Pallets for the beverage industry
Beverage pallets carry dense, heavy loads of bottles and cans, so they are built with thicker decks, tighter gaps and often 4 stringers. Besides the 48 x 40 in grocery footprint, the sizes commonly tied to beverage are 48 x 42, 36 x 36 and 48 x 36 in.
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Common pallet sizes
Beverage has more footprints than most industries because bottle and can sizes, case counts and delivery-truck bays vary by product and distribution route. These are the sizes commonly associated with beverage in size lists derived from ANSI MH1:
| Size | Metric | Typical beverage use |
|---|---|---|
| 48 x 40 in | 1219 x 1016 mm | Shipments into grocery and retail distribution centers |
| 48 x 42 in | 1219 x 1067 mm | Beverage and chemical loads |
| 36 x 36 in | 914 x 914 mm | Smaller beverage unit loads |
| 48 x 36 in | 1219 x 914 mm | Beverage, also used for shingles and paper |
The right size is the one the case pattern fills. A case layout that overhangs the pallet edge crushes the bottom corrugate, and one that leaves a large margin wastes trailer space. See choosing a pallet size.
Construction and spec notes
What makes beverage loads hard on pallets
Liquids are dense. A full layer of bottled or canned product weighs far more than the same volume of dry grocery, so a beverage pallet reaches its weight limit before its height limit. The load is still close to uniformly distributed, but the total is high, and it is often racked, double-stacked or moved many times through a route-delivery system.
Common ways to build for it:
- More stringers. Four stringers instead of three shorten the span of each deckboard, which cuts top-deck bending and deflection.
- Thicker decks. 3/4 in deckboards instead of 5/8 in for heavy or racked loads.
- Tighter gaps and more coverage. Higher deck coverage supports the bottom row of cases and keeps bottle bases or can trays from bridging gaps.
- Stronger nails. More or better fasteners per joint. The Uniform Standard minimum is 2 nails per joint for boards up to 5-1/4 in wide and 3 for boards up to 7 in.
Entry and handling
Route delivery trucks and store backrooms are often worked with pallet jacks, so check which sides a jack must enter from. A notched stringer pallet takes a jack from the ends only; a block pallet takes one from all four sides. See pallet jack compatibility.
Racking and stacking
State the rack span and orientation. Heavy beverage loads in rack put the stringers (racked across the length) or the deckboards (racked across the width) in bending, and wood creep adds sag over weeks in storage. palletdesign.ai runs an indicative beam check for a racked load; a certified rating needs a PDS analysis or a test to ASTM D1185 or ISO 8611.
Lumber and moisture
Beverage plants and cold storage can be wet. Specify the service environment (dry at 19% moisture content or below, or wet) and whether the pallet should be kiln dried. Wet service lowers the strength used in design, and green lumber can mold in closed trailers.
Buyer requirements
Beverage pallets shipped into grocery and club retail follow those retailers' rules. For example, Costco requires pooled block pallets and approves purpose-built pallets only by exception with a PDS report. See Costco pallet requirements and confirm with the current vendor guide.
What to put in the RFQ
- Footprint and which dimension the stringers run
- Case dimensions, weight, cases per layer and layers (or total load weight)
- Maximum load and whether it varies much between SKUs
- Racking: across length or width, beam span; floor or trailer stacking height
- Handling: forklift entry sides, pallet jack entry sides, conveyors
- Deck thickness, number of stringers, maximum top-deck gap
- Service environment (dry or wet, cold storage) and moisture content
- One-way, multi-trip or pooled; annual volume and delivery schedule
The pallet RFQ guide and unit load design cover the load side in more detail.
Questions
- What size pallet is used for beverages?
- 48 x 40 in for shipments into grocery and retail, plus 48 x 42, 36 x 36 and 48 x 36 in, which are commonly listed for beverage. The case pattern should decide the footprint.
- Why do beverage pallets need to be stronger?
- Bottled and canned liquids are dense, so a full-height unit load is heavy. Beverage pallets often use 4 stringers, 3/4 in decks and tighter gaps to carry that weight in racks and stacks.
- Should beverage pallets be block or stringer?
- Use a block pallet when pallet jacks must enter from all four sides, as in many route-delivery and store operations. A notched stringer pallet is fine where forklifts do most of the handling.
Related
- 48 × 42 pallet48 × 42 in (1219 × 1067 mm) pallet specs with drawings: stringer pallet 61 lb, block pallet 98 lb, skid 81 lb. Nail counts, board feet and parts lists for each build.
- 36 × 36 pallet36 × 36 in (914 × 914 mm) pallet specs with drawings: stringer pallet 48 lb, block pallet 81 lb, skid 61 lb. Nail counts, board feet and parts lists for each build.
- 48 × 36 pallet48 × 36 in (1219 × 914 mm) pallet specs with drawings: stringer pallet 55 lb, block pallet 92 lb, skid 77 lb. Nail counts, board feet and parts lists for each build.
- Pallet load capacity: safe load, support conditions and ratingsPallet load capacity depends on support: floor, stacked, forklift or racked. How safe load differs from breaking load, and how ratings are set.
- Pallet deck board spacing: how to calculate the gapsPallet deck board spacing: gap = (length - total board width) / (boards - 1). A 48x40 GMA top deck with 7 boards has 3.25 in gaps. Worked examples and limits.
- Pallets for the chemical industryChemical pallets: 48 x 48 in for four 55-gallon drums, 48 x 42 and 44 x 44 in, and CP1 to CP9 block pallets in Europe. Sizes, construction and RFQ checklist.