The industries that move pallets around the bay

Why the region moves so many pallets

The Providence-Warwick metro covers all of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts. Behind it sit ports, plants and warehouses that all ship on pallets.

A particular plant's pallet rules are set by the plant.

Defense and marine

Electric Boat builds submarines at Quonset Point, and Senator Reed's office announced thousands of new jobs there. Around such a yard sits a supply chain of machine parts, fittings and equipment that moves on pallets of odd sizes and heavy weights.

What the supply chain needs

A standard wood pallet has a limited dynamic load, and machined metal parts can reach it quickly; see pallet weight. Know the loaded weight before asking for stock, and ask for a stronger build when it is close. A request gives that weight, the footprint, which may not be a standard size, whether the load ships abroad and whether the pallets will be reused or are one-way. Defense work has its own packaging rules, set by the customer's specification.

Beverage distribution

Drinks are heavy. A full pallet of cans or bottles weighs far more than a pallet of paper, and the trade has favoured particular footprints: 42 x 42 and 48 x 42 are common for drink loads.

Why the size varies

A beverage pallet carries layers of cases. The deck size sets how many cases form a layer, so a distributor picks the footprint that fills the deck cleanly. See 42 x 42 and 48 x 42. Both fit 30 on a trailer floor in the arithmetic of pallets per trailer.

A full beverage pallet can come close to the load limit of a standard pallet, and bottled water, canned soda and kegged beer all weigh different amounts per layer, so check the loaded weight of the heaviest product before choosing a grade; see pallet weight.

Damp docks

• Returnable bottles and kegs get wet.
• Cold-room staging causes condensation.
• Spilled product stains and sours wood.
• Wet pallets lose strength and grow mould.

Buying and selling

Rented pooled pallets are common in grocery and drinks. They are not the dock's to sell; see pooled pallets. The rest of the pile is, and a request should say how many cycles a pallet is expected to survive so the right grade can be proposed.

Plastics and chemicals

Chemical and plastics plants ship drums, totes and bags, and their pallets reflect it: 48 x 48 and 48 x 42 are often used for chemical loads. Both are wider than the standard.

The loads

A drum stands about 23 inches across, so four fit a 48 x 48 deck, and a tote or bulk bag fills a square deck. Bags of plastic resin stack in layers that need an even surface, and resin is sensitive to moisture, so plants that handle it should insist on dry stock. See 48 x 48 and 48 x 42.

What chemical loads ask of wood

Used pallets from a chemical dock

A used pallet that carried chemicals may or may not be fit for reuse. If it was clean, intact and dry, it is just a pallet; if it was stained or leaked on, it should be treated as a core or scrap. When selling or clearing, name the product that stood on the pallets: resin pellets leave dust and some solvents leave odours that last, and a food buyer should never find a trace of chemical on a pallet they thought was clean. A request gives the footprint and build, the loaded weight, any history of chemical contact, and the count and how often.

Seafood processing

New Bedford lands more fish by value than any other US port, scallops are the largest part of it, and at Quonset Sea Fresh runs a seafood operation. Processing that catch means wet rooms and cold chains where pallet dryness matters.

What wet rooms ask of a pallet

• It must be dry when it arrives. Above 20% moisture, wood can grow mould.
• It must have no splinters, since product slides across the deck.
• It must have intact boards, so a box of scallops does not drop through.
• It must be easy to swap for the next, because processing is fast.

A seafood plant will often use the same 48 x 40 pallet as every other dock, so the concern is condition, not size: Grade A is the usual starting point, stored dry before delivery. A request names the room, wet, cold or dry, the size and grade, the count and how often, and whether the pallets touch food directly. Cold rooms and seafood covers the wet-wood problem in more detail.

Cold storage

Cold storage is growing around the bay. Cold-Link Logistics is expanding by 65,000 sq ft at Quonset, a Fall River cold store was planned at about 203,000 sq ft, and New Bedford's State Pier has state-owned cold storage in Building 2. Pallets in these rooms face cold, damp and condensation.

What cold does to a pallet

• Pallets that start damp stay damp.
• Frost on the surface freezes boards together.
• Warm product causes condensation on a cold deck.
• Wood that cycles between freezing and thawing loosens its nails.

A chilled room sits just above freezing and is damp, so it breeds mould; a frozen room is drier but prone to frost, and its pallets crack and loosen. Say which type of room your pallets serve.

A cold-storage building that retires pallets should say they have been in the cold, because wood that has spent time in a freezer deserves a closer look before it is resold; see mould and moisture.