What is the most utilized and can be the most dangerous tool used in our Light Industrial Industry? Care to make a guess? I\u2019m Marty with you here today at Warehouse and Operations as a Career. Today lets talk a little bit about Pallets. Pallets are everywhere, we\u2019re around them all day every day yet how often do we really think about them. There almost just an after thought right? Yet we have millions of pounds of product up above us in the racks and we\u2019re working under that weight every day. The pallet has played a significant role in our modern material handling world since the 1940\u2019s. In the 30\u2019s a boxcar with 13,000 cases of canned goods would take about 24 man hours to unload. That same load today on pallets can be done in like 4 hours. I found a great article http://en.lcn-pal.com/wooden-pallets/Articles/The-history-and-the-evolution-of-wood-pallets.aspx and they explained that in the early 1920\u2019s is when we first saw pallets and skids being used. Prior to this wooden crates, boxes, kegs and barrels were generally used in order to gather, store, protect and move merchandise. Prior to the wooden pallet we use today, skids were used, made up essentially of stringers attached to a top deck of wood appeared in American factories along with the first low lift trucks. Stringers are the long outside, usually 2x4 boards and usually one runs down the middle of the skid or pallet too. Anyway, and as we learned in another episode around 1887 with that first rudimentary, and manual by the way, low lift hand truck showed up and then in 1909 the sleeker all steel low lift emerged. The development and sophistication of forklifts helped increase the quantity and the variety of materials and products that could be handled. Our modern day pallets started to evolve around this time, going from skids to the wooden pallet. In order to facilitate the use of the forklifts, spacers were added in between loads, boards were the added on top of stringers to make skids. With time, boards were also secured to the bottom of the skids in order to create a pallet. It was around 1925 when boards were attached to the bottom of these \u201cpallets\u201d and boom, the modern wood pallet was born.
\nToday we use a few different standard size pallets. You know how much I like Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet so I checked out what they had to say. It states that a pallet is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a jacking device or a crane. While most pallets are wooden, pallets can also be made of plastic, metal, and recycled materials. Probably the most utilized here in the States would be the GMA or grocery manufacturers association or the 40x48. I\u2019ve seen the 48x48 handling the larger barrels and drums and Wikipedia shares that the military and cement industry uses a 48x40, I find that a little odd but hey. Here I see a lot of beverage pallets too that are 36x36. Walking facilities like I do I see so many different custom sizes I guess you can have a pallet built for just about anything your producing an have a need to store in a warehouse.
\nI found some really good information on Pallet Grading at https://nazpallet.com/pallets/grades-of-gma-pallets/ PREMIUM A GRADE PALLET
\nThese are mostly used by retailer where they will sit out on the floor remaining an integral part of a product display and for pharmaceutical and food manufacture\u2019s and suppliers where the cleanest recycled pallet available is required.
\n\u2022\t7 boards on top
\n\u2022\t5 boards on bottom
\n\u2022\t6\u201d lead boards top and bottom
\n\u2022\tAvg. top deck spacing 2.5\u201d to 3.5\u201d
\n\u2022\t3 stringers (1-1/2\u201d x 3-1/2\u201dea)
\n\u2022\t4 way entry
\n\u2022\tFlush
\n\u2022\tNo block or metal repairs to stringers
\n\u2022\tNo colored or painted stringers
\nA GRADE PALLET
\nA grade pallets are more readily available but will have a more worn appearance than a Premium A...