What is a pallet?
A pallet is an essential handling tool for the logistic. It is used for the transportation, the storage but also during the packing of the goods.
A guide to help the choice of the kind of your pallets : dimension, material and strength
1. Which size?
In France, there is no law about the size of the pallets. It is important to know all of the dimensions however some of them are more standardized than others. You can find below all the information about the most commonly used pallets. The ISO pallets, The American pallets
- The size of this pallet is 1200 x 1000 mm. It is mainly used in the North American market but also in Japan. This pallet is a little bit bigger than a EPAL, it allows to transport a higher amount of goods but it doesn’t fit in the European trucks.
- The EURO pallets, The EPAL pallets
The size of this pallet is 1200 x 800 mm. The EUR pallets are easy to identify because they have the logo « EUR » or « EPAL » in it.
- The quarter pallets
It is a pallet made by plastic that can be fit together with others. The size is 600 x 400 mm.
- The half pallets
Smaller than the EURO pallet, it can be used only one time. It’s also called the “one way” pallet. The size is usually 600 x 800 mm.
2. Which strengh for my pallets?
It is important to chose the kind of pallet you want to use according to the weight it will carry. There are 3 categories of pallets’ strength :
| Weight of the pallet | Until 9 kg | Between 10 and 17 kg | Between 17 and 25 kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight it can carry | From 0 to 400 kg | From 400 to 800 kg | From 800 to 1500 kg |
| Comment | Single use pallets | Limited use pallets | Multi-use pallets |
3. Which material for my pallets?
- The pallet made by wood
The pallet made by wood is the most used in the world and in all sectors of activity. The advantages are that it is cheap and strong. In addition, it can adapt itself to any kind of needs and is easy to recycle.
- Moulded pallets
This pallet is ligther than a traditional one. It has no sensivity about the temperature variations, in addition, it has no nail which is safer for the handdlig.
This kind of pallet is made with recycled wood or plastic and has a longer life cycle than the classic one.
- The metallic pallet
The metallic pallets are made by teel or aluminium. They are the strongest pallets but the most expansive. So, it is the less common used kind of pallets because of its cost.
You can find additional informations below :
| Pallets made by wood | Moulded pallets | Pallets made by plastic | Pallets made by polystyrene | Pallets made by board | Metallic pallets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Export | Some of them NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| Waterproof, resist to temperature variation | NO | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES |
| Bulky | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | Some of them NO |
| Easy to recycle | YES if PEFC certification | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO |
| Cleanable | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | NO |
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Source : MECALUX – Logismarket