Just because most businesses use pallets to ship their freight doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for your unique circumstances. The last thing you need is to waste time stacking boxes on top of a platform, securing it in place, and scheduling a pickup. At USA Truckload Shipping, we excel at pallet transportation. We’ll show you the best scenarios to use it and how.
Key takeaways:
We’ll discuss these points further to give you a better understanding of pallet transportation.
Transporting your freight with a pallet can be a good idea if you need to:
If you receive a large order, it’s more efficient to secure every box in the shipment to a pallet than to ship it as non-palletized freight. This will make loading and unloading easier and it ensures all items in the shipment stay together.
While you can palletize boxes of any size, stacking them and securing them is easier when they have similar dimensions. Therefore, pallet transportation is a better option when you’re shipping multiple of the same items.
Fragile freight is prone to damage when it travels inside a dry van trailer. Securing fragile freight to a pallet can keep it from falling or slamming against other items.
Finally, palletizing can speed up shipping times. Loading and unloading a pallet with a forklift or pallet jack is much easier than individual boxes.
Related: Advantages of Palletization
There are a variety of ways to ship palletized freight. The most common is via dry van trailer using full truckload (FTL) or less than truckload (LTL). An FTL shipment consists of freight that belongs to one shipper. LTL shipments consist of multiple shipments from different customers that share space on the same trailer.
However, other methods of shipping palletized freight are available. You can use air, vessel, or rail to transport it. Depending on the complexity of the shipment, a palletized load may be transferred between multiple modes of shipping.
The best method ultimately comes down to the distance of your shipment, the type of freight you need to move, and the final destination.
Related: Calculating Full Truckload Costs
Pallets are made from different materials and come in multiple sizes. In the following sections, we’ll discuss the various platforms and their many dimensions.
The three most commonly used materials for pallets are metal, plastic, and wood. We’ve provided a graphic showing you what they look like.
Metal pallets are typically built using aluminum or steel. These platforms are the sturdiest platforms you can use. They’re able to support heavy loads and withstand a variety of temperatures. However, they’re heavy, which makes them more expensive to ship.
Plastic pallets are lightweight and surprisingly durable. Numerous industries use plastic platforms because they’re easy to clean and can survive in multiple environments. That said, they’re more susceptible to breaking underneath the weight of heavier loads.
Wooden pallets are the most commonly used platforms and are very affordable. If they become damaged, they can usually be repaired quite easily. Once they’re broken beyond repair, they can be recycled or used for other purposes. Wooden pallets also receive heat treatment to ensure they’re free of parasites.
Pallets come in different sizes, which means you have a variety of options to choose from, depending on the size of your load.
Here’s a list of the most commonly used platform dimensions:
While pallets come in different dimensions, you should keep in mind that certain stores like Costco, Walmart, and Amazon have different dimensional requirements. You’ll need to check their rules before sending a shipment. Otherwise, your load might be rejected.
Pallet shipping expenses are determined by the following factors:
Distance will impact the cost of your shipping expenses because most shipments are calculated using a per mile rate. The more miles your shipment travels, the more your shipment will cost.
Weight and dimensions of a load are another factor. Heavier palletized loads are more expensive, and the more space a shipment takes up inside a trailer, the more money you’ll end up spending.
For LTL shipments, freight class and NMFC codes are used by carriers to determine how much they’ll charge you for a shipment.
Expedited transport is more expensive than standard shipping. This is due to the rushed nature of these shipments and they’re often moved using air travel.
The factors we’ve listed can change with every shipment. Therefore, providing the exact shipping expenses for your palletized load is difficult.
Here at USA Truckload Shipping, we’re constantly helping our customers ship their palletized freight. We use a vast network of vetted and experienced transportation providers. They have the equipment needed to load, transport, and unload palletized loads. With their support, we’re able to provide a 99.5% on-time delivery rate for every shipment you book.
If you’re ready to get started with our services, then fill out your Request for Proposal today. You can also call our team at (866) 353-7178 or reach out to us on our contact page.
R+L Global Logistics
315 NE 14th St., Ocala, FL 34470
