One pallet, three numbers
A 48 × 40 × 6.1 inch polypropylene pallet sold as the Eco-Pal, item 111030, ships at 34 pounds. Its published datasheet prints three capacities, not one: static, or floor, capacity 8,800 pounds; dynamic, or forklift, capacity 4,400 pounds; racking, or edge, capacity 2,200 pounds. The three figures are in a 4 to 2 to 1 ratio, and the smallest one is a quarter of the largest.
The datasheet also says what the rack figure assumes. A footnote reads: rated racking capacity is for standard edge racking where pallet is only supported by two points at the edges, and racking capacity for other types of racks will be different. That is the whole argument on one page: the number is not a property of the pallet alone, it is a property of the pallet and the way the load is held.
| Pallet | Floor | Forklift | Racking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eco-Pal, PP48 × 40 × 6.1 in, 34 lb | 8,800 lb | 4,400 lb | 2,200 lb |
| ProGenic Standard Duty48 × 40 × 5.12 in, 34 lb | 20,000 lb | 4,000 lb | not rated |
| ProGenic Reinforced48 × 40 × 6.25 in | 20,000 lb | 5,000 lb | 2,800 lb |
| Prostack solid top, runners48 × 40 × 6 in, 17 lb | 4,000 lb | 1,200 lb | not printed |
| Wood, one supplier48 × 40, 37 lb average | 4,592 lb, a single figure with no handling mode stated | ||
The racking column is edge racking. Not rated means the manufacturer prints no figure for that mode on that product; not printed means the column is absent. Supported racking, where it is given, is a different number from edge racking: 4,000 lb and 5,000 lb for the two ProGenic pallets above.
Read the last row against the first. Two pallets of the same footprint, one carrying four times what the other does on a forklift, and one supplier declining to say which of the three loads its number describes. Neither is wrong. They are answering different questions with the same four words.
Why the rack number is the smallest
On a floor, the load sits on the top deck and the deck sits on the floor: the pallet is in compression and the whole footprint shares the work. On a forklift, the forks carry the load and the pallet takes the impact of every set-down. In edge racking the pallet is supported at two edges only, so the deck spans between the beams and the load turns into bending in the top deck and the stringers. Same pallet, same weight, a fraction of the capacity.
The standards treat this as the normal case rather than an exception. ISO 8611-3, the part that deals with working loads, is written to determine, in the words of its abstract, a range of maximum working loads for different payloads and loading and support conditions, which depend on the nature of the load being carried. A range, not a value, and one that depends on how the load sits.
What the standard behind the number says
ISO 8611-1:2021 splits the test methods for new flat pallets into three groups: nominal load testing, maximum working load testing, and durability comparison testing. Its abstract adds a caveat worth keeping: specific tests for determining load capacity do not replace the value of conducting field tests on specific pallet designs.
That edition is withdrawn. ISO records its withdrawal on 21 February 2025 and points to ISO 8611-1:2025 as the current version. A datasheet that says ISO 8611 without a year may be citing a document that no longer exists, which matters when the figure is the one you are relying on in a damage claim.
Neither part is free. The test methods and the working load procedure sit behind a purchase, so nothing here reproduces a load class, a factor or a test load from either document: the standard sets out how capacity is determined by its test methods, and the specific figures have to be bought. Every pound on this page comes from a manufacturer's own datasheet instead, which is why each one is named beside the number.
Wood pallets: a design, not a catalogue item
A wood pallet is built to a drawing, and the drawing sets the capacity. One US supplier lists its 48 × 40 at 6 to 7 top deck boards, 4 to 5 bottom boards and 3 to 4 stringers, 37 pounds average, with a single line for capacity: maximum load 4,592 pounds. No static, dynamic or racking split, no test method, no statement of how the load is assumed to sit. It may be a perfectly sound number for that supplier's design. It is not comparable with the plastic figures above, because it is not the same measurement.
Size is not the variable. A 48 × 40 is the standard North American footprint, and suppliers put its height anywhere from 5.5 to 6 inches depending on construction, which is the same footprint carrying different amounts of wood. The common baseline is the GMA 48 × 40, and its published floor is lower than that supplier figure: 2,500 pounds, with graded stock commonly sold between 2,500 and 4,600 pounds depending on grade and on whether the load is static, dynamic or racked. The GMA pallet page works through the specification and the tolerances.
Repair is the part that quietly changes the answer. A pallet with a replaced deck board or a re-fastened stringer is not the pallet that was rated, and no datasheet covers it. If a load is close to the limit, the repair history matters more than the grade stamp.
Plastic pallets: same footprint, five-fold spread
One manufacturer's 40 x 48 catalogue makes the point without leaving the brand. A solid-top pallet with runners is rated 4,000 pounds static and 1,200 pounds dynamic. The ProGenic Standard Duty, same footprint, is rated 20,000 pounds static and 4,000 pounds dynamic. The ProGenic Reinforced adds a 2,800 pound edge-racking figure on top of 20,000 static and 5,000 dynamic. Five times the floor capacity inside one product family, from resin, wall thickness and leg design rather than from size.
Note what is missing rather than what is printed. The Standard Duty lists supported racking at 4,000 pounds and edge racking as not applicable. That is not a low number, it is an absent rating: the pallet is not offered for that use. A quotation that quietly drops the column is quoting the floor figure for a rack application.
What takes capacity away once it is in service
Every figure above was produced on a new pallet, loaded evenly, on a flat surface. Four things remove capacity in a warehouse and none of them appear on a datasheet.
- Overhang. Cartons wider than the deck put load outside the support, so the deck edge carries bending it was never rated for. The same overhang also changes the cube the carrier measures, which is a separate cost.
- Point load. A 2,000 pound machine standing on four feet is not 2,000 pounds spread over the deck. The deck sees four concentrated loads, and the deck is the part that fails first.
- Water and time. Wood loses stiffness as moisture content moves, and a pallet stored outside is not the pallet that was graded. Plastic does not rot, but it does crack at the leg-to-deck junction after enough impacts.
- Stack height. In a static stack the bottom pallet carries the column, which is why the floor rating and the stack count belong together. The Eco-Pal datasheet pairs 8,800 pounds static with 15 pallets in a stack for LTL at 96 inches and 17 for a full trailer.
Where the rating sits in a freight decision
For most LTL shipments the pallet rating is not what limits the load. The bill is driven by density and class, not by whether the pallet could hold another thousand pounds, and the density to class conversion is where the money is decided. The trailer is limited by floor positions and gross weight, which pallets per truck works through. The racking figure only binds if the freight is stored in racks, and the floor figure only binds if the load is heavy enough to approach it.
What the rating does affect is the argument after damage. A carrier or a warehouse that can show the load was inside the pallet's stated capacity for that handling mode has a shorter conversation than one holding a number with no mode attached. The empty weight of the pallet is the other half of the same paperwork.
Run a load against the published figures
Enter the gross weight of one loaded pallet and how it will be handled. The check uses only the figures printed in the table above, and it says so when a pallet has no rating for the mode you picked.
Four questions before you trust a number
- Which of the three loads is it: floor, forklift, or rack? If the answer is not one of those, the figure is not a capacity.
- Which rack, and how many support points? Edge racking with two-point support is the case the datasheets footnote, and it is the smallest number they print.
- Which standard and which edition? ISO 8611-1:2021 was withdrawn in February 2025, so a citation without a year is not a citation.
- New or repaired? A rebuilt pallet has no rating, whatever the board it replaced was rated for.
Source scope
Eco-Pal 48x40 reusable pallet specification, item 111030, TranPak, one-page datasheet with static, dynamic and racking capacities and the edge-racking footnote. Document at tranpak.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Eco-Pal-48x40-SPEC.pdf.
ProGenic Standard Duty, Reinforced and solid-top pallet specification pages, Prostack, load ratings as printed for each product. Documents at prostack.com/product/progenic-standard-duty-pallet/ and the adjacent product pages.
48 × 40 wood pallet specification table, OrderPallets, including the deck board and stringer counts and the single maximum load figure. Document at orderpallets.com.
ISO 8611-1:2021, Pallets for materials handling, flat pallets, part 1, test methods, edition 3, withdrawn 2025-02-21 in favour of ISO 8611-1:2025; abstract quoted. ISO/TS 8611-3:2005, part 3, maximum working loads, abstract quoted. Catalogue entries at iso.org/standard/78857.html and iso.org/standard/34144.html.
The 48 × 40 footprint and the 5.5 to 6 inch height range are from Millwood's pallet dimension guide, at millwoodinc.com/pallets/. The full list of pages on this site is in the sitemap.
All pages were read on 2026-11-01. The figures above are copied from the documents named beside them, not averaged or inferred. No rate, discount or accessorial amount is reproduced, and nothing here states what a shipment will cost.
Not affiliated with TranPak, Prostack, OrderPallets, ISO or any carrier. Ratings change with design and revision; read the current datasheet before relying on a figure.