What size pallet does the grocery industry use?

48 x 40 in (1219 x 1016 mm). It is the GMA footprint, used for one-way stringer pallets and for pooled block pallets.

Is a GMA pallet a stringer or block pallet?

The classic GMA pallet is a stringer pallet with 3 notched stringers, giving partial 4-way entry. Pooled grocery pallets on the same 48 x 40 footprint are usually block pallets with full 4-way entry.

How much weight can a 48 x 40 grocery pallet hold?

It depends on how it is supported. One published PDS example rated a GMA-style pallet at 1,558 lb racked across its length and 5,223 lb stacked one high on the floor; confirm your design with a PDS analysis or test.

Does Costco accept stringer pallets?

Costco requires pooled block pallets and approves purpose-built pallets only by exception, with a PDS report. Check the current Costco vendor guide.

Industries

Pallets for the grocery industry

Reviewed September 25, 2026

In short

The grocery industry runs on the 48 x 40 in (1219 x 1016 mm) pallet, either a GMA-style stringer pallet (3 notched stringers, 7 top and 5 bottom deckboards, 4.75 in tall) or a pooled 48 x 40 block pallet. It is the most common US footprint, often cited at about 30% of new wood pallets.

On this page

Common pallet sizes
Construction and spec notes
Buyer requirements
What to put in the RFQ

Common pallet sizes

Grocery and consumer packaged goods standardized on one footprint so that pallets, racks, trailers and store backrooms all fit together. Almost every grocery RFQ is for a 48 x 40 in pallet; the other sizes show up for specific product families.

Size	Construction	Typical grocery use
48 x 40 in (1219 x 1016 mm)	Stringer, partial 4-way (GMA style)	Cased dry grocery, canned goods, household products, one-way and multi-trip shipments
48 x 40 in block	Block, full 4-way, perimeter base	Pooled rental programs (CHEP, PECO) and retailer-required pooled loads
40 x 40 in	Stringer or block	Dairy cases (see dairy pallets)
48 x 42 in, 36 x 36 in	Stringer	Beverage (see beverage pallets)

The 48 x 40 is listed in ISO 6780 and ANSI MH1, and summaries of ANSI MH1 put 48 x 40 and 40 x 48 together at over one third of all pallets produced. Length (the stringer direction) is stated first, so a 48 x 40 has 48 in stringers and 40 in deckboards.

Construction and spec notes

The GMA-style 48 x 40 stringer pallet

The GMA pallet is the reference design for grocery. A typical build, taken from published Pallet Design System example sheets:

Component	Typical spec
Stringers	3 notched, 1-3/8 x 3-1/2 x 48 in (1-1/4 in is also common)
Top deck	7 boards, 5/8 in thick: two 5-1/2 in lead boards plus five 3-1/2 in interior boards, 3.25 in gaps
Bottom deck	5 boards: two 5-1/2 in leads plus three 3-1/2 in boards clustered between the notches
Notches	2 per stringer, 9 in long, 6 in from each end
Overall height	4.75 in (5/8 + 3-1/2 + 5/8)
Nails	84 (48 top, 36 bottom), 2-1/4 in helically threaded, 0.112 in wire
Lumber	13.5 board feet, about 59 lb in green mixed hardwood

The notches give partial four-way entry: forklifts can enter from all four sides, but a pallet jack only from the two ends. If store receiving uses pallet jacks from the side, specify a block pallet instead.

Loads, racking and stacking

Grocery loads are cased goods (corrugated boxes, trays, shrink bundles) stacked in columns or interlocked and held with stretch wrap. That is close to a uniformly distributed load, which is the easiest case for a pallet. The hard case is rack storage in a distribution center, where the pallet spans between two beams.

State the support condition with any capacity number. In one published PDS example for a 48 x 40 GMA-style pallet, the same design was rated at 1,558 lb racked across the length on a 44 in span and 5,223 lb stacked one high on the floor. Vendor load claims for "GMA pallets" vary widely, so treat them as illustrative and confirm with a PDS analysis or a physical test to ASTM D1185 or ISO 8611. See pallet load capacity.

Lumber and fasteners

GMA-style pallets are commonly built from green mixed hardwood, as in the published reference spec sheets, with southern yellow pine and SPF also used. Nail quality matters for multi-trip pallets: in a Virginia Tech study, a GMA pallet built with 11-1/2 gauge (0.112 in) nails lasted about twice as many trips as one built with 12-1/2 gauge (0.099 in) collated nails.

Buyer requirements

Costco requires pooled block pallets and accepts purpose-built pallets only by exception. An exception needs a PDS report that includes racking capacity and a user-specified deflection limit with its matching maximum load; approval lasts one year. Moisture content must be below 19% for containerized shipments. See Costco pallet requirements.
BJ's, as summarized by Virginia Tech, limits unit loads to 2,500 lb and requires them to be double-stackable.

Retailer rules change. Confirm with the current vendor guide before quoting.

What to put in the RFQ

Footprint and orientation: 48 x 40 in, stringer length first
Construction: GMA-style stringer (partial 4-way) or block (full 4-way)
Pooled, one-way or multi-trip (reusable) use
Maximum and average load weight, case size and stacking pattern
Support: racked across length or width (beam span), floor-stack height, trailer stacking
Lumber species and grade, moisture content, heat treatment if exported
Nail spec (length, wire diameter, shank type)
Annual volume, release quantity, delivery point and target price

The pallet RFQ guide covers each field.

Questions

What size pallet does the grocery industry use?: 48 x 40 in (1219 x 1016 mm). It is the GMA footprint, used for one-way stringer pallets and for pooled block pallets.
Is a GMA pallet a stringer or block pallet?: The classic GMA pallet is a stringer pallet with 3 notched stringers, giving partial 4-way entry. Pooled grocery pallets on the same 48 x 40 footprint are usually block pallets with full 4-way entry.
How much weight can a 48 x 40 grocery pallet hold?: It depends on how it is supported. One published PDS example rated a GMA-style pallet at 1,558 lb racked across its length and 5,223 lb stacked one high on the floor; confirm your design with a PDS analysis or test.
Does Costco accept stringer pallets?: Costco requires pooled block pallets and approves purpose-built pallets only by exception, with a PDS report. Check the current Costco vendor guide.