Pallet Glossary

Annular Nail – Pallet nail with annular (circular ring) threads rolled onto the shank

Banding Notch – See Strap Slot

Bin – Four-sided superstructure to be mounted on a pallet base, with or without a cover; also known as a box or container bin pallet

Block -Rectangular, square or cylindrical deck spacer, often identified by its location within the pallet as corner block, end block, edge block, inner block, center or middle blocks

Block Pallet – A type of pallet with blocks between the pallet decks or beneath the top deck

Butted Deckboard – An inner deckboard placed tightly against an adjacent lead deckboard during pallet assembly

Bottom Deck – Assembly of deckboards comprising the lower, load bearing surface of the pallet

Captive Pallet – A pallet intended for use within the confines of a single facility, system or ownership; not intended to be exchanged

Chamfered Deckboards – Deckboards with edges of one or two faces beveled, either along the full or specified length of board or between the stringers of blocks, allowing easier entry of pallet jack wheels

Closed distribution system – Shipping system restricted to moving goods between specified plants and facilities

Cost-Pass-Through – A cost-share system where the partial cost of a pallet is passed-through from the purchaser to the receiver of the pallet

Cost-Per-Trip – Average cost of pallet use for a single one-way trip

Deck – One or more boards or panels comprising the top or bottom surface of the pallet

Deck Mat – Assembly of deckboards and stringerboards, forming the deck of a block pallet

Deckboard – Element or component of a pallet deck, oriented perpendicular to the stringer or stringerboard

Deckboard Spacing – Distance between adjacent deckboards

Deckboard Span – Distance between deckboard supports (stringers, stringerboards or blocks)

Deflection – The amount of deformation or bending in a pallet or pallet component under load

Double-Face Pallet – A pallet with top and bottom decks

Double-Wing Pallet – A pallet with top and bottom deckboards extending beyond the edges of the stringers or stringerboards

Drive Screw Nail – Helically (continuous spiral) threaded pallet nail

Economic Life – Output from PDS© program which identifies the number of trips the pallet will make, provided it is properly repaired, which maximizes a return on investment

Exchange Pallet – A pallet intended for use among a designated group of shippers and receivers where ownership of the pallet is transferred with the ownership of the unit load; common pool pallet

Expendable Pallet – A pallet intended for a series of handlings during a single trip from shipper to receiver; it is then disposed; see Shipping Pallet

Fastener – A mechanical device for joining pallet components such as nails, staples, bolts or screws

Flush Pallet – A pallet with deckboards flush with the stringers, stringer-boards or blocks along the sides of the pallet

Fork Entry – Opening between decks, beneath the top deck or beneath the stringer notch to admit forks

Four-Way Block Pallet – A pallet with openings at both pallet ends and along pallet sides sufficient to admit hand-pallet jacks; full four-way entry pallet

Free Span – The distance between supports in a warehouse rack

Hand (Wheel) Jack Opening – Space provided in the bottom deck to allow pallet jack wheels to bear on the floor

Handling – A single pick-up, movement and set-down of a loaded or empty pallet

Hardened-Steel Nail – Heat-treated and tempered steel pallet nail with a MIBANT angle between 8 and 28 degrees

Hardwood – Wood from broad-leaved species of trees (not necessarily hard or dense)

Helical Nail – Helically (continuous spiral) threaded pallet nail, see also Drive Screw Nail

Inner Deckboard – Any deckboard located between the end deckboards

Joint – Intersection and connection of components, often identified by location within the pallet as the end joint, center joint and corner joint

Length – Refers to the stringer or stringerboard (in block pallets) length; also refers to the first dimension given to describe a pallet i.e., 48″ x 40″, where 48″ is the pallet stringer/stringerboard length

Nail – Fastener made from endless wire by cutting a point and forming a head at the shank end opposite the point

Non-Reversible Pallet – A pallet with bottom deckboard configuration different from top deck

Notch – Cutout in lower portion of the stringer to allow entry for the fork tine, usually 9″ in length, 1 1/2″ in depth

Notched Stringer – A stringer with two notches spaced for fork-tine entry, (partial four-way entry)

Opening Height – The vertical distance measured between decks, from the floor to the underside of the top deck, or from the floor to the top of the stringer notch

Overall Height – The vertical distance measured from the floor to the top side of the top deck

Overhang – The distance the deck extends from the outer edge of the stringer or stringerboard; wing; lip; distance the unit load extends beyond the deck

Pallet – A portable, horizontal, rigid platform used as a base for assembling, storing, stacking, handling and transporting goods as a unit load, often equipped with a superstructure

Pallet Dimensions – When specifying pallet size, the stringer or stringerboard (block pallet) length is always expressed first; for example, a 48″ x 40″ pallet has a 48″ stringer or stringerboard and 40″ deckboards

Pallet Life – The period during which the pallet remains useful, expressed in units of time or in the number of one-way trips

Partial Four-Way Stringer Pallet – A pallet with notched stringers

Post Pallet – A pallet fitted with posts or blocks between the decks or beneath the top deck; see block pallet

Repair – To remake in order to use again

Recycling – A pallet, container or reel that has been used, discarded, salvaged, repaired and which passes through a cycle again

Returnable/Reusable Pallet – A pallet designed to be used for more than one trip

Reversible – A pallet with identical top and bottom decks

Shipping Pallet – Pallet designed to be used for a single one-way trip from shipper to receiver; it is then disposed; see Expendable Pallet

Single-Wing Pallet – A pallet with the top deckboards extending beyond the edges of the stringers or stringer-boards with the bottom deckboards flush (if present)

Skid – A pallet having no bottom deck

Slave Pallet – Pallet, platform or single, thick panel used as a support base for a palletized load in rack-storage facilities or production systems

Softwood – Wood from coniferous or needle-bearing trees (not necessarily soft or low density)

Solid Deck Pallet – A pallet constructed with no spacing between deckboards

Strap Slot – Recess or cutout on the upper edge of the stringer or the bottom of the top deckboard to allow tie-down of a unit load to the pallet deck with strapping/banding, also called the banding notch

Strapping – Thin flat bands used to secure load to pallet

Stringer – Continuous, longitudinal, solid or notched beam-component of the pallet used to support deck components, often identified by location as the outside or center stringer

Stringerboard – In block pallets, continuous, solid board member extending for the full length of the pallet perpendicular to deckboard members and placed between deckboards and blocks

Top Cap – Panel to be placed on top of a unit load to allow for tight strapping without damaging the unit load

Top-Deck of the Pallet – The assembly of deckboards comprising the upper load-carrying surface of the pallet

Trip – Consists of four to six handlings of a pallet

Two-Way Entry Pallet – A pallet with un-notched solid stringers allowing entry only from the ends

Unit Load – Assembly of goods on a pallet for handling, moving, storing and stacking as a single entity

Warehouse Pallet – A double-face multiple trip returnable pallet intended for

general warehouse use

Wing – Overhang of deckboard end from outside edge of stringer or stringer-board