Getting The Wrong Pallets: A Costly Mistake

Minimum order quantities can make testing plastic pallets more expensive due to:

• Minimum order quantities
• Cost of shipping
• Downtime due to testing / loss of productivity
• Possible inventory damage
• More lost productivity if pallets don’t pass test / more pallets need to be tested

When shopping for the perfect plastic pallet you should have some confidence that success during the sampling process is likely! In order to have more confidence, assistance from one of our pallet expert should help with:

• Reducing the time it takes to find the perfect/proper pallet
• Reducing wasted freight costs & acquisition costs for testing pallets that don’t meet the needs of the customer.

Plastic Pallets for Free?!

Here at One Way Solutions, we have over 50 years of expertise in making sure that we connect our customers with the perfect plastic pallet for their needs. In doing this we have created an opportunity to allow our customers free pallet samples. We value our customers opinions and decisions when choosing our products. That being said, we have made it possible for our customers to sample any plastic pallet they may be interested in. Allowing free samples to our customers allows them the chance to see what our products are all about and gives them the ability to be matched with the perfect plastic pallet.

Start With A Sample Before You Buy

At One Way Solutions we allow our customers to sample our plastic pallets before committing to a purchase. We value our customers needs and satisfaction. In order for us to obtain 100% customer satisfaction we urge our customers to try a sample before making a purchase. Testing out our plastic pallets before purchasing is very important in making sure they serve their purpose to their fullest and best ability. When ordering a sample pallet some of the qualities to observe/test before purchase are:

• Size
• Capacity
• Durability
• Weight
• Stackability/Netsability/Rackability
• Deck type
• Runners: yes or no?
• Easy to transport
• Easy to clean

Free Samples 101

At One Way Solutions we value the choices our customers make when searching for the perfect plastic pallets.

We offer free plastic pallet samples as long as:

• The total cost of the samples is less than $50
• The quantity of units ordered is no greater than 2
• The customer pays for shipping (or uses their own carrier)

Share your Comments!

Are you interested in sampling one of our plastic pallets? Lets us know! We’d love to hear from you – please share thoughts in the comments below.

Need Help Selecting A Pallet?

Our Plastic Pallet Experts are happy to help you find the right plastic pallet and send you a quote that includes shipping costs. Please contact us to find the perfect pallet at the best price.

St. Louis Grand Opening!

Here at One Way Solutions, we are proud to announce the grand opening of our new St. Louis Warehouse! Our St. Louis warehouse will stock some of our best-selling, USA made pallets. In doing this we hope to outpace the constantly increasing demand for our plastic pallets! 

Fully Stocked!

Our St. Louis warehouse will be housing many of our best selling plastic pallets, some of which will include:

PP-O-32-N2 32 x 48” Nestable Euro Pal 2 Plastic Pallet

PP-O-40-Eco1.3R 40 x 48” Rackable / Stackable Open Deck Plastic Pallet – 3 Runners – Black

PP-O-40-NL3.1 40 x 48” Nestable Plastic Pallet – Medium Duty

PP-O-45-NL 45 x 48” Nestable Plastic Automotive Pallet

PP-O-4545-N 45 x 45” Nestable Plastic Pallet

PP-S-40-R3 40 x 48” Solid Deck Rackable Plastic Pallet

General Sizing Options

At our new St. Louis warehouse we will be carrying different sizing options for the products listed above. Our sizing options are measured in inches and range from:

• 32 x 48” (Euro Pallets – fit smaller European sized trucks)

• 40 x 48” (Most popular size in the USA, most styles are offered in this size)

• 45 x 48” (Most popular in the automotive industry)

• 45 x 45” (Most commonly used to transport drums and chemicals. Also commonly used by the ocean freight industry)

Allowing our pallets to be available in different sizes is beneficial to our customers located in and outside of the US. Our different sizes allow our pallets to fit in different size transportation vehicles, ocean freights, and air freights. This is important to us so that our customers all over the world can purchase and utilize our pallets! 

Nestable and Rackable

Our St. Louis warehouse will contain different pallet options such as nestable and rackable plastic pallets. Nestable plastic pallets are designed in a way to stack more pallets at a safer height while also maintaining structure and balance. While our Rackable plastic pallets are designed to be more durable and reliable when stored on racks.

Positives of our Nestable Plastic Pallets:

• Durable
• Save floor space • Safer
• Lighter in weight & density (reduces freight costs)
• Improve stackability
• Allow options for snap on runners

Positives of our Rackable Plastic Pallets:

• Maximize floor space
• FDA approved models available
• Fire Retardant models available
• Durable
• Reliable
• Safer

 

Our Promises to You!

At One Way Solutions we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction, quality products, great lead times, and exceeding customer expectations. These are goals and achievements we carry through to all of our shipping locations and warehouses. Our newest addition, being our St. Louis warehouse, will be held to the same standards to provide the best service imaginable!

• Lead Times – we promise to ship your order within 2-5 business days after the order is placed (depending on location).
• Customer Service – We promise to always provide the best customer service and be on site as soon as an issue occurs. Our customer service never expires!

What is an FDA Pallet?

With food handling safety becoming an increasing concern, many of our food, beverage, and agricultural customers are requesting FDA plastic pallets.

Also: Was a Listeria outbreak caused by wood pallets?

A plastic FDA Pallet must be molded using virgin plastic resin and is most commonly blue in color.

Does The FDA Test Pallets?

No, the FDA does not test pallets and there is no FDA pallet testing facility.

What Is An FDA Approved Pallet?

What does a pallet need to do to receive FDA approval?

Well actually, the FDA does not approve pallets. They just provide guidelines / regulations to protect us.

If a pallet is manufactured following FDA guidelines, then it meets the FDA’s requirements and is considered to be an FDA approved pallet.

FDA Pallet Regulations

FDA Pallet Regulations specify that pallets must made using basic component materials approved for single and repeated use food contact surfaces in compliance with the FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION – FDA standard as set forth in Title 21 CFR 117.1630.

What Should I Do If My Pallets Need FDA Certification?

I need more reassurance or documentation if I buy FDA Pallets – what should I do?

One Way Solutions will gladly provide certification in the form of a statement that a specific pallet is constructed using 100% virgin polyethylene (HDPE), a basic component
material approved for single and repeated use with food contact surfaces in
compliance with the FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION – FDA standard as set forth
in Title 21 CFR 117.1630.

Why Blue FDA Pallets?

We don’t know for sure – but here are some theories:

• The blue color helps set the pallets apart in warehouse full of wood colored and black colored pallets.
• The FDA logo is sometimes blue.
• Blue is traditionally symbolic of purity (drinking water).

What we do know is that it’s exceedingly difficult to manufacture a recycled plastic pallet in any color other than black or a shade of grey. So Blue and other vibrant colors, are a mark of purity and provide a strong indication that virgin resin was used to produce a pallet.

Manufacturing FDA Pallets

The reason recycled plastic pallets are hard to produce in a blue color, is that recycled plastic raw materials are rarely separated by color; the stock materials are usually a mix of different colored plastic flakes resembling a bowl of Fruity Pebbles (or Flintstones vitamins – take your pick).

In most cases, if no plastic colorant is added, you’ll end up with a black or grey pallet. Most pallet molders add carbon black to even out the finish and provide a consistent color. For this reason, it’s a solid bet that any pallet color other than black was made using virgin resin.

Plastic Pallet Trivia

Ready for some trivia? Good! Now that you’re learning plastic pallet rules, you should know when to break them.

Pro Tip: There are Black FDA Pallets and Grey FDA Pallets!

Extra Pro Tip: FDA pallets are made in Beige, Black, Blue, Red, Green, Grey, and Yellow – colors to suit all all tastes.

Virgin Resin Benefits

Why do FDA Plastic Pallets require virgin resin materials? Because purity is the key.

Virgin plastic resin provides transparency and can be traced to its source. It is clean and free of any contaminants, a crucial requirement for the food, beverage, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries.

In contrast, the source of recycled plastic materials is a unknown or untracked, coming from sources as such as consumer milk jugs, industrial crates, chemical containers, packaging materials and thousands of others post-consumer products – including retired plastic pallets themselves!

We Hope That Helps!

We hoped you enjoyed learning about FDA pallets.

We’d love to hear from you – please let us know how FDA pallets have helped you solve challenges for your business in the comments below.

Need Help Selecting An FDA Pallet?

Our Plastic Pallet Experts are happy to help you find the right plastic FDA Pallet and send you a quote that includes shipping costs.

Please contact us to find the perfect pallet at the best price.

What Is A Rackable Pallet?

So glad you asked. When our Pallet Experts refer to a Rackable Pallet, it means the pallet has the ability to bridge the span of a warehouse racking system, while supporting a certain weight.

But what more is there to know about rackable pallets?

Well, rackable pallets are usually used for heavy duty loads because of greater load capacity requirements. The need for greater capacity impacts the design of the pallet. These increased requirements increase the weight of the pallet itself due to the additional structure on the pallet’s underside to hold the excessive pressure.

Mostly found in warehouses and distribution centers, Rackable Plastic Pallets help companies save money by efficiently taking advantage of warehouse space, allowing more goods to be removed from the floor and stored to optimize higher density storage capabilities.

Manufacturing of Rackable Pallets

Rackable Pallets are either injection molded, rotationally molded, or structurally foam molded.

But enough about molds.

These processes enable internal reinforcement to the pallets because let’s be honest, extra weight requires extra support.

(Keep in mind however, that most are made to handle an edge racked load without the necessary reinforcement.)

At the end of the day, the “structure” of pallets is important to factor in with regards to manufacturing because it impacts the requirements (which in turn, impacts the cost).

Structure of Rackable Pallets

There are quite a few different types of Rackable structures, depending on what kind of racking is taking place.

Full Frame Cruciform:

• Allows the pallet to be racked in both dimensions. This design has essentially six runners on the bottom of the pallet giving it more structure and support.

Three Runners:

• Only can be placed in the rack where the runners are perpendicular to the beams.

Here’s a hot tipse: the racking system in use (beam, edge, roller, push-back, flow, cantilever and supported) defines the requirements for the pallet’s base structure.

For example, a full frame cruciform bottom helps forklift operators target the pallet on an edge rack. A three runner may be better suited for a simple beam rack.

Rackable Pallets Carried by OWS

At One Way Solutions, we offer some of the most reliable plastic rackable pallets on the market today. While being extremely durable, they are designed to be safely and securely stored on racks, which allows our customers to efficiently use all possible warehouse space.

One Way also carries fire retardant and FDA approved rackable models for your specific needs.

To see our selection, visit our Rackable Pallets.

Let me know how I can help!

* What’s the greatest challenge you face in your warehouse?
* We’re here to help meet unique challenges in your warehouse!

Share your Comments!

We’d love to hear from you – please let us know what other tricks you’ve used to save on freight – and check our our article on other ways to save money on pallet shipping charges.

Need Help Selecting A Pallet?

Our Plastic Pallet Experts are happy to help you find the right plastic Plastic Pallet and send you a quote that includes shipping costs.

Please contact us to find the perfect pallet at the best price.

Best Plastic Pallets

What are the best plastic pallets? Some say inexpensive plastic pallets are the best. Some say a pallet’s dimensions, like its size and weight are the most important factors. Pallet capacity is also extremely important to consider.

But what about less obvious pallet specifications, like longevity and durability? Because pallet applications and handling technique vary infinitely by employee, warehouse, and industry, etc, its very difficult to calculate!

So What Makes The Best Pallet?

Ultimately, it’s all in the details.

The features and specifications that are most critical to your material handling success could be all of following factors!

Pick the pallet that satisfies as many of the following characteristics as possible, and you’ll be on your way to pallet nirvana.

Best Plastic Pallets Factors

Pallet Price

Price plays an important part in determining our list of best plastic pallets. The most perfectly designed, beautiful, lightweight pallet that can hold a Sherman Tank doesn’t do much good if it’s not competitively priced.

Alternatively, it wouldn’t make sense to sell our cheapest plastic pallet if it doesn’t match the customer’s application requirements.

But the price is important factor when selecting a plastic pallet – and our online pallet store makes it easy to filter pricing to find the right pallet at the right price.

Pallet Design

The design Very simply, we are looking for the most efficient use of resin material. The majority of a plastic pallets’ price is determined by its weight.

A pallet with a high capacity and low weight will have a good strength to weight ratio. The higher the ratio, the more efficient the design will be.

A good example of a plastic pallet with a high strength to weight ratio is the PP-O-40-NM7.

Pallet Material

Plastic pallets are typically manufactured with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), or Fiberglass.

Each material has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of material type, material quality is important.

The majority of plastic pallets are made with recycled resin which can contain fillers and contaminants.

If you’re unsure about the quality of pallet material, request a report from the material batch test.

Pallet Durability / Impact Resistance

Plastic pallet durability is a function of material, weight, and design.

Pallets molded with HDPE will tend to have better impact resistance than PP.

PP is a stiffer material which has its own advantages when it comes to load capacity.

Though infrequently used due to its higher cost, fiberglass has the best impact resistance.

Pallet Capacity

Pallet weight capacity is the single most important factor to consider when deciding which plastic pallet is right for your company. An overloaded pallet is a deadly disaster waiting to happen and something we take very seriously.

At One Way Solutions, we are very conservative with our published capacity ratings. We never use point of failure as our maximum rating, but rather allow for a margin of safety to mitigate variations in materials, temperature, loading pattern, and handling techniques.

It’s very important to understand that all ratings in the plastic pallet industry assume the pallet is uniformly loaded over the entire pallet surface.

The majority of failures we’ve seen are due to point loading. Point loading is a non-uniform pallet load in which there is variations in the weight per unit of area on the pallet deck.

The best plastic pallets will have low weight to capacity ratio, which is related to design efficiency. A good example of a pallet with a high capacity relative to its weight is the PP-O-40-NL7.

Higher isn’t always better. Paying more money for high capacity pallets for a low capacity application usually doesn’t provide any advantage assuming the pallets are loaded and handled properly.

Pallet Weight

A low weight pallet is typically less expensive and cheaper to ship. However, often times, low weight pallets don’t have the durability or impact resistance that a bulkier pallet will have.

Export plastic pallets are typically light weight because they need to be cheap since they are usually considered a single use pallet. Alternatively, pallets used in a returnable system and need to last for years will have a higher weight.

Pallet Weight To Capacity Ratio

This is a good indicator of how efficient the pallet design is. The goal of any pallet design is to obtain application goals using the least amount of material. There are exceptions when there are added features that are necessary but don’t affect capacity.

For example, solid deck pallets are sometimes required for clean room environments, but the solid deck doesn’t increase the pallets capacity.

We hope that helps!

We hoped you enjoyed learning how plastic pallet shipping charges can be reduced.

We’d love to hear from you – please let us know what tricks have helped you save money in the comments below.

Need Help Selecting A Pallet?

Our Plastic Pallet Experts are happy to help you find the right plastic pallet and send you a quote that includes shipping costs. Please contact to find the perfect pallet at the best price.

Pallet Shipping Charges – Oh No!

Let’s face it, pallet shipping charges are a significant expense that all buyers would prefer to reduce – or eliminate.

Rejoice! We’ve got helpful advice to help our customers reduce pallet shipping charges and stretch their operational budget dollars to their fullest.

Cutting Pallet Shipping Charges

To know how to get the best freight charge for your pallets, it is important to understand the factors and vairables that impact your total shipping charge calculations.

The main factors are:

• Pallet Location
• Pallet Specifications
• Pallet Order Quantity
• Shipping Service Level
• Delivery Location
• Truck Lane Opportunities

Read on to see how these shipping factors influence pallet freight costs.

Pallet Location

The shipping origin of your pallets is very important. The further away your pallets are located, the more you pay!

Pro Tip: We offer a location filter on our plastic pallets and containers that shows you where the pallets come from, allowing you to choose pallets close to your location – to reduce your shipping charges and save money!

Pallet Specifications

The smaller and lighter the pallet, the less shipping you pay. Furthermore, nestable pallets ship more compactly, allowing the shipper to pack more units into a stack.

Pro Tip: Reduce your shipping charges by Consider if Nestable Plastic Pallets will meet your needs; nestable pallet can reduce your freight charges!

Pallet Order Quantity

Generally speaking, the more pallets you order, the smaller your “per unit” shipping costs are going to be.

Here are some examples of how adjusting your plastic pallet order quantity can reduce your “per unit” shipping charges.

Pro Tip: Reduce your “per unit” shipping charges by increasing your quantity to find the sweet spot.

Extra Pro Tip: Reduce your pallet prices by order more pallets. For advice on how upping your order quantity can increase your plastic pallet freight savings and lower pallet prices – [go here ].

Shipping Service Level

In a hurry? It’ll cost you. Faster shipping services for your plastic pallets are more expensive.

Pro Tip: Monitor your inventory and place pallet orders before you run out. You’ll save at least 50% on shipping charges if you can afford to wait the standard 3-5 business day transit time (instead of using rush services).

Delivery Location

Your location, obviously, impacts pallet freight costs. If you’re far away from the plastic pallet shipping point, expect to pay more.

Residential Or Commercial?

Pallet freight charges are typically lower for delivering to commercial locations. Delivering Pallets to a residential area will add a $100 fee to freight charges.

Loading Dock

IF you don’t have a loading dock, you’ll need a liftgate service from the shipper (unless you can somehow unload it yourself. Liftgates add $50 to the shipping charges.

Pro Tip: Save the residential and liftgate delivery upcharge fees and ship the pallets to your buddy’s business. And buy your buddy a six pack of Beer to show your appreciation.

Truck Shipping Lane Opportunities

Here’s a great way to save a ton of money when shipping quantities of plastic pallets that are less than a full truckload.

Shipping Lanes

Quick Vocabulary Word: Shipping Lane – a regularly used shipping route used for deliveries. 

When a pallet shipment approaches 8-10 stacks (see our product pages for the numbers of pallets per stack), that can cover as much one third of a truck’s cargo space (a 40′ truck has about 30 40″ x 48″ skid spots). This situation may cause you to pay for the entire truck! Boo!

But why?

This happens because the trucker may not have any other deliveries to make on that particular shipping lane – causing cargo space to go unfilled!

What does unfilled space equal? Inefficiency and higher costs. Money!

A genius move, used by our pallet experts, is to try dividing the shipment into 2 trucks, allowing the excess space in the 2 trucks to be filled with payload for other deliveries in that truck lane, reducing the overall freight costs by as much as 50% in some cases.

Pallet Shipping Charge Calculator

The One Way Solutions website is unique, unlike any other in the plastic pallet market.

One Way Solutions offers Pallet Shipping Charge rating and quoting, both in our online Shopping Cart and during online Checkout.

Our advanced pallet shipping calculator calls out to hundreds of shipping partners, in realtime, to find you the most competitive shipping rate!

This unique service makes the decision process, that was once far more complicated, as easy as pie.

We know you’ll love it – please let us know what you think!

Use Your Own Shipper!

Our website allows you to remove shipping charges from your pallet order and indicate your own shipper.

Pro Tip: If you have an account with a shipping company, you may get a discount that will reduce your shipping charges.

Here’s how to use your shipper account on our website:

• Step 1. During checkout, indicate that you want Shipping Method “LTL Freight Collect $0.00”
• Step 2. Add you shipper name.
• Step 3. Add your shipper account number or ID

We hope that helps!

We hoped you enjoyed learning how plastic pallet shipping charges can be reduced.

We’d love to hear from you – please let us know what tricks have helped you save money in the comments below.

Need Help Selecting A Pallet?

Our Plastic Pallet Experts are happy to help you find the right plastic pallet and send you a quote that includes shipping costs. Please contact to find the perfect pallet at the best price.

Not All Pallets Are Created Equal!

We sell a lot of different pallets at One Way Solutions- almost 250 different models.

Any when you consider plastic pallet size options, load capacities, industry-specific features, and specific applications, it’s only fitting that we carry an option to suit all circumstances…

because we are pallet experts!

Despite all the variations across our pallet catalog, there is one key specification that allows us easily compare pallet prices versus performance: strength vs weight.

Pallet Strength To Weight Ratio

More material means more weight; as you add more material to a pallet, the cost increases. The best pallet will offer the greatest performance at a minimum weight.

Our latest pallet optimizes this key metric to offer exceptional value to warehouses needing a light/medium duty nestable pallet. Its technical design advancements delivery the brute strength required to satisfy many desired uses.

The NM7 is specifically designed to minimize pallet tare weight without sacrificing strength and durability. This beast of a pallet has a 2,700 lb dynamic capacity. This being said, the NM7 is a heavy weight type of pallet with light weight pricing.

Introducing #PP-O-40-NM7

The design of this pallet makes it a champion performer, minimizing expenses through two main design efficiency goals:

• Structural Economy
• Efficient Production

Structural Economy

The NM7’s design is a complete study in structural economy that optimizes the placement of plastic material, eliminating unnecessary plastic waste through superior design by channeling all plastic materials into the supportive structures of the plastic pallet.

Lean and mean, the NM7 achieves more capacity with less weight, achieving a higher capacity with minimal material cost.

Production Features

Efficient Production

Injection molding machines used to produce plastic pallets are huge machines that require consume massive amounts of power. Less material lowers the NM7s cycle time, driving down the price of the plastic pallet by maximizing the rate of production, lowering part cycle times, and reducing energy costs.

High Pressure Molding

This pallet is truly a work of art- high pressure molding gives it life.

Design Sophistication

The NM7’s high-pressure injection molds allow a complex geometry and with detailed features.

Precise Strength Regulation

Our specialized high-pressure molds allow targeted strength variation. The NM7 has targeted reinforcement in different areas with more or less plastic to help the overall strength of the pallet.

Automated Production Benefits

A majority of this process is run by machines which one individual can observe and control. This mechanical automation reduces manufacturing costs.

With these lowered costs, savings are passed down to the customer for a lower rate while offering superior quality.

Recycled Mold Scraps

Mold Scraps, produced during pallet manufacturing, are reused e reused for the next pallet molding. This process creates minimal waste without impacting the quality of this excellent product.

Maximized Pallet Uniformity & Accuracy

Some pallets have longer production cycle times in production. To boost output, pallet manufactures may try to remove a pallet from the press before it has sufficiently cooled. Removing hot plastic pallets from their mold prematurely causes shrinkage and warping.

When excess material is removed from a pallet design and minimized, faster cooling times result. Simple put, the less plastic used in pallet, the faster it cools!

Unlike other pallets that have longer cycles times, NM7 pallets cool quickly before being removed from the mold, resulting pallets that are:

• True 40″ x 48″pallets
• Remarkably flat

Made In The USA – Shipped From An Ideal Shipping Origin

The NM7 pallet is manufactured and shipped from Michigan. It’s centralized US location is an ideal distribution point to minimize shipping expenses to all areas of United States.

NM7 Pallet Design Benefits

Optimized Pallet Legs

If you take a look at the design you will notice a precise cutouts located in each of the nine pallet legs. These voids reduce pallet weight and cost to our customers. Costs are further reduced when shipping the pallets to our customers, allowing us deliver more pallet performance at lowering shipping rates!

Tapered Pallet Edges

The NM7’s tapered edges assist the fork-tine entry along with splitting a nesting rack, allowing pallet handlers to quickly easily move pallets to their designed location without sweating the details.

Reinforced Pallet Perimeter

The perimeter of the NM7 is reinforced with extra ribs to increasing impact-resistance for a safer, more durable product.

4 Way Entry

The NM7 design enables it to have a 4-way entry compatible with nearly all forklifts and hand trucks.

Open Deck Pallet Design

The NM7’s open deck allows for easy handling, easy cleaning, and further reduces material costs and unnecessary tare weight.

Superior Nesting Ratio

A superior nesting ratio allows for 2100 pallets to fit in a 53′ truck, significantly reducing the per pallet shipping costs.

Material Choice – Recycled High Density Polyethylene

The NM7 pallet is made from Recycled High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). This material has many vital features that makes the NM7 such an efficient pallet of choice. This material is lightweight, yet strong and resilient.

This strength is crucial to the lifespan of heavy shipping goods along with the pallet itself. HDPE has impact resistant properties that makes using this pallet the right choice if safety is in mind.

Some other key characteristics this material consists of is a long lasting product life, while being weather and mold resistant. HDPE frequently replaces heavier materials, partially in light of the fact that our society and many organizations are seeking after sustainable alternatives, for example, decreasing the amount of material utilized in shipping and products. This material being “lightweight while strong” can convert into less impact on the earth and cost.

The higher the density of the polyethylene material utilized the stronger, more rigid and more heat resistant the plastic is. The higher density models indicate better properties in strength, chemical and heat resistance, surface hardness and abrasion resistance.

Ventilated Deck * Chemical Resistant:

Traditional pallets may not be reasonable for specific material handling with operations involving the transportation or storage of specific types of chemicals. The NM7 pallet is a uniquely composed plastic makeup that is impervious to chemicals and toxic materials. Having a plastic ventilated pallet improves moisture resistance, safe handling, and airflow. Plastic does not absorb moisture so it will keep products safe and protected from intruding organisms. With the ventilation an individual is able to move and use this pallet with a high level of safety.

Meets GMA Industry Standards

Ideal Pallet Uses

Ideal uses for the NM7 include:

• One way exports
• Light-medium duty reusable applications
• WIP
• Inventory Storage
• Point Of Purchase Display, and distribution applications.

How Do You Like It?

Please let us know what you think about our NM7 plastic pallet- we value your option and pallet expertise!

Please leave your comments below and contact us for assistance on finding the perfect plastic pallet for the right price.

You Can’t Ship Without Pallets

Pallets are one of the most important material handling tools of the food and agricultural industries.

Whether plastic or wood, pallets are essential for transporting, storing, and protecting goods throughout the supply chain. Different types of pallets offer specific benefits others can’t compete with – so choosing the correct pallet ultimately depends on the products or payload you are shipping and the unique characteristics of you industry or application.

Some industries maintain strict handling standards to meet regulations designed to protect consumers. For example, the Food and Agricultural industries demand for proper sanitation has led to strict regulations for shipping food products to reduce the likelihood of contamination.

Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses linked to contaminated wood pallets provided additional need for improved practices – and led to additional regulation.

 

Food And Agricultural Industries

 

Food and Agricultural industry products are a part of all of our lives and play an important role in maintaining public health. The need for sanitation and safety is even greater as a result. Many businesses in this industry are switching to plastic pallets from wood in order to reduce the chance of contamination.

Plastic pallets protect finished goods and organic materials used to produce them from contamination and spoilage from pests.

Some examples of companies in the Food and Agricultural Industry are:

* Breweries & Wineries
* Fruit & Vegetable Farms
* Grocery Stores
* Livestock Farms
* Pharmaceutical Companies
* Dairies
* Cheesemakers
* Slaughterhouses
* Restaurants
* Commercial Kitchens
* Granaries
* Tree & Plant Nurseries

Contamination Concerns in the Food and Agricultural Industry

 

Recently, we have seen many foodborne illness outbreaks due to these contaminations. Some of the outbreaks have caused human fatalities.

* Since 2016, there have been 3 instances of hepatitis A outbreaks linked to frozen tuna and strawberries along with raw scallops.

* In 2015, we saw a listeria outbreak in the ice cream company Blue Bell that unfortunately took some lives.

Wood Pallets used in the Food and Agricultural Industry

 

Wooden pallets are notorious for harboring pathogens which can create these illnesses and are unsafe for food handling. Wood pallets have splinters and nails which puncture and injure.

In order to use these wood pallets, the pallets need to comply with the ISPM-15 regulations that include processes that include heat treatment or fumigation.

Unfortunately, treatments make wood susceptible to mold and toxins. In fact, many recent healthcare recalls are due to the toxic chemicals used to treat wooden pallets. The Blue Bell listeria outbreak is linked unsanitary wood pallets.

Not surprisingly, the problems with the wood pallets have given rise to companies using plastic pallets in the food and agricultural industry.

Plastic Pallets in the Food and Agricultural Industry

 

The solution to cutting down contamination problems in the food and agricultural industry is by using plastic pallets. Since the demand for hygiene in the industry is so high, it only makes sense to use pallets that provide unbeatable resistance to contamination and are easy to sanitize.

Using plastic pallets relieves the stress caused by industry regulations and less consistent means of moving goods. What do we mean by this?

Consider The Following: Our plastic pallet customers don’t worry about ISPM-15 certifications.

Using plastic pallets allows for automatic exemptions from export pallet regulations that are enforced by the USDA on all wooden pallets. Besides the USDA’s regulations,  the FDA just finalized its ruling on the transportation of Human and Animal food.

Food Safety Modernization Act

 

The FDA just finalized the FSMA on the sanitary transportation of human and animal foods. This is in effort to protect foods coming from farms to being consumed during transit. The goal of the rule is to prevent practices during transportation that create risks to the safety of the food.

Common practices include, failure to properly refrigerate food, inadequate cleaning of vehicles between loads and failure to properly protect food. Requirements have been created for carriers by motor or rail vehicles, loaders, shippers and receivers involved to ensure the safety of the foods during transportation. There are four main key requirements to the Act.

Vehicles and Transportation

The rule requires all vehicles and transportation equipment to not cause the food it transports to become contaminated. All vehicles and equipment used in transportation need to be adequately cleanable for their intended use.

Transportation Operations

Transportation operations are measurements such as adequate temperature controls, preventing of ready to eat food from touching raw food so it doesn’t get contaminated, protecting food from nonfood items and finally keeping food away from cross contact, like that of a food allergen.

Training

There now will be required training of all personnel in sanitary transportation practices as well as documenting the training. The carriers who are covered by the new rules are responsible for providing the food safety training to the personnel.

Records

Records of agreements, training and written procedures are now required.

FDA Approved Pallets

 

The ultimate plastic pallet for handling food and agricultural products are products that meet FDA regulations.

FDA Product are made from 100% virgin plastic resins for the ultimate in safe handling and FDA compliance.

One Way Solutions offers FDA approved plastic pallets that can be used for storing food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. Our FDA pallets come in rackable and stackable options while also meeting FDA fire retardant requirements. These FDA pallets are available in blue, black, yellow, green, grey, red and beige.

Already Using Plastic Pallets?

 

How have you overcome your warehousing and transportation challenges using food and agricultural pallets?

Please let us know in the comments below.

Need Help Selecting A Pallet?

 

Our Plastic Pallet Experts are happy to help you find the right plastic Plastic Pallet and send you a quote that includes shipping costs.

Please contact us to find the perfect pallet at the best price.

Choosing the best pallet for your warehouse is an important decision.

Will Wood, Metal or Plastic Pallets be right for you? We can help.

Take our quick Pallet Quiz and for our recommendation on the best pallet for your needs.

Can’t decide on Wood, Metal or Plastic Pallets – We Can Help!

Please contact us to see if Wood, Metal or Plastic Pallets are right for your application.

PP-O-40-NL3, Whaaaaaat?

That’s funny looking. On first glance, “PP-O-40-NL3” may look like jargon from some new, unfriendly material handling science.

But wait- it’s actually one of our plastic pallet part numbers!

Confusing and random? No!

Once you understand our simple key, our part numbers are useful and make perfect sense.

Cracking The Plastic Pallet Part Number Code

Let’s dissect a part number.

PP-O-40-NL3

PP- This one’s easy, PP simply stands for Plastic Pallet. You might also see, CP (Container Pallet / Bulk Bin), and PW (PressWood pallet).

PP-O- The letter “O” means Open Deck. You may also “S” for Solid Deck (or closed deck). Plastic Pallets have two main deck types, so this part of the part number can help you zero in on your preferred pallet!

PP-O-40- This number indicates a pallet or bin’s dimensions, and starts with the width. In this case, the pallet is 40 inches wide. If the length isn’t listed it’s typically 48 inches.

PP-O-40-N This letter means the pallet is Nestable, one of our 3 main pallet types. “N” for Nestable, “S” for Stackable, “R” for Rackable.

PP-O-40-NL– This letter classifies the a pallet or bin’s weight capacity. “L” for Light Duty, “M” for Medium Duty, “H” for Heavy Duty.

PP-O-40-NL3– The trailing number differentiates similar products by creating a series. Pallets with a smaller series number were added to our product line earlier. Example: NL3 was launched before NL4!

Other Plastic Pallet Part Number Designations

Example: PP-O-40-R2.001.FDA/FR/FA-Blue

.001,.003,.005 These are found at the end of a pallet that has 1, 3, or 5 reinforcing rods.

FDA Typically at the end of a part number, indicates the plastic pallet is FDA approved. This means that the pallet is manufactured using virgin resin and is typically blue

Black,Blue,Red, Green, Etc. When our plastic pallets and bulk bins are available in more than one color, we put the color at the end of the part number.

FR All Fire Retardant pallets are designated with an “FR” in the product number.

FA Pallets molded with Freezer Additive are identified an “FA” in the product number.

All good on Plastic Pallet Part Numbers?

Clear as mud right? While detailed, there is a science to our part numbers- and they do describe and explain the products they represent.

Need Help Selecting A Pallet?

We don’t require anyone to learn our plastic pallet part numbers if they don’t want to – contact us so we can choose the perfect plastic pallet or container bin for your application.