Grade A pallets: what they look like

Every deck board is whole and tight. The stringers or blocks are intact, with no companion stringer fastened alongside. Nails sit flush. The pallet may be used and scuffed, but there is nothing on it that was fixed. When a stack is Grade A, the stripe on the end is green.

Appearance is not the test. A clean pallet with a replaced board is a Grade B. A dirty pallet with none is still an A, though a dock that ships food will want to look at the dirt.

Outbound docks that ship to retail and food customers. They want a consistent pallet that will not drop a board in a customer’s dock. Most of that demand is 48x40; see 48x40. Docks in Frederick, Prince William and Stafford counties that run grocery and parcel freight are the typical buyers; see grocery distribution.

• Selling. Send the count and the rhythm. A sorted pile of 48x40 Grade A is a sale in most cases.
• Buying. Say the size and how often. We tell you what we can send and how we graded it.
• From a mixed pile. The Grade A in a mixed load can be read separately from the rest.

No prices here. A price depends on the count and the rhythm.

Within Grade A there is a top tier sometimes called club grade, or AAA: pallets that look new enough for a retail floor display. We use the term only when the pallets honestly qualify, which means unmarked boards, no scuffs that suggest hard use and a frame that has never been touched by a repairer.

Most Grade A stock is plainer than that. It has been through a supply chain once or twice, carries scuffs and the occasional paint mark, and is entirely sound. A dock that needs the display grade should say so; a dock that needs a dependable outbound pallet usually does not.

Grade A used pallets come from freight that was gentle on them: a few trips on a clean dock, a warehouse with careful drivers, a retailer that returns pallets promptly. They are rare in mixed piles because wear and repair accumulate, so most of what reaches us sorted as Grade A has been pulled from a larger stack by someone who looked.

Buyers should expect Grade A to vary. Two sorted stacks from two docks will not look the same, but both should have intact boards and no repairs.

A Grade A pallet has no repairs. All boards are original, the stringers are intact and the pallet sits flat. It is the grade that goes to customers who look closely, to retail floor displays and to food and beverage docks. Because the trade has no single governing standard, we describe what we see rather than rely on the name.

• Original boards and no replaced stringers.
• Tight nails and no raised heads.
• No splits that run through a board.
• Even spacing between top deckboards.

A buyer who inspects each delivery will reject pallets with visible repairs, and a rejected trailer costs more than the difference in grade. Grade A makes sense when the pallet is seen by a customer, when it goes under food or medicine that is handled by hand, or when racking depends on every board being square. Where the pallet is out of sight inside a trailer and goes back to a dock, Grade B usually does the same work.

Pallets lose their first condition after a trip or two: a fork tine splits a deckboard, a nail lifts, a board is replaced. A pile that is still Grade A is a pile that has made few trips, which is why it is usually found where pallets are used once and kept indoors, such as a store receiving dock or a lab storeroom.

• Count how many are original, without a single replaced board.
• Say how many trips you think they have made.
• Mention any staining, dampness or odor.
• Send a photograph of the stack end, not only the top layer.

A rented blue or red pallet may look flawless, yet it is not Grade A stock for sale: it belongs to its pooling company. Conversely, a plain whitewood pallet can be Grade A whatever its color. Keep the two questions apart, ownership first and condition second, and a spotless pallet with paint on it still goes back to its owner.

Lift one corner and let it drop an inch. A sound pallet rings flat and tight; a loose nail or a cracked board rattles. Press a thumb against the wood: damp or soft boards leave a dent. Pallets that pass both are worth photographing and counting separately from the rest of the pile.

Stacked outdoors on bare ground, even sound pallets absorb water and soon fail the inspection. Keep a Grade A stack under a roof, off the floor, with air moving through it, and the grade holds far longer.

What is a Grade A pallet?

A used pallet with no repairs that needs none.

Is a Grade A pallet new?

No. It is used. If it is built entirely of new lumber, it is a new pallet, not a Grade A.

What is club grade?

The top tier of Grade A, also written AAA: pallets that look new enough for a retail floor display.