Buying pallets for an outbound load comes down to three choices: size, grade and whether the load leaves the country. Used Grade A or B covers most domestic freight, combo and new suit loads that want consistency, and heat-treated is for export.
| Load | Usual choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Packaged food and clean goods | Grade A, or clean new | No repairs, no stains, consistent deck |
| General freight and parts | Grade B | Repaired pallets carry freight well and cost less |
| Heavy or racked loads | Combo or new | Consistent lumber and fasteners |
| Export of equipment or goods | Heat-treated with the ISPM 15 mark | Required by most destination countries |
| Odd footprint or tool | Custom build | Cut to the product, not to a stock size |
Grade B means repaired with replaced deck boards or a plug. It ships fine. It is not what a clean-room line or a food packer usually wants.
The 48 by 40 inch pallet is the default, and the standard racking and trailers are built around it. Move off it only when the product demands: 42 by 42 for telecommunications and paint, 48 by 48 for drums and bulk, 48 by 45 for automotive parts, and 48 by 42 for chemical and beverage loads. The size hub draws each footprint to scale.
Euro pallets, 800 by 1200 millimetres, are a European standard and rarely needed in the South Bay unless your customer abroad requires one.
Buying starts with a request, not a catalog. No stock list, stock count or price is published, because stock and price depend on what is available the week you ask. State the grade, size and count you need and how often, and say whether the load exports.
If your need is steady, buy by the trailer. If your problem is the other side of the dock, the sell side is where to start.
A dock that ships every week can buy by the trailer on a repeating schedule. Several hundred pallets a week is several trailers, and receiving them matters as much as the pallets.
| Detail | What to say |
|---|---|
| Volume per week | Trailers or pallets, whichever you track |
| Grade mix | All Grade B, A on request, some combo |
| Receiving | Dock height door, ground level, or a yard |
| Schedule | Fixed weekday, or flexible |
| Return | Whether you also have empties to sell |
A 3PL that receives mixed pallets and ships on sorted ones is on both sides of the dock, and both flows can run on one schedule. Footprint also decides how much container floor is wasted: in a 40-foot ISO container the 48x40 wastes 3.7 percent, a 1,000 by 1,200 mm pallet 6.7, a 42x42 11.5 and a Euro pallet 15.2.
Say the size, grade, count and how often.
Request sorted used pallets by grade and size through the request form. Used pallets explains the options.
No prices are published. They depend on grade, size, count and timing.
Sources, last reviewed 12 November 2026