Single-face
A single-face pallet has only a top deck: its stringers, runners or blocks rest directly on the floor with no bottom deck. A skid is the most common example. It uses less wood than a double-face pallet but gives less support for stacking and conveyors.
Also called single-faced pallet, single-deck pallet
Reviewed
Where single-face fits in the classification
Deck style is one of the fields in the standard pallet classification string, with three values: Single-Face, Double-Face Non-Reversible and Double-Face Reversible. A single-face stringer pallet is often called a skid, and its stringers are often called runners.
Pros and cons
| Single-face | Double-face | |
|---|---|---|
| Wood and nails | less | more |
| Pallet jack entry between runners | easy, nothing on the floor side | needs wheel openings |
| Bearing on floor or load below | only the narrow runner faces | spread by bottom deckboards |
| Conveyors, stacking | limited | better |
When to use it
Single-face construction suits loads that are moved by forklift or dragged into place and stay on the floor, such as machinery bases and crate bases. When unit loads will be stacked or run on roller conveyors, a bottom deck is usually worth the extra wood. See single-face pallet.
Questions
- Is a skid the same as a single-face pallet?
- Effectively yes. A skid is a pallet with no bottom deck, which is what single-face means.
Related
- SkidA skid is a pallet with no bottom deck: deckboards fastened across runners that rest on the floor. Skids are used for machinery, crate bases and floor handling.
- Double-faceA double-face pallet has both a top and a bottom deck. It can be non-reversible (fewer bottom boards, like a GMA 48x40) or reversible (identical decks).
- RunnerA runner is the stringer of a skid, the long base member resting on the floor. On plastic pallets, runners are rails that let the pallet ride conveyors.
- Single-face pallet: top deck onlyA single-face pallet has a top deck only, with no bottom deckboards under its stringers or blocks. Skids are the common example. When to use one, and specs.
- Skid: the pallet with no bottom deckA skid is a single-face pallet with no bottom deck: a top deck nailed to runners. Learn when a skid beats a pallet, typical runner sizes and how to specify one.
- Slope of grainSlope of grain is how far wood fibers run off a board's long axis. The Uniform Standard allows at most 1 in 4 on both reusable and single-use pallets.
Sources
- Uniform Standard for Wood Pallets (NWPCA, now Woodpack Global), 2012 edition
- Crate Pro: pallet terminology