Pallets for building materials and construction supply

What the load does to a pallet

Bricks, bagged cement, tile and lumber are dense. A pallet under that is judged on its frame, and a cracked stringer is a core. Standard GMA pallets are rated at 2,000 to 2,800 lb dynamic and 2,500 to 4,600 lb static; heavy freight sits near the top.

What these buyers pick

• Grade B, since appearance does not matter.
• Block or four-way builds where forks come from any side.
• A route out for broken pallets, which build up in a supply yard.

Weight is the first constraint

Published ratings for a standard 48 x 40 pallet run from 2,000 to 2,800 pounds when moving, and a trailer's cargo limit is typically 42,000 to 45,000 pounds. Dividing a cargo limit by 26 pallets gives 1,600 to 1,700 pounds a pallet. A building-materials pallet loaded with brick, tile or bagged cement can therefore reach the trailer limit with the floor half empty, and the pallet itself is often rated near its ceiling.

Why these pallets break

• Point loads from bundles of lumber or block bear on single boards.
• Forklifts in a supply yard work on uneven ground and tilt.
• Rain wets the bottom boards, which then split under load.

The pile behind a supply yard

The sources place building-materials freight in west Orange County, Clermont and St. Cloud. Supply yards there store lumber, block, roofing and bagged goods on pallets that are often left in the open. Rain soaks the bottom board of a stack first, and a board that stays damp loosens its nails. A yard that raises its stacks on timbers, covers the top and leaves the sides open can keep a pallet sound through the wet months from June to September, while one that stacks pallets flat on soil loses boards to rot by August.

Block, notched or solid?

Heavy bundles are lifted from whichever side a forklift happens to face, so four-way builds save time. A solid-stringer two-way pallet loaded with brick can crack where the forks meet its stringers if it is picked up from the side.

Bagged goods by the pallet

Bagged mortar and concrete mix is commonly sold stacked on a pallet at 42 bags of 80 pounds or 56 bags of 60 pounds. Both come to 3,360 pounds of product, above the 2,000 to 2,800 pound rating that appears for a standard 48 x 40 when moving. A pallet carrying that load is working past its comfortable range, so the buyers of such freight look at stringer thickness, not at appearance.

Bundles, pavers and block

Roofing shingles, clay pavers and concrete block each load a pallet differently. Bundles of shingles lie flat and spread weight across the deck. Block and pavers stack in tight cubes with heavy edges, putting point loads on single boards. Strapping bands cut into the top boards of a pallet when a load shifts. A yard that handles all three keeps its stronger pallets for pavers and block, and uses lighter pallets for bundles.

Lumber yards and the length problem

Lumber arrives in packs strapped on timber bearers rather than on ordinary pallets, and plywood and drywall lie on low skids sized to the sheet. Neither of those is a 48 x 40 pallet. A supply yard's pallet population is therefore a mix of skids from the sheet-goods trade, bearers from the lumber trade and standard pallets from the bagged and boxed goods. Sorting them into those three groups is the first step in knowing what the yard has.