The most popular standard pallet size in US inches is 48L x 40W. How popular? The 48x40 accounts for approximately 30% of all wooden pallets produced each year.

The 48x40 standard was set by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) more than forty years ago. For this reason, you may hear it called a GMA pallet. But, not all 48x40 pallets are designed to GMA specs nor are they all used in the grocery industry. Interestingly, that's true of most any "industry standard" pallet. Even though a pallet may have originally been standardized for a specific trade, its use is often not exclusive to that industry alone.

Protecting rolled products from damage is one of the more challenging jobs for unit load material handling.

If you work with heavy rolls of foil, film, paper, plastics or other high-value material, you know that damage during transport or storage can make the product unusable. That's a costly mistake no one wants to make.

Recycled wooden pallets or remanufactured?

​It's a question that comes up often. Before we get into which pallet is better for your packaging needs, let's sort out the definitions of recycled vs remanufactured.

Here we go again. If you thought 2013 was a bad year for industrial lumber availability, 2018 may make five years ago look downright mild.

​Why is my 2x4 lumber not 2 inches by 4 inches?

Many decades ago, lumber purchased from a sawmill physically matched the common dimensions we use today. So why does that pine or spruce 2x4 from your local lumber yard now come up short? The short answer is modern surfacing and shrinkage.

Over time we've come to accept these nominal (approximate) dimensions as standard. But there's still a catch. Shrinkage can be highly variable. This makes it very difficult to manage and regulate dimensional accuracy.

Plastic lumber offers captive pallets a new future.

Captive pallets are designed to save money by being reusable. Plastic lumber is repairable and durable. Plus, it can be custom made to fit your specific requirements. Sounds pretty good so far. But will it work for you?

Below we explore the benefits and drawbacks to plastic lumber pallets.