Tier sheet
A tier sheet, also called a layer pad or tier pad, is a flat sheet of corrugated board or plastic placed between layers of product on a pallet. It spreads load across the layer below, stabilizes the stack and protects product from the deckboards; corrugated triple-wall pads are common on 40x48 loads.
Also called layer pad, tier pad, layer sheet
Reviewed
How tier sheets are specified
| Field | Examples |
|---|---|
| Material | corrugated (single, double or triple wall), plastic |
| Size | matches the pallet or load footprint, e.g. 40 x 48 in |
| Board grade | stated as wall and burst or ECT rating, e.g. triple wall ECT-90 |
| Position | between each layer, on the deck, or on top of the load |
Plastic layer pads are reusable and are sold by plastic pallet makers alongside their pallets.
What tier sheets do
- Spread load: bridge gaps and uneven tops so boxes in the layer below are loaded evenly
- Stabilize: tie a layer of cans, bottles or small cases together
- Protect: a pad on the deck keeps deck gaps and board edges from marking or crushing the bottom layer
Tier sheet vs slip sheet
A slip sheet replaces the pallet and has a tab for a push-pull attachment. A tier sheet has no tab and is used with a pallet. Some people use the terms loosely, so confirm what is meant. See unit load design.
Questions
- Do I need a tier sheet on the pallet deck?
- Often it helps when the bottom layer is small cartons, bags or containers that could sag into deck gaps or be marked by board edges.
Related
- Slip sheetA slip sheet is a thin fiberboard or plastic sheet used instead of a pallet and moved by a push-pull forklift attachment. 44x52 in suits a 40x48 load.
- Unit loadA unit load is a pallet plus the goods and packaging on it, secured to move as one piece. Unit load design treats pallet, boxes and stretch wrap as one system.
- Deck gapA deck gap is the open space between adjacent deckboards. A GMA-style 48x40 has 3.25 in top gaps: (48 - 28.5 in of boards) / 6 spaces with ends flush.
- Unit load design: designing the pallet and packaging togetherUnit load design treats the pallet, packaging and stabilizers as one system. How box footprint, stacking pattern, deck gaps and wrap affect cost and damage.
- Two-way entryA two-way entry pallet takes fork tines from two opposite ends only. An unnotched stringer pallet is two-way: the forks go between the stringers.
- Unidirectional baseA unidirectional base is a block-pallet bottom whose boards all run in one direction, with no crosswise bottom boards, giving full four-way pallet-jack entry.