Pallet grades, one sentence each

Pallet grades describe repair, not age. Grade A has had no repairs, Grade B has plugs, plates or replaced boards, and Grade C looks rough with several repairs. Combo and new are builds, not grades of wear.

There is no single enforced standard: grading comes from industry guides rather than a regulator, so ask for the repair marks you will accept, in words. Used stock by grade is on the used pallets page.

Grade A

Original boards, no plugs, no plates, no replaced boards. Every board is present, nails are flush and the stringers are whole. It can look used or new, but it is unrepaired. Westside cold and frozen docks that reject stained or patched decks take it, as do carton and bagged goods that need an even deck, racked storage and automated lines.

Supply is tighter than Grade B because most used pallets have been repaired by the time they come back. A buyer who finds more than a few off-grade pallets in a Grade A load can ask for replacements; photographs of the sample make that request simple. See cold dock needs.

Grade B

Grade B may carry repaired stringers or plugs greater than 1¼ inches, and the rules ask for deckboard spacing of at least 4 inches (Millwood). A plug used to repair a broken board can be between 6 and 24 inches long (iGPS). Set flush with nails driven through, a plug is a sound repair; one that sticks up catches cartons.

It ships on truck freight to Orlando, Atlanta and Savannah, onto many Westside grocery docks, and through the fulfillment buildings at Cecil and Airport 295 that buy back sorted stock. Two Grade B loads can look very different, one with a single plate per pallet and another with several, so state a limit such as no more than two repairs and no mismatched deck colours. Boards from different trees weigh differently, which is a reason automated lines specify A or combo instead.

• More than a few plugs per pallet suggests Grade C.
• Plates should be nailed on both sides of a split.
• Deckboard spacing should meet the 4 inch rule.
• Soft stringers or stained boards are a rejection.

Grade C

Multiple plugs, plates and replaced boards, mixed board colours and gaps. The structure may still be sound, but a Grade C is inspected piece by piece rather than trusted on sight. It fits heavy loads that do not care about the deck, one-way shipments, yard use and dunnage, and it does not belong under cold or food freight, on automated lines, in retail display or under a load over its rating.

C stock is often kept outside, where it degrades further; ask where it was kept and look for dark soaking at the stringer ends. Once it no longer holds a load it is a core and goes back to repair or to recycling, and soft, stained or rotten wood is ground. A dock buying C for a short-lived use should say in the request where the pallets go afterwards.

Combo

New lumber is the highest cost in a pallet and used lumber varies. A combo pallet puts new boards where the load is highest and reuses sound recycled boards elsewhere, so it is stronger and more consistent than a used pallet and cheaper than an all-new build. Plants with a steady order for one size, distribution centres that want consistency, and exporters (when the lumber is heat treated and stamped) buy it. New top boards over recovered stringers give automated lines a uniform surface; ask for measured deck height, not just the word.

Grade A or Grade B

If the pallet will be seen by a customer, racked in a cold room or fed to a machine, go A. If it rides on a truck and goes into a back room, B is enough. If it will not come back, C may do. Some suppliers mix A and B and call it AB; ask for a percentage, such as at least seventy percent A.

Grade is not a guarantee of dryness

A Grade A pallet can be wet and a Grade B can be dry. Moisture, mould and stain are separate checks and matter more to a cold dock than grade does, and a Grade A in the wrong size is useless.

Writing a grade into an order

A sentence like "Grade B, 48x40, four-way, no more than two repairs, no stain, no protruding nails" does more than a grade name alone. If an inspection finds a difference, both sides can point at the words.

Sampling a delivered load

Count the pallets first, then pull samples from the top, middle and bottom of stacks and from each end of the delivery. Tap the stringers for a dull sound, slide a hand along the deck for raised nails, compare deck height and board thickness, and photograph any flaw. Count how many fail, decide whether to accept, ask for a credit or refuse, and put the result in writing the same day.

Grades and price

Price steps down from A to B to C, but the steps are not even. The jump between B and C can be small, and the jump between A and B can be large. Ask for a quote on two grades and compare.

Questions

Sources, reviewed 12 November 2026: Pallet grading guide (Millwood); Pallet grades (iGPS); Recycled pallets (Millwood).