Businesses choose shipping pallets based on factors such as weight capacity, durability, and shock absorption. Wooden pallets are cheap but prone to damage, while plastic pallets are more expensive but can handle heavier loads. Specialized pallets made of materials like iron or steel are used for extremely heavy items. Some pallets are disposable, while others can be reused. Different pallets are used for different types of cargo, such as fragile items or large, heavy equipment.
Businesses use a number of factors to decide the best type of shipping pallet to load their products on. For example, while a wooden pallet is relatively inexpensive, it is also prone to chipping or breaking when heavy loads are stacked. A plastic shipping pallet can safely handle much heavier loads and tends to last longer than other designs, but it’s also much more expensive. To load large items that have considerable weight, some companies will have a specialized pallet made of iron, steel, or a number of other materials. Some businesses will also use a rubberized shipping pallet to transport fragile cargo as it provides lower levels of shock absorption.
The most popular type of pallet worldwide is made from scrap plywood pieces and they are often considered disposable, meaning manufacturers simply throw them away once damaged. A wooden shipping pallet is constructed with two horizontal struts on the outer edges plus a third straight in the center: numerous vertical slats line the top and bottom. This design is particularly popular because it allows specialized mechanical lifters to easily move the shipping pallet to and from transport vehicles without damaging the cargo. However, these types of pallets break easily, with an average life often of a few individual loads.
A plastic shipping pallet is molded in a similar pattern and can often withstand much greater force than conventional designs. Because the outer frame is solid, the weight is distributed much better across the top of the shipping pallet—the frame also tends to last for several years. Businesses that prefer to use a plastic shipping pallet typically do so because their products are much more likely to become out of balance in transit, such as with liquids or soft paper and linens.
Other types of shipping pallets come in thousands of other shapes and sizes, and many of them can only be used once before being disassembled. This process is especially popular with extremely large or heavy items, and without a custom shipping pallet, there would be absolutely no way to get it onto a transport vehicle. For example, rig equipment can easily weigh ten times more than the truck or boat carrying it, so a specialized rig is essential to keep it stable. In this case, the pallet can be made of carbon steel with multiple layers of rubber applied to increase grip, and can only be loaded with the aid of a crane. After the punch part is delivered, the whole shipping pallet would be melted down so that the materials can be reused.
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