You may have seen that some pallets have a solid deck as opposed to the open deck or open grid design. We wanted to review the benefits of the solid deck pallets and dispel a common myth.

Myth: Solid Deck Plastic Pallets are stronger than their open deck counterparts.

Fact: All else being equal, a solid deck and open deck pallet of the same design are equal in loading capacity. It is the vertical rib structure under the deck of the pallet that provides the strength. The solid deck skin equates to a horizontal rib and doesn’t provide much strength at all. This principle can be demonstrated using a square piece of cardboard. It’s relatively easy to bend the cardboard when held horizontally. Now take that same piece and place it on a table vertically and try to bend it. It’s much more difficult.

Here is an example from our plastic pallet offering, the PP-O-40-NL3 and PP-S-40-NL3 pallets. One pallet has an open deck design and weighs 22 lbs, the closed deck pallet weighs 23 lbs.

Open Deck

Closed Deck

Despite the additional 1 lbs of plastic and solid deck design, both nestable pallets have identical load capacity ratings: 2200 lbs dynamic and 5500 lbs static.

So then why do we offer solid deck pallets? There are 3 main reasons: Aesthetics, Hygenics, and Small Parts.

1. Aesthetics: Many customers prefer the look of the solid deck pallets and possibly because they “look” stronger.
2. Hygenics: The solid deck provides less flow through for contaminants and makes them easier to clean
3. Small Parts: For applications where a small part or box is loaded onto the pallet, an open deck design may not work because there isn’t enough surface for the part to firmly rest upon.

Why not just make all your pallet solid deck then?

The answer is simple. It requires more material to close the spaces between the ribs and more material means higher cost, though it’s typically a modest increase.

If you have any questions about whether you need a solid deck plastic pallet or not, please contact us.

About Robin Kiefer

Robin Spencer Kiefer connects customers with solutions and products. Robin is the Digital Marketing Manager of One Way Solutions.

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