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Concept
Pallet
Summary
A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a front loader, a jacking device, or an erect crane. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load, which allows handling and storage efficiencies. Goods in shipping containers are often placed on a pallet secured with strapping, stretch wrap or shrink wrap and shipped. Since its invention in the twentieth century, its use has dramatically supplanted older forms of crating like the wooden box and the wooden barrel, as it works well with modern packaging like corrugated boxes and intermodal containers commonly used for bulk shipping. In addition, pallet collars can be used to support and protect items shipped and stored on pallets.
While most pallets are wooden, pallets can also be made of plastic, metal, paper, and recycled materials.
Containerization for transport has spurred the use of pallets because shipping containers have the smooth, level surfaces needed for easy pallet movement. Many pallets can handle a load of . In 2020 about half a billion pallets are made each year and about two billion pallets are in use across the United States alone.
Pallets make it easier to move heavy stacks. Loads with pallets under them can be hauled by forklift trucks of different sizes, or even by hand-pumped and hand-drawn pallet jacks. Movement is easy on a wide, strong, flat floor: concrete is excellent. The greatest investment needed for economical pallet use is in the construction of commercial or industrial buildings. Ability to pass through standard doors and buildings make handling more convenient. For this reason, some modern pallet standards are designed to pass through standard doorways, for example the europallet (800 mm × 1,200 mm) and the U.S. military .
Organizations using standard pallets for loading and unloading can have much lower costs for handling and storage, with faster material movement than businesses that do not.
Official source
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