Terminology

A

Annularly threaded nail – pallet nail with annular (ring) threads rolled onto shank

B

Banding Notch or Strap Slot – recess or cutout in the upper edge of the stringer or the top or bottom pallet deck, designed to allow tie-down of a unit load to the pallet deck with strapping or banding

Block – rectangular, square, multi-sided or cylindrical deck or deck-mat spacer, often identified by its location within the pallet as corner block, end block, edge block, inner block, center or middle block

Block Pallet – a type of pallet with blocks between the pallet decks or beneath the top deck

Bottom Deck – assembly of deckboards comprising the lower, load bearing surface of the pallet

C

CAD – computer-aided-design software that allows the design of the "right" pallet at the best value; see Pallet Design System (PDS)

Chamfered Deckboard – a deckboard with the edges of one or two faces beveled, either along the full or specified length of board or between the stringers or blocks, facilitating entry of pallet-jack wheels and tines of forklift trucks

Cost-Per-Trip – average cost of pallet or container use for a single one-way movement of the unit load consisting of four to six handlings

D

Deck – top or bottom surface of the pallet, consisting of one or more boards or panels, with or without space between the elements

Deck Mat – the assembly of deckboards and stringerboards or a solid sheet of material, forming the deck of a block pallet

Deckboard – a single element or component of a pallet deck, oriented perpendicular to the stringer or stringerboard

Deflection – the amount of flexural deformation of a pallet or pallet component due to the weight of an imposed load; sag

Double-Wing Pallet – a pallet with top and bottom deckboards or decks extending beyond the edges of the stringers or stringerboards

Drive-Screw Nail – continuously helically threaded or fluted pallet nail

E

Economic Life – the number of trips the pallet will make over its lifetime, provided it is properly repaired, which maximizes the return on the investment

Expendable Pallet – a pallet intended for a limited series of handlings during a single unit load movement from shipper to receiver

F

Fastener – a device for connecting pallet components such as nails, staples, screws, bolts, lag bolts, adhesives and welds

Flush Pallet – a pallet with deckboards flush with the stringers, stringerboards or blocks along the ends and sides of the pallet

Fork Entry – the opening between decks, beneath the top deck and ground or beneath the stringerboards to admit the forks of a lifting device

Four-Way Block Pallet – a pallet with openings at both opposite pallet ends and sides sufficient to admit hand pallet jacks; full four-way entry pallet

Four-Way Block Pallet – a pallet with openings at both opposite pallet ends and sides sufficient to admit hand pallet jacks; full four-way entry pallet

Free Span – the distance between spacers within the pallet; distance between external pallet supports, as in a warehouse rack

G

Grocery Pallet – a generic reference to the pallets used in grocery manufacturing, distribution and retailing; historically, it meant a "GMA pallet" which was a pallet originally specified by the Grocery Manufacturers Association

H

Hand (Wheel) Jack Opening – the aperture provided in the pallet bottom deck to allow pallet jack wheels to bear on the ground; window

Hardened-Steel Nail – a heat-treated and tempered steel pallet nail with a MIBANT angle between 8 and 28 degrees

Hardwood – a wood from broad-leaved tree species (not necessarily hard in texture or dense)

Helically Threaded Nail – continuous helically threaded pallet nail; see drive-screw nail

I

Inner Deckboard – any deckboard located between the end deckboards; interior deckboard

L

Length – refers to the stringer or stringerboard length; also refers to the first dimension given to describe a pallet, i.e. 48" x 40", where 48" is the pallet stringer or stringerboard length

M

Multiple-Use Pallet – a pallet designed for repeated uses for more than one unit load with an average minimum life-to-first repair of ten trips or more, with an average of five handlings per trip in an average handling environment; multiple-trip pallet; returnable pallet; reusable pallet; warehouse pallet; permanent pallet; general-purpose pallet; special-service pallet; through-transit pallet

N

Nail – straight, slender, wire fastener made from endless wire by cutting the point and forming the head at the shank end opposite the point, designed to be driven, to hold two or more pieces of a pallet or container together

National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) – an international association with the goal of promoting the design, manufacture, distribution, recycling, and sale of pallets, containers, and reels

Non-Reversible Pallet – a pallet with a dissimilar top and bottom deck configuration or without a bottom deck

Notch – filleted cutout in lower portion of the stringer to allow entry for the fork tine, usually 9" in length and 1 ¼" – 1 ½ " in height

Notched Stringer – a stringer with two or more notches spaced for fork-tine entry (partial four-way entry)

O

Opening Height – the vertical dimension measured between decks, from the floor to the underside of the top deck, or from the floor to the top of the stringer notch

Overall Height – the vertical dimension measured from the pallet bottom to the pallet top

Overhang – the distance the deck or deckboard extends from the outer face of the outer pallet stringer, stringerboard, or block; wing; lip; cantilever; distance the unit load extends beyond the deck

P

Pallet – a portable, horizontal, rigid, composite platform used as a base for assembling, storing, stacking, handling, and transporting goods as a unit load, often equipped with a superstructure

Pallet Design System (PDS) – a reliability-based computer-assisted design CAD program for wood pallets for determination of the safe load-carrying capacity, performance and economic life of wood pallets

Pallet Size – overall dimension of a pellet stated in terms of length followed by width and height; for example, a 48" x 40" pallet is 48" long and 40" wide; has 48" stringers or stringerboards and 40" deckboards

Partial Four-Way Stringer Pallet – a stringer pallet with notched stringers and block pallet with overlapping bottom stringerboard and deckboards

R

Racked Across Deckboards (RAD) – output of the PDS evaluation software describing the maximum load-carrying capacity and deflection of a wood pallet and its decks, where the warehouse racking frame supports the pallet only at the deckboard ends

Racked Across Stringers (RAS) – output of the PDS software evaluation describing the maximum load-carrying capacity and deflection of a wood pallet and its decks, where the warehouse racking frame supports the pallet only at the stringer or stringerboard ends

Repaired Pallet – pallet with damaged components replaced with new or recycled components, in order to reuse it

Recycled Pallet – a pallet that has been used, discarded, salvaged, repaired, or rebuilt in order to pass through another cycle or cycles of use … environmentally responsible

Returnable/Reusable Pallet – a pallet designed to be used for more than one trip; multiple-use pallet

Reversible Pallet – a pallet with identical or similar top and bottom decks, to allow either one to support the unit load

S

Shipping Pallet – a pallet designed to be used for a one-direction movement of the unit load from shipper to receiver; it is then recycled or disposed

Single-Wing Pallet – a pallet with the top deckboards or deck extending beyond the outer edge of the stringers or stringerboards and with the bottom deckboards or deck, if any, flush with the outer edges of the stringers or stringerboards

Skid – a pallet without bottom deckboards or deck

Slave Pallet – rigid pallet or platform; single, thick panel used a s a support base for a palletized load in warehouse rack-storage facilities or production systems

Solid Deck Pallet – a pallet constructed of a single or multiple components without space between the deckboards or components

Span – the distance between supports

Strap Slot – recess or cutout in the upper edge of the stringer or the top or bottom pallet deck, designed to allow tie-down of a unit load to the pallet deck with strapping or banding; strap notch; banding notch

Stringer – continuous, longitudinal, solid or notched beam-component of the pallet used to support and space the deck components, often identified by location as the outside, interior, or center stringer; bearer; runner

Stringerboard – in block pallets, the continuous, solid board member extending for the full length of the pallet, perpendicular to the deckboard and placed between the deckboards and blocks, to serve as support of deckboards or deck

T

Top-Deck of Pallet – the assembly of components comprising the upper load-carrying pallet face

Two-Way Entry Pallet – a pallet with unnotched solid stringers allowing entry only form the two opposite pallet ends; a pallet without notches in stringers

U

Unit Load – the assembly of goods or single item on a pellet for handling, moving, storing, and stacking as a single entity; it includes the supporting pallet

W

Wing – overhang of deckboard or deck end from the outside edge of the stringer or stringerboard, to increase unit-load area, to add pallet load-bearing capacity, to reduce deckboard-end splitting by fasteners, and to facilitate the lifting of a pallet with bar slings hanging from a crane