Orlando, Fla.Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake countiesQuestions from the dock
Orlando Pallet Co

The pallet trade, reported from the docks of Greater Orlando

Lead story

Pallets bought, sold and cleared across Greater Orlando

Orlando, Fla. — Behind the parks, hotels and hospitals sit the docks that restock them, and every one of those docks takes in pallets and sends some back out. Pallets here are read by grade, size and moisture, and one request starts a purchase, a sale or a clear-out across Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties. Three desks, one request.

Request a quote Try the grade sheet

Pallets bought, sold and cleared across Greater Orlando, graded plainly

Today's three desks

Desk one

Buy

Used pallets by grade, new builds to a spec sheet, combo pallets from recycled and new lumber, custom sizes and heat-treated stock for export. Start with the used pallet page if you are unsure what grade your load needs.

Desk two

Sell

Empty 48 x 40 pallets pile up on every receiving dock. A sorted stack, a stack of cores and a mixed pile are three different things to a buyer, and the worth guide shows how.

Desk three

Clear

Broken pallets, a back lot full of mixed sizes, a yard that has to be emptied before the next delivery. Pickup, recycling and disposal are three separate routes, laid out on the clear desk.

District dispatches

Orlando ships more than visitors see. Each district has its own roads, its own buildings and its own pile of pallets.

LAKESEMINOLEORANGEOSCEOLA GrovelandApopkaSanfordOrlando Central ParkAirportKissimmee Schematic, not to scale
The four counties, schematic. Each district below has its own page.

Orlando Central Park and Southpark

SOUTHPARK — Infill warehouses in Orlando supply Universal, Disney, regional hotels and the Orange County Convention Center, and Orlando Central Park and Southpark are where many of them sit.

Airport and Lake Nona

LAKE NONA — More than 20 major freight carriers operate at Orlando International Airport, and Lake Nona is home to a medical school cluster. Air cargo, e-commerce and medical freight share these docks.

Silver Star and Apopka

APOPKA — Apopka calls itself the Indoor Foliage Capital of the World, and its nurseries ship plants on pallets in odd sizes.

Sanford and Lake Mary

SANFORD — Sanford sits on Lake Monroe, with I-4 through town and an airport with four runways. Lake Mary, to the south, is a corporate and warehouse address on the same interstate.

Kissimmee and Poinciana

KISSIMMEE — New Class A distribution parks, among them Osceola Commerce Center and about 4.1 million square feet near Poinciana Boulevard, now ship from Osceola County.

The Turnpike in Groveland and Clermont

GROVELAND — A 977,441-square-foot cross-dock with 212 dock-high doors went up in Groveland in 2023, and bottling and grocery docks stand along the same corridor.

Yard weather

Orlando averaged 51.45 inches of rain a year over 1991-2020, and most of it comes in summer. A pallet in an uncovered yard takes it all.

The line to know is 20 percent moisture content. Wood below it will not support decay fungi. Above it, the risk rises with every point.

Average Orlando rainfall by month, inches. Sources linked on the storage guide.
MonthInchesWhat it means for a yard
June8.05The wet season opens; covers go on.
July7.46Afternoon cells soak open stacks most days.
August7.69Stock left out since May is often cores by now.
November1.79The dry stretch: time to sort and restock.

Read the storage guide

moisture20%open stack, no cover
Yard weather: a storm cell crosses an open stack. Wood under 20% moisture will not support mould.

The grade sheet

A pallet is graded by what has been done to it. No repairs and none needed is Grade A. Replaced boards and plugs make it Grade B. Several repairs, or boards that are not fully intact, make it Grade C. A pallet a shipper no longer needs is a core.

Try it below with three controls, then open the full sheet for block pallets, wet and mouldy boards, and sizes.

Open the full grade sheet

A quick read

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Sizes in print

Four sizes cover most of what comes through a dock. The 48 x 40 is the GMA standard and the most common wood pallet size in North America: about 30 percent of new wood pallets made in the United States.

Standard pallet sizes, length by width. Each size has its own page.
SizeMillimetresUsually found with
48 x 401,219 x 1,016The GMA standard; general freight
42 x 421,067 x 1,067Beverage
48 x 481,219 x 1,219Chemicals
800 x 1200 mm800 x 1,200The Euro pallet; export freight

Who ships on what

Hospitality supply

Warehouses feeding hotels, parks and the convention center move cases in and pallets out.

Food distribution

Food loads ask for dry, clean, sound pallets, which usually means Grade A.

E-commerce and 3PL

Hundreds of mixed pallets a week leave a fulfillment dock; sorting decides what they are worth.

Classifieds: send your request

Buying a few dozen for a one-off shipment, selling the surplus a dock sheds, or clearing a stack: say which, say what you have, and the request starts from there.

Sizes, counts and whether the pallets are block or stringer help most. This is a trade desk for businesses that move pallets every week, not a shop for liquidation pallets or craft projects.

Questions from the dock

What is the difference between Grade A and Grade B pallets?

Grade A has had no repairs and needs none. Grade B has been repaired with replaced deck boards, plates or plugs. Both are used pallets; B is cheaper and sound for most warehouse and inbound use.

Do I need heat-treated pallets?

Only when the wood packaging crosses a border that asks for the ISPM 15 mark. Heat treatment means the core reached 56 °C for at least 30 minutes. It does not stop mould. See the ISPM 15 guide.

What is worth selling?

A sorted stack of one size and grade is worth more than a mixed pile. Cores have value to a recycler. Broken pallets may only need clearing. The worth guide explains how to tell them apart.

What do you not handle?

Liquidation pallets, returned goods, craft or furniture pallets, pallet jacks and racking. This desk deals in wood pallets for businesses.

More questions from the dock

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