Do you take airline catering pallets?

Only plain wood pallets that are free to release. Carrier-owned stock goes back to its owner.

Why is Sterling a busy industrial market?

It was one of three Northern Virginia submarkets with sizable leases in the third quarter of 2026, with airport services and industrial tenants.

Community · VA

Used pallets in Sterling, VA

Sterling sits on Route 28 and Route 7 near Dulles Airport, and it was one of three Northern Virginia submarkets with sizable industrial leases in the third quarter of 2026. Airport services and industrial tenants make it a busy pallet dock.

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Airport services and industrial space

Our short list for Sterling is airport services and industrial. Airport services means catering, cargo handling and ground support, much of it on special pallets and containers. Industrial tenants are a more familiar kind of customer: warehouses and distributors with 48x40 stock moving in and out.

The Loudoun County list of 50 largest employers includes United Airlines, Gate Gourmet, Swissport and Cuisine Solutions. Those are airport and food-service names, and several of them operate in the Sterling area.

Route 28 and Route 7

Route 28 runs through Sterling as a freight spine and Route 7 crosses it. Two ZIP codes cover the community, 20164 and 20166. The lane to the District is longer than from Springfield, but the volume of the Sterling docks makes it worth it when a tenant has a trailer’s worth of empties.

At a glance

	Detail
ZIP codes	20164, 20166
Roads	Route 28, Route 7
Q3 2026	Sizable industrial leases
Industries	Airport services, industrial

What we ask about a Sterling load

Is it airport service stock or industrial freight? Airport pallets are often special sizes and may belong to a carrier or caterer. Industrial pallets are the standard sizes. Give us the count, the size and the grade, and a note about who owns the pallets if they carry a mark.

What the Loudoun list says about the area

Employer	Business	Pallet implication
United Airlines	Airline	Cargo and ground handling; mostly special carriers
Gate Gourmet	Airline catering	Food-contact; clean, dry pallets required
Swissport	Airport ground services	Cargo handling; mixed
Cuisine Solutions	Food manufacturing	Uniform outbound pallets, food-grade
Amazon Fulfillment Services	E-commerce	Bulk plain 48x40

Virginia Works, Loudoun County’s 50 largest employers, Q3 2025.

Industrial tenants and the churn

Sterling had sizable leases in the third quarter of 2026, which means tenants moving in. A move-in is the most reliable source of clean, unused or lightly used pallets: racking arrives on them, then they are cleared. A move-out is the other side, and the pallets left behind are mixed and unlabeled.

We treat the two differently. A move-in is a pickup of sorted stock with a date. A move-out is a sort first, with a deadline set by the landlord.

Where Sterling fits

Sterling is the northern anchor of the Route 28 belt, with Chantilly to the south and Ashburn to the west. The county page, Loudoun, has the wider list.

Send a count from Sterling

Give the ZIP, the size, a rough count and how the load leaves. A reply may name it as a sale, a buy-back or a clear-out. See sell and buy.

ZIP codes

20164 20166

Send the count

Used pallets in Sterling, VArequest type: sell

Step 1 takes what we need to start. Anything else is optional after it.

Questions

What ZIP codes cover Sterling?: 20164 and 20166.
Do you take airline catering pallets?: Only plain wood pallets that are free to release. Carrier-owned stock goes back to its owner.
Which roads cross in Sterling?: Route 28 and Route 7.
Why is Sterling a busy industrial market?: It was one of three Northern Virginia submarkets with sizable leases in the third quarter of 2026, with airport services and industrial tenants.
What ZIP codes cover Sterling?: 20164 and 20166.

Sources

Last reviewed 2026-11-11.