Pallet Design System (PDS)
Also called: PDS, PDS software, PDS report
The Pallet Design System (PDS) is proprietary wood pallet design and structural analysis software from Woodpack Global (formerly the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association, NWPCA). Licensed pallet manufacturers use it to produce specification sheets, drawings, safe load ratings and service-life estimates.
In depth: Pallet design software compared: PDS, Best Pallet and pallet.design
PDS is the long-standing reference tool for engineered wood pallet design in North America. Pallet Design System and PDS are marks of Woodpack Global; pallet.design is not affiliated with Woodpack Global and refers to PDS only to describe it.
Key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Owner | Woodpack Global (the rebranded NWPCA) |
| First release | PDS 1.0 in 1984, developed with Virginia Tech and the USDA Forest Service |
| Current version | 6.12 (August 2026) |
| Platform | Windows desktop, licensed by annual lease |
| 2026 list price | $2,000 per year for association members, $5,250 for non-members (basic license) |
| Main users | Licensed pallet manufacturers |
What it produces
- Pallet Specification Sheet (components, fasteners, lumber, treatments)
- Structural analysis: safe load and deflection per support condition, with the critical member
- Lateral collapse resistance, service life (durability) and physical property (weight, shrinkage) reports
- 2-D and 3-D drawings, production orders, unit load drawings
PDS output is copyrighted and carries a licensee watermark.
Why it matters
Some large buyers ask for PDS analysis. Costco's pallet policy calls for a PDS report for purpose-built pallets, and Home Depot accepts a PDS analysis or an ASTM D1185 test. The Uniform Standard for Wood Pallets names PDS as its recognized computer model.
On a spec sheet or RFQ
If your customer requires a PDS report, say so in the RFQ; only a licensed manufacturer can produce one. A complete drawing and spec sheet from any source, including pallet.design, gives the licensee the dimensions and materials to model.
Common confusions
PDS ratings come from engineering models, not from physical tests. A PDS report is not an ASTM D1185 test report.
Related
- GlossarySpec sheetA pallet spec sheet is a document that defines a pallet design completely: overall size and classification, every component's count and dimensions, lumber species and grade, fasteners, treatments and, when an analysis was run, load ratings by support condition.
- GlossaryUniform Standard for Wood PalletsThe Uniform Standard for Wood Pallets is the North American wood pallet industry standard published by Woodpack Global (formerly NWPCA). It defines pallet terminology and classifications and sets requirements for lumber quality, dimensional tolerances, fasteners, assembly, repair, remanufacture and performance.
- GlossarySafe loadSafe load (safe working load, SWL) is the largest load a pallet should carry in a given support condition, set well below the load that breaks it. Test standards divide the ultimate load by a safety factor, and PDS uses reliability-based safety levels.
- PagesPallet design software compared: PDS, Best Pallet and pallet.designPDS (Woodpack Global) is the established Windows tool for structural pallet analysis, leased from $2,000 a year. Best Pallet (White & Company) is desktop software for pallet makers that also calculates safe loads. pallet.design is a free browser tool for drawings, parts lists and quotes, with no load analysis.
- GuidesHow to read a pallet spec sheet: every field explainedA pallet spec sheet has four parts: identification and classification (size, class, deck style, entry, use), component tables (count and actual size of every board, stringer or block), materials (lumber species, grade, moisture, fasteners), and often an analysis of safe load and deflection by support condition.
More in Standards and compliance
- GlossaryCP palletCP pallets (chemical pallets) are a family of nine standardized wood block pallets, CP1 to CP9, developed for the European chemical and plastics industries. Each type has a defined size and construction for loads such as bagged polymer, drums and bulk containers.
- GlossaryDebarked lumberDebarked lumber is wood from which the bark has been removed. ISPM 15 requires all treated wood packaging to be made of debarked wood, allowing only small pieces of bark: under 3 cm wide of any length, or wider pieces with a surface area under 50 cm² each.
- GlossaryDielectric heating (DH)Dielectric heating (DH) is an ISPM 15 treatment that heats wood packaging with microwaves or radio waves until the entire profile of the wood, including its surface, reaches at least 60 °C for 1 continuous minute. Treated wood is marked with the code DH.
- GlossaryEPALEPAL (European Pallet Association e.V.) is the organization that licenses manufacturers and repairers of EPAL Euro pallets and other EPAL load carriers and controls their quality. The EPAL 1 Euro pallet is a 1200 × 800 × 144 mm block pallet used in open pallet exchange across Europe.
- GlossaryFSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act)FSMA is the US Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011. Under its Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food rule (21 CFR Part 1, Subpart O), pallets are transportation equipment and must be designed and maintained so they are suitable and adequately cleanable, and do not make food unsafe.
- GlossaryGMAGMA stands for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (now the Consumer Brands Association), whose name became attached to the standard 48 × 40 in (1219 × 1016 mm) US grocery pallet: a partial four-way wood stringer pallet with three notched stringers, seven top and five bottom deckboards.
Last reviewed 2026-09-24. 292 words.