US pallet sizes: the standard North American dimensions

The standard US pallet is 48 × 40 in (1219 × 1016 mm), the GMA pallet. It carries most grocery, retail and general freight in the US, Canada and Mexico, and it is the size of the CHEP, PECO and iGPS pools. About a dozen other sizes are common, each tied to an industry whose products, containers or equipment fit that footprint.

#Standard North American pallet sizes

The table lists the common sizes in the order industry lists usually rank them, with the industries most associated with each.

The industry associations in this list are conventions, not rules. Your customer's spec, your racking and your product decide the size. For the same sizes in metric, see pallet sizes in mm.

#Why 48 × 40 became the US standard

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and grocery retailers settled on 48 × 40 as a common grocery pallet, and the industry's 1990s spec (7 top boards, 5 bottom boards, 3 notched stringers) became the default "GMA pallet". Because grocery and consumer goods are the largest pallet users, warehouse racking, trailers, dock equipment and retailer vendor guides are all set up for it. The GMA pallet is widely reported as about 30% of new wood pallets produced in the US, and ANSI MH1 puts 48 × 40 and 40 × 48 together at over a third of all production. 1219 × 1016 mm is also one of the six footprints in ISO 6780.

See the 48 × 40 page for the full build, weight and capacity, or open the GMA template.

#How to read a US pallet size

North American pallet sizes are written length × width, where length is the stringer length (or stringerboard length on a block pallet) and width is the deckboard length. So a 48 × 40 has 48 in stringers and 40 in deckboards, while a 40 × 48 has 40 in stringers and 48 in deckboards. Same footprint, different pallet. This matters because:

• Forklift entry and notches are on the stringer ends, the 40 in faces of a 48 × 40.
• Rack beams usually support the pallet across a set direction.
• Some load patterns and cartons only fit one way.

Overall height is not part of the size name. See dimension order and how to measure a pallet.

#Typical heights and weights

Weights for wood pallets depend on species and moisture content: green hardwood is much heavier than kiln-dried softwood. See pallet height and pallet weight.

#Stringer or block?

Most new US pallets in the smaller sizes are stringer pallets: cheaper to build and easy to customize. Pooled 48 × 40 pallets are block pallets with a perimeter base, which gives full 4-way entry and survives many more trips. Some retailers, for example Costco, require pooled block pallets for most inbound freight. See block vs stringer.

#Half and quarter pallets

Retail floor displays use fractions of the 48 × 40:

• 48 × 20 half pallet: two make a 48 × 40.
• 24 × 20 quarter pallet: four make a 48 × 40.

Retailers set display footprints and height limits in their supplier guides. See half pallet and quarter pallet.

#How many US pallets fit in a truck?

A 53 ft dry van takes 26 pallets of 48 × 40 on the floor loaded straight, or 30 turned, two across. Square sizes such as 42 × 42 fit two across and one orientation only. Each size page shows computed counts for 53 ft and 48 ft trailers and 20 ft and 40 ft containers. For a quick check, use the pallets per truck calculator, and see pallets per truckload.

#Choosing a size

1. Start from the customer. Retailer vendor guides, OEM packaging manuals and pool rules usually decide the size.
2. Fit the product. Cases should cover the deck with no overhang. Use the cases per pallet calculator.
3. Fit the equipment. Rack depth and beam spacing, conveyor width and automated systems often assume 48 × 40.
4. Fit the trailer or container. A 48 × 40 fills a 53 ft trailer well but leaves gaps in ISO containers. For export, see ISO pallet sizes.

If none of the standard sizes fits, a custom size is usually practical in wood, because stringer pallets are cut to order. See how to spec a custom pallet, or draw it in the designer from the GMA template.