Understanding Regional Differences in Pallet Wood Supply

Ever wonder why your pallets are made of a certain wood type?  

Most industrial wood pallets and crates are produced with lumber from locally grown forests.  

In the southeast US where pine trees grow, most wood pallets and crates are made from pine lumber. The northeastern states produce a lot of hardwood trees and on the west coast other softwood species are the most commercially available.  

The lumber map below shows the geographic breakdown of lumber varieties normally used in industrial packaging. The color coding correlates to species that grow in that region.  

• Red
  Mix of western pine and SPF (spruce-pine-fir)
    
• Yellow
  Mix of hardwood and SPF (spruce-pine-fir)

• Green
  Mix of hardwood and southern yellow pine
    
• Blue
  Mainly southern yellow pine

Do you have any questions about your wood supply? Leave a message for me below and I would be happy to answer it for you.

Post by: Jonathan Haynes, Sales Representative