Pallet sizes are quoted length by width in inches, and the footprint that matters to a South Bay dock is the square feet each one covers on the floor. The 48 by 40 inch pallet is the standard; the others serve particular trades.
| Size (in) | Millimetres | Square feet | Usually found in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 x 40 | 1,219 x 1,016 | 13.3 | General freight; the GMA standard |
| 48 x 48 | 1,219 x 1,219 | 16.0 | Drums, chemicals and bulk |
| 42 x 42 | 1,067 x 1,067 | 12.3 | Telecommunications and paint |
| 48 x 45 | 1,219 x 1,143 | 15.0 | Automotive plants and suppliers |
| 48 x 42 | 1,219 x 1,067 | 14.0 | Chemical and beverage |
| 800 x 1200 mm | 800 x 1,200 | 10.3 | Imported equipment; the Euro pallet |
There are no universally accepted standards for pallet dimensions, and the GMA organization no longer governs pallet specifications. The sizes above are the ones that show up on South Bay docks, ranked by how often they appear in North American production.
A hundred empties stacked ten high on 48x40s take 10 stacks and about 133 square feet. The same hundred on 48x48s take 160, and on 42x42s 123. The difference between sizes is small per pallet and real over a stack. The floor calculator runs every size.
Match the size to what your racking, trailers and customers already handle. Pallets should pack tightly inside intermodal containers and vans to avoid shipping air, so the right footprint is the one that fills the trailer. Switch from 48x40 only when the product requires it.
If your pallets arrive in a size you do not use, they are cores to someone: see selling pallet cores.
Fifth in North American production, the 48 by 42 sits between the 48x40 and the 48x48. Two inches is hard to see across a dock, so measure the short side before listing a pile: a 48x42 among 48x40s looks right until it is racked, when the extra width catches the beam.
Four drums fit a 48 by 48 deck two by two with a margin on each side; on a 48 by 40 the same four overhang the narrow side. Bulk-bag and container loads use the square for the same reason, equal support both ways. Used 48x48s are less common, so a surplus goes to shippers who use the same footprint; mention any chemical staining.
The trades that use the 42 by 42 are not big users of the 48x40, so it turns up as a minority in mixed piles. It does not stack evenly on 48x40s, and a stack that mixes the two leans: keep them in their own stacks and list them as a share of the mix.
Semiconductor tool makers, lab-equipment importers and electronics suppliers in Santa Clara and North San Jose receive machines and parts from Europe on the pallet the maker used, about 31.5 by 47.2 inches. After unpacking it stays, and since it fits American racking poorly it is a core until someone needs one, usually a shipper sending goods back to Europe. Having crossed a border it should carry an ISPM 15 mark, and a legible mark is what lets it travel on: see reading the HT stamp.
The 48 by 45, seventh in North American production, comes into the Bay Area with automotive freight through Fremont, where the Tesla factory is the city's largest employer at about 25,000 workers per the city's 2024 report. Suppliers' pallets cross the bay to Milpitas and San Jose docks, so a 48x45 is a stray in most piles and a regular in a few. Five inches on one side is enough to shift a mixed stack: keep them apart, list them as their own line, and say if the source is steady, since a steady supply of one odd size places differently from a stray.
48 by 40 inches (1,219 by 1,016 mm). ISO accepts the CBA's 48 by 40 specification as the North American standard pallet size.
A 48 by 40 pallet is about 13.3 square feet. Other sizes are in the table above.
Sources, last reviewed 12 November 2026