The complete pallet size chart.

These are the footprints built and traded most across the United States and Canada. The 48×40 GMA is the reference everything else is measured against — see the full 48×40 deep dive for its construction. Weights assume standard softwood (pine) or mixed-hardwood decking.

Many industries standardized on a footprint that matches their product geometry — a drum diameter, a case count, or a warehouse aisle. Here's how the major sectors line up. These pallets often carry tighter construction specs (heavier stringers, closer board spacing) than a general-freight unit.

There is no single global pallet. ISO 6780 recognizes six footprints, and exporters must match the destination market. If you're shipping overseas, remember the wood also needs an ISPM-15 heat-treatment stamp — the footprint and the phytosanitary treatment are two separate requirements.

The conversion is simple arithmetic — inches × 25.4 = millimeters — but rounding conventions vary, so spec sheets can disagree by a millimeter or two. Use this table to keep both units straight when you order or quote across borders.

Capacity depends on wood species, board thickness, stringer or block construction, and grade. Treat these as planning ranges, not guarantees — and always de-rate for racking, where the pallet is edge-supported. For safety-critical loads, ask us for a spec sheet on the exact build.

*All figures are illustrative ranges. Grade drives a lot of this — read how we grade pallets to understand why an A unit outperforms a C unit on the same footprint.

Beyond the headline footprints, dozens of legacy and niche sizes still circulate across North American docks. This extended list captures the ones a Tucson buyer is most likely to encounter in a mixed used load, with both units and the entry style you should expect. Sizes marked 2-way are stringer pallets whose outer stringers are not notched — a forklift can only enter from two sides.

Here the five most size-sensitive sectors are broken out with the construction traits their pallets tend to carry. These specs run tighter than a general-freight unit — a pharma pallet is dimensioned for cleanroom flow, a chemical pallet for drum weight, a retail display pallet for shopper safety on a store floor.

ISO 6780 recognizes six pallet footprints, and no single one dominates worldwide — which is exactly why exporters must confirm the destination market. Europe complicates it further with the EPAL family, a set of licensed block-pallet sizes carried by the European Pallet Association pool. All export wood also needs an ISPM-15 heat-treatment stamp — the footprint and the phytosanitary treatment are separate requirements.

Footprint area tells you how much floor a pallet claims; cube utilization tells you how well that footprint fills a standard truck or ocean container. The North American 48 × 40 was engineered so two pallets sit across a 96-inch trailer with almost no wasted width — which is a large part of why it dominates. The figures below assume a 53-ft dry van (about 630 in usable length, 98 in width) and are approximate.

Cube efficiency is a footprint question and a stacking question — a pallet that fits the floor but leaves headroom above the load is still wasting cube. Ask us to help match footprint to your trailer or container.

Empty weight drives freight cost and worker fatigue; load rating drives safety. Both move with wood species, board thickness, construction, and grade. Treat every number here as a planning range and always de-rate for racking, where the pallet is supported only at its edges.

The formula is inches × 25.4 = mm and mm ÷ 25.4 = inches. This expanded table covers every dimension used across the footprints on this page, in both directions, so you never have to reach for a calculator mid-order.