Pallet builds and how a forklift picks them up

BOX 01Four words, two ideas

Two words describe the frame: stringer and block. Two describe how a lift reaches it: two-way and four-way. A stringer pallet is usually two-way, and a block pallet is four-way, but notched stringers make a stringer pallet four-way too.

BOX 02Choosing a build

If your dock runs pallet jacks from all sides, you want block pallets or four-way stringers. If it runs only forklifts, stringers are fine and cheaper. The detailed comparison is in block versus stringer.

The build is independent of size and grade, so a 48 x 40 can be a stringer or a block pallet, and either can be Grade A or B.

BOX 03What a build changes in practice

A build is a decision about where the load's weight goes and how the pallet is handled. Stringer pallets are light and cheap and fine for most loads. Block pallets are stronger and take forks from four sides. The entry type, two-way or four-way, is a separate question from the frame.

A buyer reads a request more easily if it names both: "stringer, two-way" or "block, four-way."

BOX 04Builds compared at a glance

The first two rows name the frame and the last two name the entry. A pallet has one of each, so a full description has two words, such as "stringer, two-way."

BOX 05Asking for a build without knowing the words

If you cannot name the build, describe it. "Three long boards underneath, forks go in at the ends" is a stringer, two-way pallet. "Square blocks at the corners and the middle, forks go in anywhere" is a block, four-way.

BOX 06Why builds matter to value

A block pallet needs more parts and more labor than a stringer pallet, and a four-way entry takes extra cuts or blocks. Both raise the cost to make and the value to a rebuilder. Build type shifts value, so a request should name it.

BOX 07Build vocabulary at the dock

Dock workers use short names for builds: "stringers," "blocks," "twoways," "fourways," and sometimes a trade nickname. Using the standard words in a request avoids misreadings. If a pile has an unusual local name, add a plain description in brackets.

BOX 08Photographs that name a build

A photograph of the underside of a pallet, taken from the fork side, shows the build at a glance: three timbers is a stringer pallet, nine squares is a block pallet. Attach one to a request if you can, since a picture settles what a word might not.

BOX 09Two families

A stringer pallet is a frame of three or more parallel timbers under the deck, and notches in the stringers can open it to four-way entry. A block pallet uses both parallel and perpendicular supports and is also called four-way because a pallet jack can enter from any side (Wikipedia).