Glossary of Pallet Terms:

# Annularly Threaded Nail: pallet nail with annular (ring) threads rolled onto shank

# Banding Notch: See Strap Slot

# Bin: multi-sided superstructure to be mounted on pallet base, with or without a cover; also known as a box or container

# Block: rectangular, square, multi-sided or cylindrical deck or deck-mat spacer, often identified by its location within the pallet as corner block, end block, edge block, inner block, center or middle block.

# Block Pallet: a type of pallet with blocks between the pallet decks or beneath the top deck

# Bottom Deck: Assembly of deckboards comprising the lower, load bearing surface of the pallet

# Butted Deckboard: An inner deckboard placed tightly against an adjacent lead deckboard during pallet assembly

# Captive Pallet: A pallet intended for use within the confines of a single facility, system or ownership; not intended to be exchanged

# Chamfered Deckboard: a deckboard with the edges of one or two faces beveled, either along the full or specified length of board or between the stringers or blocks, facilitating entry of pallet-jack wheels and tines of forklift trucks

# Closed "Loop" or Closed Distribution System: a shipping system restricted to moving goods between specified plants and facilities

# Cost-Pass-Through: A cost-share system where the partial cost of a pallet is passed-through from the purchaser to the receiver of the pallet

# Cost Per Trip: average cost of pallet or container use for a single one-way movement of the unit load consisting of four to six handlings

# Deck: One or more boards or panels comprising the top or bottom surface of the pallet

# Deckboard: Element or component of a pallet deck, oriented perpendicular to the stringer or stringerboard

# Deckboard Spacing: Distance between adjacent deckboards

# Deckboard Span: Distance between deckboard supports (stringers, stringerboards or blocks)

# Deflection: The amount of deformation or bending in a pallet or pallet component under load

# Double-Wing Pallet: A pallet with top and bottom deckboards extending beyond the edges of the stringers or stringerboards

# Drive-Screw Nail: continuously helically threaded or fluted pallet nail

# Economic Life: the number of trips the pallet will make over its lifetime, provided it is properly repaired, which maximized the return on the investment (an output of the PDS software)

# Exchange Pallet: a multiple-use pallet intended for use among a designated group of shippers and receivers where possession of the pallet is transferred with the ownership of the unit load; pool pallet

# Expendable Pallet: a pallet intended for a limited series of handlings during a single unit load movement from shipper to receiver

# Fastener: a device for connecting pallet components such as nails, staples, screws, bolts, lag bolts, adhesives and welds

# Fastener Shear Index: measure of the estimated shear resistance of the pallet fastener relative to the shear resistance of a high-quality "baseline" pallet nail

# Flush Pallet: a pallet with deckboards flush with the stringers, stringerboards or blocks along the ends and sides of the pallet

# Fork Entry: Opening between decks, beneath the top deck or beneath the stringer notch to admit forks

# Four-Way Block Pallet: a pallet with openings at both opposite pallet ends and sides sufficient to admit hand-pallet jacks; full four-way entry pallet

# Free Span: the distance between spacers within the pallet; distance between external pallet supports, as in a warehouse rack

# Grocery Pallet: a generic reference to the pallets used in grocery manufacturing, distribution and retailing; historically, it meant a "GMA pallet" which was a pallet specified by the Grocery Manufacturers' Association.

# Hand (Wheel) Jack Opening: Space provided in the bottom deck to allow pallet jack wheels to bear on the floor

# Handling: a single pick-up; movement as a result of picking up, transporting, and setting down of an empty or loaded pallet

# Hardwood: a wood from broad-leafed tree species (not necessarily hard in texture or dense)

# Inner Deckboard: Any deckboard located between the end deckboards

# Joint: Intersection and connection of components, often identified by location within the pallet as the end joint, center joint and corner joint

# Length: Refers to the stringer or stringerboard (in block pallets) length; also refers to the first dimension given to describe a pallet i.e., 48" x 40", where 48" is the pallet stringer/stringerboard length

# Life to First Repair: the number of one-way trips of the pallet prior to requiring any repair

# Limited Use Pallet: a pallet designed for an average of up to nine trips, with an average of five handlings per trip in an average environment

# Line Load: The weight of a unit load concentrated along a narrow area across the full length or width of the pallet

# Load Bearing Surface: the interface between pallet top deck and the unit load supported by the pallet; interface between pallet bottom deck and pallet-supporting area

# Logistics: The process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services, and related information from point of origin ro point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements.

# Multiple Use Pallet: a pallet designed for repeated uses for more than one unit load with an average minimum life-to-first repair of ten trips or more, with an average of five handlings per trip in an average handling environment

# National Wooden Pallet and Container Association: A national association with the goal of promoting the design, manufacture, distribution, recycling, and sale of pallets, containers, and reels

# Non-Reversible Pallet: A pallet with bottom deckboard configuration different from top deck

# Notch: Cutout in lower portion of the stringer to allow entry for the fork tine, usually 9" in length, 1 1/2" in depth

# Notched Stringer: a stringer with two or more notches spaced for fork-tine entry (partial four-way entry)

# Opening Height: The vertical distance measured between decks, from the floor to the underside of the top deck, or from the floor to the top of the stringer notch

# Overall Height: The vertical distance measured from the floor to the top side of the top deck

# Overhang: The distance the deck extends from the outer edge of the stringer or stringerboard; wing; lip; distance the unit load extends beyond the deck

# Pallet: a portable, horizontal, rigid, composite platform used as a base for assembling, storing, stacking, handling, and transporting goods as a unit load, often equipped with a superstructure

# Pallet Dimensions: When specifying pallet size, the stringer or stringerboard (block pallet) length is always expressed first; for example, a 48" x 40" pallet has a 48" stringer or stringerboard and 40" deckboards

# Pallet Jack: Hand-propelled wheeled platform, equipped with a lifting device for moving palletized unit loads

# Pallet Life: the period during which the pallet remains useful under given maintenance conditions, expressed in units of time or in the number of one-way movements of the pallet

# Quality: consistent performance of a uniform product meeting the customer's needs for economy and function, normally represented in terms of conformance to predetermined, agreed standards

# Recycled Pallet: a pallet that has been used, discarded, salvaged, repaired, or rebuilt in order to pass through another cycle or cycles of use . . . environmentally responsible

# Rental Pallet: a pallet owned by other than the user and rented by the user

# Returnable/Reusable Pallet: a pallet designed to be used for more than one trip; multiple-use pallet

# Reversible Pallet: a pallet with identical or similar top and bottom decks, to allow either one to support the unit load

# Shipping Pallet: a pallet designed to be used for a one-direction movement of the unit load from shipper to receiver; it is then recycled or disposed of

# Shook: Cut-to-size pallet parts to be assembled into pallets

# Shook Grade: The classification of the quality of pallet parts relative to performance characteristics based on size and distribution of defects, independent of wood species

# Single Wing Pallet: a pallet with the top deckboards or deck extending beyond the outer edge of the stringers or stringerboards and with the bottom deckboards or deck, if any, flush with the outer edges of the stringers or stringerboards

# Skid: a pallet without bottom deckboards or deck

# Slave Pallet: a rigid or platform; single, thick panel used as a support base for a palletized load in warehouse rack-storage facilities or production systems

# Soft Nail: Pallet nail with a MIBANT angle equal to or greater than 47 degrees

# Softwood: wood from coniferous or needlebearing species of trees (not necessarily soft in texture or of low density)

# Solid Deck Pallet: A pallet constructed with no spacing between deckboards

# Span: The distance between stringer or block supports

# Strap Slot: Recess or cutout on the upper edge of the stringer or the bottom of the top deckboard to allow tie-down of a unit load to the pallet deck with strapping/banding, also called the banding notch

# Strapping: Thin flat bands used to secure load to pallet

# Stringer: continuous, longitudinal, solid or notched beam-component of the pallet used to support and space the deck components, often identified by location as the outside, interior, or center stringer

# Stringerboard: In block pallets, continuous, solid board member extending for the full length of the pallet perpendicular to deckboard members and placed between deckboards and blocks

# Take-It-Or-Leave-It Pallet: A pallet fitted with fixed cleats on the top deckboards to permit fork truck tines to pass beneath the unit load and remove it from the pallet

# Top Cap: Panel to be placed on top of a unit load to allow for tight strapping without damaging the unit load

# Top-Deck of the Pallet: The assembly of deckboards comprising the upper load-carrying surface of the pallet

# Trip: a series of four to six handlings of a pallet, required to move a palletized unit load from the shipping point to the receiving point

# Two-Way Entry Pallet: A pallet with un-notched solid stringers allowing entry only from the ends

# Unit Load: Assembly of goods on a pallet for handling, moving, storing and stacking as a single entity

# Wing: overhang of deckboard or deck end from the outside edge of the stringer, to increase unit-load area, to add pallet load-bearing capacity, to reduce deckboard-end splitting by fasteners, and to facilitate the lifting of a pallet with bar slings hanging from a crane