Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

US Sized Pallets

4088 views
16 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Thursday, January 24, 2019 7:25 AM

I don't think I've seen that fleet before Frank, nice!

Mike.

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Chi-Town
  • 7,712 posts
Posted by zstripe on Thursday, January 24, 2019 5:42 AM

US Pallets are termed four-way...40 x 48......so they would fit in a 96'' wide 40ft trailer floor and can be turned so you could get more in, until the 45ft trailers came out, then with them turned you could get even more in, especially with a 102'' wide trailer. Four-way 40 x 48 pallets were worth their weight in gold in the Trucking hey-days. All built with hardwood and screw type nails. Most European pallets Are Not four-way.

Scale models of the Truck Line where I worked for 15yrs. out of the 45 yrs. that I have in the Trucking/Intermodal Industry. All painted and built by Me with custom made graphic's by Graphic's on Demand.

 

Take Care! Big Smile

Frank

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 11:52 PM

We had lots of pallets of various sizes at the steel plant where I worked, carrying all manner of brick and other refractory material, along with electric motors, machinery and machinery parts - you name it, it came on pallets or skids.

We also had very substantial skids (don't recall the exact size, but at least 4'x4') for shipping high-value coils of coated steel in boxcars.  The skids consisted of three 6"x6" hardwood stringers, topped by 2"x6" hardwood planks, with about 1" space between them.  Empty, they weighed just over 300lbs. and when new (1980s) cost $70.00 each. 
They were generally re-used, but if damaged (even one board), were considered scrap, and were sent to the wood dump. 
Scavenging for them there was encouraged because anything not taken was simply crushed and taken to landfills - with thousands of tons of material, this was a great expense.
Instead, I went to the superintendent of the department which shipped the coils, and asked permission to remove their scrap skids.  Evidentally, regular scrap pick-up by Yard Services wasn't all that reliable, and I was allowed to pick-up as much as I wanted - clean, easy to cut with a Skil Saw firewood, for free!  I heated my house for several years burning that wood.

These HO scale ones measure 42"x48", but I don't know the manufacturer, as I got them off the "used" table at a former hobby shop... 

Tichy

offers skids (convertible to pallets) on page 40 of their HO scale catalogue.

Wayne

 

  • Member since
    November 2015
  • 723 posts
Posted by UNCLEBUTCH on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 3:17 PM

The ''pallets'' without the bottom boards were refered to as skids. Not ment to be stacked, and most often used for heavy items, steel, machine parts. Most were throw aways or one ways. The better built ones were returned to the owners. They would store them untill they had  a trailer load to goback.

BTW  I just came from Hobbylink, a search gave me over 20 offerings for pallets. Or buy a handful of strip wood ,make your own

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 2:20 PM

SeeYou190
I would just add them with 0.015" by 0.040" strip styrene if it bothered me.

But what if the pallet police come around!  Laugh

Mike.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 2:14 PM

The 1 by 4 pallet jack jumper would be difficult to mold in plastic injection. It would need to be a seperate piece in a kit.

.

I would just add them with 0.015" by 0.040" strip styrene if it bothered me.

.

I have about a half dozen pallets I made from stripwood I use in photography. On the layout, I would not notice or bother.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Southern California
  • 1,682 posts
Posted by Lone Wolf and Santa Fe on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 1:39 PM

chutton01

Might as well link to  this EUR-Pallet  and to this Pallet Sizes In The US. (which includes other countries standard sizes as well).

 

When I worked at Target all of the pallets were 48x40 and were the two way entry reversible as pictured on the Pallet Sizes In The US website. Soft drinks might have been on different pallets but the vendor was responsible for stocking them, not Target employees.

The difference in these pallets which I consider standard and the pallets which are available in HO scale is the 1x4 base board across the bottom which the pallet jack has to jump over to get under the pallet.

These pallets by Ertl don't have the baseboad but it's a minor detail that I can live with or without.

Several companies make pallets but none of them really make the correct. The closest ones I've found are laser cut kits made by Crescent Locomotive works. 

Modeling a fictional version of California set in the 1990s Lone Wolf and Santa Fe Railroad
  • Member since
    November 2015
  • 723 posts
Posted by UNCLEBUTCH on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 11:12 AM

When I drove for a pallet manufacturer, we had to carry a tape with us to make sure we had the correct size. You could not always tell just by looking.

Hauled a lot of foreign stuff off the docks. Only difference I saw the pallets were cheaper than ours. Had to restack many because the pallet just fell apart.

Perhaps you could throw a scale tarp over your stacks when the layout police came around.

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 9:33 AM

Another thing, on job sites, pallets that came with cement block, and some bricks, there was a charge, the block and/or brick company expected them back, or it was added on the bill.

Each time a delivery truck would bring more block, he'd pick up the empty pallets.

There is also a cottage industry out there where a guy with a full size pick up and a trailer will go around to job sites and pick up unclaimed pallets, I remember one guy told us he gets $7 for a pallet in reusable condition.

Mike.

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 9:23 AM

I worked on an injection molding plant where they made plastic pallets, their main customer was who ever owns Mountain Dew brand.

They made some crazy looking stuff, some of which looked like these:

Mike.

  • Member since
    November 2016
  • 476 posts
Posted by j. c. on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 8:55 AM
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • 3,139 posts
Posted by chutton01 on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 8:54 AM

Might as well link to  this EUR-Pallet  and to this Pallet Sizes In The US. (which includes other countries standard sizes as well).

  • Member since
    February 2015
  • From: Ludington, MI
  • 1,862 posts
Posted by Water Level Route on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 8:26 AM

As far as I can tell, the main differences are that a standard euro pallet does not use vertically oriented stringers.  Rather they use horizontal ones attached to 9 "feet" laid out like a 9 on a domino that raise the slats up high enough for a forklift to be able to lift them.  That and they're measured in millimeters as opposed to inches (The dimensions still appear to be very close to a 40x48 pallet here.)  It also appears that kiln dried lumber is standard though I may be mistaken (kiln dried is not required for shipments wholly within the U.S.).  Perhaps someone more knowledgeable will pipe in.

Mike

Mike

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 6:14 AM

A "standard" pallet in the United States, I believe, is 40" by 48". However, there are millions of them out there running around in different sizes.

.

What is the world is different about European pallets as opposed to United States pallets? I have unloaded containers from all over the world, and never noticed anything distinctive about one region's pallets from another. They are all made about the same size, and of equally cheap garbage wood (unless a leased pallet), and are one of three basic designs.

.

The tile for my house was made in Spain, and delivered on a wrapped sealed pallet. I sure didn't notice anything odd about the pallet from Spain.

.

Someone please post photos for me.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 6:10 AM

Mike, those look good!  Got me interested.

When I bought a bunch, probably off Ebay?  they were yellow to start with, so they might be Prieser?  but, I have a son and a SIL that work in logistics, and they have never asked me "Are those pallets the right size?" 

Through the years, at job sites, I've seen all sizes.  I don't think any particular size would be wrong.

Mike.

  • Member since
    February 2015
  • From: Ludington, MI
  • 1,862 posts
Posted by Water Level Route on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 5:49 AM

Is 100 too many?

https://www.shapeways.com/product/R89VWGJY6/ho-scale-40-quot-x48-quot-pallet-100-pack?optionId=58360325&li=marketplace

There are lesser amount for not nearly as good of a deal if you so desire.

Mike

Mike

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,289 posts
US Sized Pallets
Posted by FRRYKid on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 11:06 PM

Does anyone make an HO scale pallet that is accurate for the US? The only ones that I found are a European protoype. I am modeling an industrial area that needs a bunch. As usual, any assistance that can be provided most be most welcomed.

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!