pallet
that permits forklift entry into all four sides.
- Promoting health; sanitary.
- Speed the stacking
goods onto a pallet and aid with layer organization.
- The capability of containers
of different sizes to be placed one inside another.
- A
pallet that cannot be used when turned upside down, either because it
has no boards or have a limited number of bottom boards.
- An expendable pallet
made of low-quality materials intended to be shipped once and then disposed of.
- A pallet with
its sides painted orange, indicating it is part of the Canadian Pallet
Council pallet pool.
- The
maximum load carrying capacity and deflection of a pallet where, at the
ends of the deckboards, the rack frame sustains the pallet.
- The maximum carrying
capacity of a pallet where, only at the ends of the stringers or stringer boards,
the rack frame sustains the pallet.
- A pallet that
has deck boards spaced identically on top and bottom, permitting the
pallet to be reversed.
- A
device that ranges in size from small enough to be inserted into a label on a
package to a paperback book that is attached to an object and transmits data
to a receiver; able to hold more data than barcodes, does not require line-of-sight
to transfer data and is highly effective in harsh environments.
(http://www.iqsdirectory.com/rotational-molding/)
- Common form of production for plastic pallets because of the resulting strength,
seamlessness and availability of custom designs.
- A pallet that has not bottom
boards (also known as a "single-deck pallet).
- A panel used
to support the base of a palletized load in rack-storage facilities.
- Boards located between
the bottom and top deck boards of a pallet.
- A pallet
that permits forklift entry in the two opposite pallet ends only.
- The collecting of goods
to be moved or shipped onto a pallet.
- Pallets not painted
or marked to indicate their ownership.