Export pallets UK

Start with the destination, not the pallet

The destination determines more of the specification than anything else. Solid wood packaging leaving Great Britain for most international destinations generally needs to meet ISPM15 treatment and marking requirements. If the destination is in the EU, your customer may also ask packaging questions under EU packaging law — a separate matter with separate evidence. Work out those two things first and most of the remaining choices narrow themselves.

Size and footprint

• 1200 x 1000 mm — the standard UK footprint, common for outbound freight and well suited to a wide range of loads.
• 1200 x 800 mm — the Euro footprint. Widely used across Europe, and often specified by continental customers. This size is not automatically an EPAL pallet.
• Bespoke — where the load, the container fill or the machinery dictates something else. Tell us the load dimensions and weight and we can work back from those.

Construction and load

Two-way or four-way entry, stringer or block construction, deck coverage and board thickness all follow from how the pallet will be handled and what sits on it. A pallet that is fine for a forklift on a smooth floor may not survive multi-modal handling, sea freight and a pump truck at the far end. Tell us the weight, the dimensions, whether it will be stacked, and how many times it will be handled.

Treatment and marking

Where treated wood packaging is required, the ISPM15 mark applied by a registered operator is the evidence. It is worth being precise here: kiln drying is not heat treatment, a supplier letter is not a mark, and an illegible mark is a practical problem regardless of history. The ISPM15 guide covers how to read one.

Condition and cleanliness

For food, pharmaceutical or sensitive goods, moisture content, cleanliness and staining matter as much as structure. Pallets that have been outside in the rain are heavier, slower to dry and can transfer moisture to packaging. Say what the goods are and we will factor it in.

What we need from you to quote

1. Destination country, and whether the pallets carry goods or are the goods.
2. Size, or the load dimensions and weight if you would rather we suggested one.
3. Quantity and whether this is one-off or recurring.
4. New, used or no preference.
5. Collection or delivery postcode and the date you need them.
6. Anything your customer has specified in writing.