Not sure which footprint?
Send dimensions of your product stack and we will specify the platform.
Every footprint we handle.
Scroll sideways on a phone — the table is wide because the information is. Inches, millimetres, region, purpose and the note that explains why it exists at all.
| Footprint | Inches | Millimetres | Region | Share | Typically used for | Why it exists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 × 40 GMA | 48" × 40" | 1219 × 1016 | North America | 30% | Grocery, CPG, general freight | The default North American footprint. Four-way stringer, 2,100–2,500 lb typical working load. |
| 42 × 42 | 42" × 42" | 1067 × 1067 | North America | 4% | Telecom, paint, drums | Square footprint; favoured where a load gets rotated during handling. |
| 48 × 48 | 48" × 48" | 1219 × 1219 | North America | 3% | Drums, chemicals | Takes four 55-gallon drums squarely. Heavy spec, usually block. |
| 40 × 48 | 40" × 48" | 1016 × 1219 | North America | 3% | Construction, roofing | GMA rotated — stringers run the 40" direction. |
| 48 × 42 | 48" × 42" | 1219 × 1067 | North America | 2% | Chemical, beverage | Slightly deeper deck than GMA; common in beverage distribution. |
| 40 × 40 | 40" × 40" | 1016 × 1016 | North America | 2% | Dairy, beverage | Short square, moves well on roller conveyor. |
| 48 × 36 | 48" × 36" | 1219 × 914 | North America | 1.5% | Beverage, shingles | Narrow aisle friendly; frequent in DSD beverage routes. |
| Euro / EPAL 1 | 47.2" × 31.5" | 1200 × 800 | Europe | — | Export, automotive, retail | Block pallet, 9 feet, licensed EPAL marking. Fits two-wide in a standard EU trailer. |
| Euro 2 / Industrial | 47.2" × 39.4" | 1200 × 1000 | Europe / global | — | Industrial export | The 'industrial' Euro. Closest metric sibling to GMA. |
| Euro 3 / Half | 31.5" × 23.6" | 800 × 600 | Europe | — | Retail display | Half-pallet used for in-store display units. |
| Quarter / Display | 23.6" × 15.7" | 600 × 400 | Global | — | Retail display | Shelf-ready display base. Often plastic, but wood versions exist. |
| Asia Standard | 43.3" × 43.3" | 1100 × 1100 | Asia-Pacific | — | Export to Asia | The JIS footprint; square, usually block construction. |
| Australia Standard | 45.9" × 45.9" | 1165 × 1165 | Australia | — | Export to AU/NZ | Matches Australian rail car width. |
| Drum Pallet | 48" × 48" | 1219 × 1219 | North America | — | Liquids | Reinforced 7-board deck with full perimeter support. |
| Nestable Skid | varies | varies | North America | — | Return logistics | Two-way skid with no bottom deck; stacks compactly when empty. |
Share figures are approximate proportions of North American pallet production, rounded. Regional footprints are quoted on request.
Six pages that go further.
Sizing is only one axis. Grade, capacity, construction and measurement method matter just as much — and each has its own page.
Length always comes first. Always.
In North American convention the first number is the stringer length — the dimension running parallel to the stringers — and the second is the deck board length. So a 48 × 40 has 48-inch stringers and 40-inch deck boards. Reverse them and you have ordered a 40 × 48, which is a different pallet with different fork entry.
Europe quotes millimetres and leads with the longer dimension too: 1200 × 800. The confusion usually starts when someone converts one to the other and rounds.
- 48 × 40 ≠ 40 × 48. The stringers run a different way and so does your pallet jack.
- A worn 48 × 40 often measures 47½ × 39¾. Order by nominal size, inspect by tolerance.
- Two Euro pallets sit side by side in a 2.4 m European trailer. They do not sit neatly in a 98-inch US van.
- Trailer floor positions, not deck area, is what actually determines freight cost per unit.
The ones we get weekly.
How many 48×40 pallets fit in a 53-foot trailer?
Floor-loaded, 26 positions turned pinwheel or 24 straight. Double-stacked, up to 52 if your load height and weight allow. The comparator above does this arithmetic for any footprint.
What is the tolerance on a recycled footprint?
Nominal size with roughly ±½ inch in practice, because wood moves and lead boards get replaced. If your equipment needs tighter than that, say so and we will sort to it.
Can you cut a pallet down to a smaller footprint?
Yes — cutting down an oversized platform is routine, and it is usually cheaper than a new build. It does change the deck board spans, so we will re-spec the board count rather than just sawing.
Do you stock metric footprints?
Euro 1200 × 800 and 1200 × 1000 regularly; 1100 × 1100 and 1165 × 1165 to order. All can be heat treated for export.
Which footprint is cheapest per square foot of deck?
Usually 48 × 40, simply because the recovered pool is enormous. Scarcity, not size, drives price in recycled stock — an unusual small footprint can cost more than a common large one.
Everything else that decides a specification.
Footprint is one axis. Construction, capacity, species and conversions are the rest of it.
| Footprint | Inches | Millimetres | Construction | Top / btm boards | Weight lb | Dynamic load | Racked load | Board feet | Positions per 53′ van |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 × 40 GMA | 48 × 40 | 1219 × 1016 | 3-stringer, notched | 7 / 5 | 33–48 | 2,100–2,800 lb | 1,500–2,500 lb | 37 | 30 |
| 48 × 40 heavy | 48 × 40 | 1219 × 1016 | 3-stringer, thicker | 7 / 7 | 46–58 | 3,000–4,000 lb | 2,200–3,000 lb | 44 | 30 |
| 48 × 40 economy | 48 × 40 | 1219 × 1016 | 3-stringer | 5 / 3 | 28–34 | 1,200–1,800 lb | Not recommended | 27 | 30 |
| 48 × 48 | 48 × 48 | 1219 × 1219 | 4-stringer or block | 7 / 5 + perimeter | 52–68 | 3,000–4,500 lb | 2,000–3,000 lb | 46 | 26 |
| 42 × 42 | 42 × 42 | 1067 × 1067 | 3-stringer, notched | 7 / 5 | 32–44 | 2,000–2,600 lb | 1,400–2,200 lb | 34 | 30 |
| 40 × 48 | 40 × 48 | 1016 × 1219 | 3-stringer, notched | 7 / 5 | 33–48 | 2,100–2,800 lb | 1,400–2,300 lb | 37 | 30 |
| 48 × 42 | 48 × 42 | 1219 × 1067 | 3-stringer, notched | 7 / 5 | 35–50 | 2,200–2,900 lb | 1,500–2,500 lb | 39 | 30 |
| 40 × 40 | 40 × 40 | 1016 × 1016 | 3-stringer, notched | 6 / 4 | 28–40 | 1,800–2,400 lb | 1,200–2,000 lb | 31 | 30 |
| 48 × 36 | 48 × 36 | 1219 × 914 | 3-stringer, notched | 7 / 5 | 30–42 | 1,900–2,500 lb | 1,300–2,100 lb | 33 | 34 |
| Euro / EPAL 1 | 47.2 × 31.5 | 1200 × 800 | 9-block | 11 + 3 bearers | 50–57 | 3,300 lb nominal | 2,200 lb nominal | 33 | 40 |
| Euro 2 / industrial | 47.2 × 39.4 | 1200 × 1000 | 9-block | 11 + 3 bearers | 60–70 | 3,300 lb nominal | 2,200 lb nominal | 41 | 30 |
| Euro 3 / half | 31.5 × 23.6 | 800 × 600 | Block | Varies | 20–26 | 1,100 lb | Not rated | 17 | 80 |
| Quarter / display | 23.6 × 15.7 | 600 × 400 | Block or moulded | Varies | 9–14 | 550 lb | Not rated | 9 | 160 |
| Asia standard | 43.3 × 43.3 | 1100 × 1100 | 9-block | Varies | 48–60 | 2,200 lb nominal | 1,800 lb nominal | 36 | 28 |
| Australia standard | 45.9 × 45.9 | 1165 × 1165 | Block | Varies | 55–66 | 2,200 lb nominal | 1,800 lb nominal | 40 | 26 |
Capacities are indicative ranges for recycled stock, not certifications — see load capacity for how the three ratings differ. Trailer positions assume the better of the two orientations on a 630″ × 98″ floor. Usable floor of a 53-foot dry van. Reefers and curtainsides run shorter and narrower.
| Support condition | What governs | Share of static rating | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor, full contact | Crushing | 1.00 | The largest published figure and the least useful one. |
| Fork tines, in motion | Bending + dynamic shock | 0.35–0.45 | The dynamic rating. What matters for nearly every operation. |
| Racked across stringers | Stringer bending | 0.30–0.40 | Stringers span the beams. The stronger racking orientation. |
| Racked along stringers | Deck board bending | 0.15–0.25 | Deck boards span unsupported. Frequently halves usable capacity. |
| Racked, sustained months | Creep | 0.12–0.20 | Progressive, non-recovering deflection. Floor storage never reveals this. |
| Double stacked | Lower platform crushing | Static rating of lower unit | Do not apply a dynamic rating to a platform carrying another platform. |
Factors are indicative multipliers against the floor-supported static figure, for a standard recycled 48 × 40 GMA stringer platform. Racking orientation alone can halve the usable number.
| Species | Group | Specific gravity | Stiffness | Nail holding | Weight | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern yellow pine | Softwood | 0.51 (oven-dry sg) | Moderate | Moderate | Light | $ | Plantation-grown, abundant, dimensionally stable once dried. The default for new builds. |
| Appalachian red oak | Hardwood | 0.63 | High | Excellent | Heavy | $$$ | Stiffest common option. Best for racked spans and high-cycle closed loops. |
| Poplar / tulipwood | Hardwood | 0.42 | Moderate | Good | Light-medium | $$ | Light for a hardwood, clean-looking, favoured on the millwork bench. |
| Maple (soft) | Hardwood | 0.54 | High | Very good | Medium-heavy | $$ | Common in mixed Appalachian loads; good all-rounder. |
| Sweetgum | Hardwood | 0.52 | Moderate | Good | Medium | $ | Prone to warping if dried badly. Fine in a repaired platform, awkward in millwork. |
| Mixed Appalachian | Hardwood | 0.42–0.63 | Variable | Good–excellent | Medium-heavy | $$ | What a recycled hardwood load actually is. Strong, heavy, and genuinely inconsistent. |
A recycled load is a mix by definition, because the recovered pool is a mix. We sort to a single species group on request, which costs more and takes longer.