A perfect Grade-A Gaylord on a bad pallet is just an expensive piece of cardboard waiting to lean over and dump itself. The pallet matters. Here is the rubric we use.
Grade A wood pallet
- All boards intact, no replacements visible.
- Stringers (the side rails) sound, no cracks, no metal repair plates.
- No protruding nails. No splinter risk to your inventory.
- Used twice or fewer.
- Best for: retail-DC outbound, brand-sensitive shipments, food-secondary.
Grade B wood pallet
- 1–2 board replacements acceptable.
- Stringers sound. No repair plates.
- Used 3–5 times.
- Best for: general distribution, industrial co-pack.
Grade C wood pallet
- 3+ board replacements OR visible repair plates on stringers.
- Structurally sound to industrial-shipping spec, but visibly used.
- Best for: internal plant moves, scrap-stream applications.
Grade D — end of life
- Stringer cracked through.
- Multiple deck-board breaks.
- Not safe for shipping use. Recycle to mulch / biomass.
Plastic pallets
Plastic 48x40s do not have the same grade letter system. We inspect them for structural cracks, leg/skid breakage, and fork-pocket integrity. We ship them in two categories — "sound" and "repair-only." A sound plastic pallet is essentially as good as a Grade A wood pallet for most shipping purposes.
Why we keep harping on this
About a third of the calls we get from new buyers who are unhappy with a load trace back to pallet condition, not box condition. The pallet absorbs the abuse on the dock and during transit. A weak pallet under a strong box is a worse outcome than a strong pallet under a weak box. Spec accordingly.