How to choose a plastic pallet

In briefTo choose a plastic pallet, compare the weight of your load with the dynamic load capacity and, if the pallet goes on the beams of pallet racking, with the racking load on the data sheet. Then decide size, design and material according to your trucks, hygiene needs and the pallet's journey, and compare prices as cost per trip.

To choose a plastic pallet, answer nine questions, always in the same order: first the load and where the pallet will sit, then size, trucks and design, and finally material, journey and cost. Each step below has its question, the numbers you need and a link to the detailed guide.

1. What you load and how it bears on the pallet

How much does your load weigh, and how does it sit on the pallet?

Weigh the complete unit load, packaging included. Data-sheet load capacities apply to a load spread evenly over the whole deck ^[2]. Cartons, sacks and shrink-wrapped bundles are distributed loads; a reel, a drum or a machine on feet is a concentrated load, and the pallet carries much less. The PP69, a flat pallet offered by ROLL, holds 5,000 kg static with a distributed load and 1,500 kg with a reel in a cradle, according to the manufacturer's data sheet ^[22].

Concentrated loads and test methods are covered in the guide to plastic pallet load capacity.

2. Where it sits: on the floor, in a stack or in racking

Will the pallet travel on a truck, stand on the floor with other pallets on top, or go on the beams of pallet racking?

Every pallet has three load capacities ^[1]. On a solid shelf or on the floor the pallet rests on a surface, and the static load (standing still; in a stack, the weight on the bottom pallet counts) and the dynamic load (moving on the forks) apply. In pallet racking the pallet spans two beams and the racking load applies, which is generally the lowest. Compare your load with the lowest of the capacities you need.

Values from manufacturers' data sheets ^[3][4][5]. If the data sheet gives no racking load, the pallet does not go on bare beams. Orientation and support are covered in the guide to rackable plastic pallets.

The three classes are compared in lightweight, medium and heavy-duty plastic pallets.

3. Which size

What size do your customers, your racking and the trucks you load use?

ISO 6780 lists six sizes, including 1200×800, 1200×1000 and 1100×1100 mm, with a tolerance of +3/−6 mm ^[7]. In Europe the 1200×800 dominates, the footprint of the EPAL euro pallet ^[6]. A standard trailer takes 33 single-stacked 1200×800 pallets, or 26 if they are 1200×1000 ^[8]. The 800×600 half pallet is common in retail distribution but is not an ISO size.

All sizes and truck loads are in pallet sizes.

4. What you handle it with

Do you use a forklift, a hand pallet truck, conveyors or an automated warehouse?

Almost all plastic pallets are 4-way for forklift forks. With a pallet truck, entry from four sides only works on pallets with feet: runners block it on two sides. On conveyors the runners must run in the direction of travel; with 5 runners or perimeter runners the pallet moves in both directions. For automated or gravity systems, one pooling operator recommends preliminary trials on your own system ^[9]: ask for a sample before you order.

5. Which design

Does the pallet need to return empty in little space, carry a stack or go into racking?

A nestable pallet on feet is light (5.2-8.2 kg in 1200×800 in one manufacturer's data sheets) and, when empty, nests into the one below ^[3]. A stackable pallet has runners and carries loaded pallets on top. A rackable pallet has runners and often steel sections: on a heavy-duty 1200×800 the steel takes the racking load from about 1,000 to 1,750 kg ^[5]. Moving from 3 to 5 runners changes the support, but not always the load capacity ^[4].

All the types are in plastic pallet types.

6. What environment it works in

Will the pallet go into a cold store, be washed, touch food or stand in a sprinklered warehouse?

HDPE stays stable down to about −45 °C; PP handles heat better (about +82 °C, with higher peaks during washing) but only down to about −23 °C ^[10]. Food businesses must use equipment that is easy to clean and disinfect ^[11]: closed deck, rounded corners, no open cavities. In sprinklered warehouses, one industrial insurer's guidelines treat non-certified plastic pallets as unexpanded plastic, with stricter protection ^[16]: talk to your insurer.

Standards and requirements are in hygienic and food-grade pallets.

7. Which material

HDPE or PP, virgin or recycled?

For cold you need HDPE; for very hot washing, PP. Recycled material is not necessarily weaker: in one manufacturer's catalogue a 1200×800 in regrind weighs 6.2 kg and declares the same load capacities as a 7.5 kg version ^[3]. For direct food contact you need suitable virgin material, or recycled material from a process compliant with Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 ^[14], with a declaration of compliance with Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 and Regulation (EU) 10/2011 ^[12][13]. The code moulded on the pallet tells you the material: 2 for HDPE, 5 for PP ^[15]. The MB mark, on the other hand, is found on wooden pallets: it means methyl bromide fumigation, no longer authorised in the EU ^[17][18].

The full comparison is in plastic pallet materials.

8. What journey it makes

Does the pallet stay in-house, move between your sites, go to regular customers, or ship abroad and never come back?

If it ships and does not come back, you need a cheap lightweight pallet. Outside the EU, wood must be treated and marked under ISPM 15; plastic is outside the scope of the standard ^[17]. Wooden accessories used on the pallet, such as chocks and boards, remain subject to ISPM 15. If the pallet runs in a loop, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 applies: from 2030 at least 40% of pallets used as transport packaging must be reusable within a re-use system, and 100% in flows between sites of the same company ^[19]. If you do not want to buy a pallet fleet, consider rental or pooling.

See export pallets and ISPM 15 and reusable pallets and the PPWR.

9. What it costs per trip

How many times will the pallet come back before it breaks or goes missing?

According to one plastic pallet manufacturer, plastic costs 2 to 5 times as much as wood ^[20]. It only pays back if the pallet makes many trips. In our model, with plastic at three times the price of wood, break-even sits at around 4% of pallets lost per trip: above that threshold, wood costs less. The number of trips also decides the environmental case: the LCA study by Anil et al. gives wood a carbon footprint per trip 71.8-80.3% lower ^[21]. The details are in pallet carbon footprint.

The calculation and its assumptions are in plastic or wooden pallets, the price ranges in how much a plastic pallet costs.

The three flat pallets ROLL offers and when to use them

ROLL does not sell plastic pallets for every use and does not make flat pallets: it offers just three, each for a specific case. For one-way shipping, pooling or other needs, the nine steps apply to any manufacturer.

Special case: reels and rolls

A reel puts its weight on a line or on two saddles: it is a concentrated load. Here the shape of the pallet matters more than its class. You need a cradle or saddle that holds the reel still without wedges, and the figure to ask for is the maximum weight per reel, not the pallet's load capacity. The same PP69 drops from 5,000 kg distributed to 1,500 kg with a reel in a cradle ^[22].

Diameters, weights and models are in reel pallets; to hold a reel on a flat pallet, see roll chocks.

Checklist before you order

• Weight of the unit load, packaging included.
• Distributed or concentrated load (reels, drums, machines).
• Declared dynamic load capacity above your load.
• Declared racking load, if the pallet goes on the beams of pallet racking.
• Maximum weight on the bottom pallet, if you stack on the floor.
• Size compatible with customers, racking and trucks.
• Access: 4-way, feet or runners, compatibility with conveyors and automated systems.
• Minimum and maximum operating temperature, washing included.
• Material and code (2 HDPE, 5 PP), virgin or recycled.
• Declaration of compliance with Regulations 1935/2004 and 10/2011, if the pallet may touch food.
• Expected number of trips and share of pallets that do not come back, to work out the cost per trip.

To turn the list into a document for your supplier, with acceptance tests, see plastic pallet specification and testing.

The three flat pallets offered by ROLL

ROLL does not sell generic plastic pallets. Among flat pallets it offers only these three, each for a specific use.

For pallet racking ROLL PP69 1200×800 with 3 steel bars, 16 kg; 1,200 kg racking load according to the manufacturer’s datasheet. Designed for rack storage, with the pallet spanning two beams.

For hygienic environments ROLL PPH1 H1 type with closed runners, no steel bars, washable. Made from recycled material: not for direct food contact.

For floor handling ROLL PP08 Closed flat deck, 4-way entry, 9 feet: for moving pallets on the floor with a pallet truck. Not designed for racking.

Found a mistake or an outdated figure? Write to us at info@roll-packaging.com