Pallet types
Single-face pallet: top deck only
Reviewed
A single-face pallet has one deck, the top, and nothing across the bottom of its stringers or blocks. The skid is the common single-face design; it is cheaper and lighter than a double-face pallet but spreads load poorly when stacked and suits machinery, crates and one-way loads.
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What does single-face mean?
Face refers to a deck. The Uniform Standard and the Pallet Design System classify every pallet's deck style as single-face, double-face non-reversible or double-face reversible. A single-face pallet has only a top deck. Its stringers or blocks stand directly on the floor, rack beam or load below.
In practice almost every single-face pallet is a stringer design on heavy runners, which is why the term is used interchangeably with skid.
How a single-face pallet is built
| Component | Single-face | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Top deck | Deckboards or a panel | Often 3/4 in or thicker, since it is the only deck |
| Stringers or runners | 2 to 5, often 3-1/2 in square or larger | They are the floor contact |
| Bottom deck | None | Saves boards, nails and height |
| Overall height | Top thickness + runner height | e.g. 3/4 + 3-1/2 = 4-1/4 in |
Without a bottom deck, the pallet saves the bottom boards and every nail that holds them. On a GMA-style 48 x 40 that is 5 boards and 36 nails. Those savings are usually spent on heavier runners, since the runners take all the handling abuse.
When to use a single-face pallet
- Machinery bases and crate bases, where the load is bolted to the runners.
- Loads handled from the ends only, by forklift or pallet jack.
- One-way shipments where the pallet is not stacked loaded.
- Where a low overall height matters and a bottom deck adds nothing.
When not to use one
- Loaded stacking. Without a bottom deck, the runners of the upper pallet bear on narrow strips of the load below instead of spreading across it.
- Rack storage on systems that expect a double-face base.
- Pallet jacks and conveyors.
- Retail or pooled programs, which specify double-face pallets.
Single-face vs double-face
| Single-face | Double-face | |
|---|---|---|
| Decks | Top only | Top and bottom |
| Material | Less lumber in decks, heavier runners | More deck lumber |
| Stacking loaded | Poor | Good |
| Pallet jack | Ends only (no bottom boards to cross) | Ends, with chamfered bottom lead boards |
| Classification string | Single-Face | Double-Face Non-Reversible or Reversible |
How to specify a single-face pallet
- State "single-face" or "skid" and the size, runner length first.
- Runner count and section (e.g. three 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 in).
- Top deck: count, thickness and widths, or a panel.
- Wing or flush edges.
- Fasteners and any bolt pattern.
- Load weight, where it bears and how the pallet is lifted.
- Lumber species and ISPM 15 treatment if exported.
palletdesign.ai designs single-face pallets as stringer pallets with zero bottom boards and flags a stacked requirement. For a full walk-through of the skid version, see the 48 x 40 skid.
Questions
- Is a skid a single-face pallet?
- Yes. A skid is a single-face pallet: a top deck on runners with no bottom deck.
- Can a single-face pallet be 4-way?
- Only if its runners are notched or it sits on blocks. A single-face pallet on solid runners is 2-way: forklifts and pallet jacks enter from the ends, between the runners.
- Why choose a single-face pallet?
- It saves the bottom boards and their nails and suits bolted machinery, crate bases and one-way loads that are not stacked.