Best Type of Pallet for Pallet Deliveries

Contrary to popular belief, pallets aren't equally manufactured. That is to say, the pallet you would use for transporting fruits and veggies might not be suitable for transporting engines spares or car parts.

Before prepping for your pallet delivery, you must ensure that you have chosen a pallet suitable for your load. Without doing this, you run the risk of your items becoming lost or damaged in transit; and it is not a risk worth taking!

For this reason, it is essential to assess the advantages and disadvantages associated with each pallet category before making your final decision.

What Type Of Pallet Should I Use?

The answer to this question mostly depends on two things. First and foremost, your budget is an important factor in the equation as you don't want to have to settle for the most expensive pallet type.

As with most things you can buy with money, the most expensive pallet may not necessarily be the best pallet. Sometimes cheaper alternatives can offer much better value for money, so it is always worth asking around and finding recommendations - word of mouth is always a great place to start, so try asking colleagues and friends.

Secondly, the type of goods matters just as much as your budget does. For example, if you are only sending a small number of fruits, you may only need a small, standard wooden pallet to ship them. However, if you are sending flat-packed furniture or similar heavier items, you will need a much larger, moulded wooden pallet for this.

Carefully choosing your pallet is the key to safe and successful delivery and will ensure everything arrives at its destination intact.

Below we have noted down the different types of pallet available for palletised deliveries;

Standard Wooden Pallets

Wooden pallets are the most popular in the industry. This is why they are often referred to as 'standard pallets', as most shipping companies use them. The degree of practicality and versatility of a standard wooden pallet is high. That is to say, they are super affordable which is a great advantage!

While we are on the topic, repairing them is easy too. If the pallet courier handles them appropriately when making pallet deliveries, you can use them numerous times and make the most of them while they last.

Once standard wooden pallets are past the point of repair, you can simply upcycle them to something useful for around the house or even the office. 

Moulded Wood Pallets

Let's move on to another type of pallet: moulded wood pallets. These are typically produced using a mixture of natural wood chips that have come directly from sawmills and wood recycling companies.

Moulded wood pallets, despite being manufactured using recycled wood, are surprisingly strong and are ideal for transporting heavy loads. They are sturdy and can easily handle up to 1000 kilograms of goods. This makes them the preferred type of pallet for shipping large numbers of goods or even heavier items.

What are the disadvantages of moulded wood pallets, though? Since there is no such thing as a perfect product, the pain point of these pallets is that they're quite heavyweight and difficult to move without the help of others, or the correct equipment.

By 'correct equipment', we mean pallet trucks and tail lifts. Unlike lighter and smaller pallets that can often be moved by hand, moulded wood pallets are designed to withstand more weight and should not be moved without the correct safety procedures in place.

We always recommend using a pallet truck to move heavier pallets; you can view more details on this in our Help Centre.

Furthermore, keeping them clean can prove difficult as well, especially if they come into contact with water; wood is prone to develop bacteria that hinders its structure when exposed to water too often.

This type of bacteria is known to weaken the structure of pallets, so it is vital to ensure you are properly cleaning them before and after each use to prevent this from happening.

Presswood Pallets

Another alternative worthy of your attention would be Presswood pallets. To a given extent, they differ from standard wooden pallets specifically because they are moulded into a given shape. This is what makes them much more lightweight, something that pallet couriers will most likely appreciate.

Thanks to their design, you can stack them more efficiently and maximise the space you have at your disposal. Compared to standard wooden pallets, Presswood pallets are 60% more lightweight - not to mention that they are just as sturdy.

Nevertheless, the fundamental disadvantage is that they are prone to decompose, specifically if they are left out in the rain.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, choosing the right pallet for pallet deliveries is critical to ensure that your goods are transported safely. This is why you should take the time to assess the alternatives you have at your disposal and choose the one that addresses your needs.