European pallet sizes: Euro, industrial, half, quarter and CP pallets

The standard European pallet is the 1200 × 800 mm Euro pallet, made as the EPAL 1. Europe's second standard is the 1200 × 1000 mm industrial pallet, and retail uses half and quarter pallets built on the same module. The chemical industry has its own family, the CP pallets. All European pallets are specified in millimetres.

#European pallet sizes at a glance

Heights are EPAL's published values. The 1200 × 800 and 1200 × 1000 footprints are both in ISO 6780.

#The Euro pallet (1200 × 800 mm)

The EPAL 1 is a block pallet with 11 boards, 9 blocks and 78 nails. It is 144 mm tall, weighs about 25 kg, and EPAL rates it at 1,500 kg safe working load and up to 5,500 kg on the bottom pallet when loaded pallets are stacked on a solid, level floor. Forklifts enter from all four sides; pallet jacks from the 800 mm ends. See the 1200 × 800 page and the EPAL 1 template.

Only EPAL licensees may make and repair EPAL pallets, and only marked EPAL pallets can be swapped in the open exchange pool. Any maker can build a "Euro-size" 1200 × 800 pallet, but it is not exchangeable. See EPAL.

#The industrial pallet (1200 × 1000 mm)

Europe's second standard comes in two EPAL versions with different construction:

The EPAL 2 has a base frame suitable for chain and roller conveyors. EPAL describes the EPAL 3 as its Asian standard. The UK standard pallet is also 1200 × 1000. See the 1200 × 1000 page.

#Half and quarter pallets

The European retail module divides the Euro pallet:

• 800 × 600 mm half pallet. EPAL makes the EPAL 6 (144 mm, 9 blocks, 750 kg safe working load) and the EPAL 7 (163 mm, 3 blocks with steel angles, 500 kg). Both weigh about 9.5 kg. See 800 × 600.
• 600 × 400 mm quarter pallet. Mostly plastic display pallets and dollies. CHEP's plastic quarter display pallet is 600 × 400 × 145 mm and 2.2 kg. See 600 × 400.

European case sizes follow the same module (600 × 400, 400 × 300, 300 × 200 mm), so cases tile onto any of these pallets. See half pallet and quarter pallet.

#CP pallets (chemical industry)

The CP pallets were defined for the European chemical and plastics industries. They are listed by EPAL and are used for drums, bags, octabins and bulk bags.

Dimensions and heights are from EPAL. CP1 to CP5 have runner-style bottoms; CP6 to CP9 have perimeter or frame bottoms. See CP pallets and the CP1 template.

#Other sizes used in Europe

Besides the EPAL and CP sizes, European shippers use 1200 × 1200 mm pallets for drums and bulk bags (1200 × 1200) and plastic pallets in the standard footprints (plastic pallet sizes). Goods arriving from North America on 48 × 40 pallets often need re-palletizing to fit European racking. See GMA vs Euro.

#How many European pallets fit in a truck?

A standard 13.6 m European semi-trailer (about 2.45 m inside width) takes 33 Euro pallets on the floor, three across with the 800 mm side across the trailer, or 26 industrial pallets, two across. Each size page shows computed counts for North American trailers and ISO containers. The Euro pallet is less efficient in ISO containers than in European trailers. See pallets per container.

#Pooling and exchange in Europe

European pallets move in three main ways:

• Open exchange (EPAL): you swap an equal number of good EPAL pallets on delivery.
• Pooling: operators such as CHEP rent pallets and collect them after use. See pallet pooling.
• One-way: pallets bought for a shipment and not returned, common for exports.

EPAL pallets have been heat treated to ISPM 15 since 2010, so they can be exported. For a custom European pallet, start from the EPAL 1 template in the designer.