International Marketing Practices

Pallets Pallets are “portable platforms” that facilitate the movement and storage of unitized goods [170]. Pallets are a critical component of the logistics infrastructure, as they reduce handling costs and facilitate transportation and storage of raw materials and finished products throughout the supply chain. There are two basic types of pallets: stringer and block. Stringer pallets are two-way or partial four-way entry pallets, in which three parallel pieces of lumber form a frame and separate the top and bottom deckboards, or the pieces in contact with the load and the floor, respectively. Block pallets are four-way entry pallets made with solid wood blocks that support the top deckboards (Figure 12). Air transportation requires the use of full four-way entry pallets, while truck transport only requires two-way entry pallets.

Figure 12. Four-way stringer pallet (left) and block pallet (right) [171].

There are many pallet sizes in use, often dependent on the product dimensions and the geographic region where the pallet is used (Table 16). The most common pallet size in the U.S. is 48×40 inches, commonly known as a grocery or GMA (Grocery Manufacturers Association) pallet. In Asia, the most prevalent size is the 1100×1100 mm pallet, but in Europe, the most common dimensions for pallets are 800×1200 mm (EUR, EUR 1) and 1200×1000 mm (EUR 2) [172].

Table 16. Standard pallet sizes defined by ISO Standard 6780 [172].

Dimensions (inches)

Dimensions (mm)

Region most used North America

48.0×40.0 47.2×39.4 44.9×44.9 42.0×42.0 43.3×43.3 47.2×31.5

1219×1016 1200×1000 1140×1140 1067×1067 1100×1100 1200×800

Europe, Asia

Australia

North America, Europe, Asia

Asia

Europe

Pallets are often moved using pallet trucks, tow and platform trucks, conveyors, and automated guided vehicles, which are primarily associated with the horizontal movement of palletized product (Figure 13) [159]. However, in a majority of warehouses, pallets are stacked to increase storage capacity, in which case you should look further into the vertical integration of pallet transportation, like forklifts that make stacking possible [159].

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