Grade B pallets: what they look like

You see the repairs. A board of a different color where one broke. A metal plate across a split. A short plug let into a damaged board. A companion stringer fastened beside the original. The stripe on the stack is amber.

Repaired stringers or plugs larger than 1¼ inches are within Grade B. Deck board spacing of at least 4 inches is a Grade B requirement in the Millwood guide. A pallet that needs more than a few repairs is moving toward a Grade C.

Docks where appearance matters less than a sound pallet: industrial freight, building supply, plant-to-plant moves, and any outbound load where a Grade A is more than the job needs. Buying B is how a dock keeps its pallet cost in line without risking the load. For a dock that ships food, check the repairs for oil and stains first.

• Selling. Send the size, count and the repairs you see. A sorted pile of 48x40 Grade B is a sale. See 48x40.
• Buying. Ask for B if A is more than you need. We say how it was graded.
• Buy-back. A dock that sells mixed loads and buys back graded B is a typical dock program.

No prices on this page. We do not promise a quantity in stock.

Reference guides give a few concrete tests. Deckboard spacing should be at least four inches. Repaired stringers and plugs larger than an inch and a quarter are acceptable. The repairs must be tight, the nails flush and the deckboards fastened. A Grade B that fails one of these tests is a Grade C no matter how many repairs it carries.

In practice a grader also looks at consistency. A stack where every pallet has one plug is easier to describe than a stack where some are clean and some have four repairs. We separate those before quoting a grade.

A stack sold as Grade B can still be bad. Reject stacks where deckboards gap wider than four inches, where plugs have been used as the main repair, where nails stand proud or where pallets of several sizes are mixed in. Ask to see the underside of a few before you accept.

Grade B pallets have been repaired. The usual repairs are replaced boards and plugs on a stringer. A plug can be anywhere from 6 to 24 inches long, and Grade B allows repaired stringers or plugs greater than 1¼ inches. It also requires deckboard spacing of at least four inches.

These pallets ship fine on most freight, and are a good choice where the pallet is not on display.

What is the difference between Grade A and Grade B pallets?

A has no repairs; B has been repaired with replaced boards, plates, plugs or a companion stringer. B ships fine and costs less.

What is a companion stringer?

A second stringer fastened beside a cracked one. It is the usual sign of a Grade B.

How far apart should deckboards be?

At least four inches, according to the Millwood grading guide.