Grade C pallets: rough, repaired, still working

BOX 01What Grade C looks like

A Grade C pallet has been repaired more than once, so it carries the marks of several jobs: an old plug, a patched board, a stringer that has been split and nailed. The appearance is poor. Some deck boards may be loose or missing a corner. It still holds a light load, and that is what it is for.

• Several repairs on the same pallet.
• Deck boards that may not be whole.
• Stains, scuffs and weathering.
• A pallet that still stands level but may not stack safely.

BOX 02Where it works, and where it does not

A Grade C pallet works for one-way freight where the pallet is not coming back, for moves between your own buildings, and for light loads. It does not work for food, for retail, for heavy freight or for anything that has to stack five high.

The line between Grade C and a core is whether the pallet still carries a load safely. If it does not, it goes to a recycler. See broken pallet disposal.

BOX 03Buying and selling it

Few buyers ask for Grade C by name, which makes a pile of it harder to place. Say how many, which sizes, and whether the repairs are on stringers or boards. A buyer for Grade C is usually a small shop, a recycler that will upgrade the best of it, or a business that needs hundreds of cheap pallets for outbound stock.

If the pile is mixed, mixed loads is the page to read, and if it is mostly worn, selling cores is closer.

BOX 04Why C is not a failure

Grade C pallets are the workhorse of one-way shipping and of floor storage. A buyer who needs a pallet to carry a load once, from a plant to a customer, does not need a pallet that will live a long time, and a C pallet is cheaper per trip.

What keeps a pile at C and prevents it from sliding to cores is structure: if the stringers hold and the deck is closed enough for the load, the pallet works. Nails sticking up, rotted wood and cracked stringers push it down. Describe which of those you see, and see cores for the next step down.

BOX 05Where C ends and cores begin

A Grade C pallet still holds a load; a core does not, without repair. The test is simple: tilt the pallet on one corner and look at the stringers. If they are whole and the deck is attached, it is C. If a stringer is cracked or a block is split, it is a core.

A pile of C pallets sells as storage stock. A pile of cores sells as raw material. The two sell to different buyers.

BOX 06C stock in storage

C pallets are often used as floor stock under goods that are never moved again, or as the base of stacked displays. They need to be sound but not handsome. A buyer for this use will accept a wider range of wear than any other.

BOX 07A request for Grade C

"Looking for 500 Grade C 48 x 40 pallets for floor storage, nails flush, no protruding hardware, deliver to 38125." A buyer of C stock should say what they will not accept, because the range of C is wide.