Pallets
Make Pallets from Cherry’s Industrial Equipment a Staple of Your Operation
Pallets have been a staple in warehousing, industrial and manufacturing operations for many decades. Sometimes mistakenly referred to as skids — unlike pallets, skids do not have the underlying deck boards that provide additional support — pallets are flat, platform structures that facilitate the movement of goods with a lift truck, pallet jack, AGV or on a conveyor. They allow for easy loading, unloading, stacking and storing. Pallets are a mainstay in many industries, especially food, pharmaceutical, industrial, chemical and printing.
Many industries are converting from traditional wood pallets to plastic pallets for several reasons. Plastic pallets offer improved cleaning and sanitizing for WIP areas. In comparison to wood pallets, plastic pallets offer the elimination of product contamination from splinters, wood chips, or nails and a resistance to odors and chemicals. Plastic pallets can also reduce cost by providing a longer service life, lighter repeatable tare weights and greater dimensional consistency.
Cherry’s Industrial Equipment Offers a Broad Selection of High-Quality Industrial Plastic Pallets
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At Cherry’s Industrial, we offer a range of industrial plastic pallets with enhancements in durability, sanitation and customization that are unattainable with wood pallets. We offer stackable, rackable, nestable and export duty plastic pallets molded for your specifications:
- Stackable: Are you dealing with limited space in your warehouse? Stackable pallets enable safe, easy vertical storage that will free up floor space in your facility. We offer flame retardant, recycled plastic, HDPE and USDA-approved stackable pallets in various sizes. These pallets are available in multiple bright colors that make separating and organizing your products simple.
- Rackable: Primarily utilized in food and pharmaceutical industry applications, our rackable pallets enable safe, convenient, sanitary storage of loads in racks above floor level, which saves space inside your warehouse. Rackable pallets feature sturdy reinforcement — they are molded with a material more rigid than our standard stackable pallets. Choose from multiple different rackable pallet sizes.
- Nestable: Nestable pallets fit inside one another, saving a substantial amount of space when not in use. They consume up to four times less floor area than traditional wood or stackable pallets. Nestable pallets also allow for more efficient movement of empty pallets — any where from 1,800-2,000 empty nestable pallets can fit into a truck trailer. Cherry’s Industrial carries nestable pallets in more than 20 sizes and made from recycled plastic or HDPE.
- Export: Export duty pallets offer a reliable, cost-effective solution for the one-way shipping of cargo. We feature nestable, stackable and export pallets made from recycled plastic, presswood and wire mesh. Choose from more than 10 sizes to meet your specific material handling needs.
Other available pallet options include aluminum, chemical, distribution and euro. Whatever your pallet needs, we have a high-quality solution you can count on.
Benefits of Using Plastic Pallets
Using plastic pallets offers several benefits, especially in terms of cleanliness and safety:
1. Convenient Cleaning and Sanitizing
Wood pallets, which were once the industry standard, have fallen out of favor because they are more difficult than plastic pallets to clean and sanitize. Because of their smooth, sleek surfaces, plastic pallets are much easier to clean with a quick run through a pallet washer. Learning how to clean pallets is a straightforward and user-friendly process.
2. Resistance to Microorganisms
Wooden pallets often have cracks and crevices where bacteria can lurk. They also tend to absorb moisture, which provides a fertile breeding ground for germs. Smooth, molded plastic is much better able to resist bacterial growth. More than 200 diseases can spread through food, and one out of every 10 people in the world becomes ill every year from eating contaminated food. But, using sanitized plastic pallets can help cut down on foodborne disease transmission.
3. Suitability for Cold Temperatures
Plastic pallets are some of the best types of pallets for cold food transportation because they maintain their structural integrity even in the cold. They won't warp, swell or crack during refrigeration. Foods that need to be kept cold are also generally more susceptible to bacterial contamination than shelf-stable foods, so using sanitized plastic pallets offers extra cleanliness and safety benefits for cold food storage.
How to Keep Pallets Clean
To keep your plastic pallets clean, you can follow these easy steps:
1. Remove Dirt and Organic Matter
The first step to cleaning your plastic pallets is removing any dirt or organic matter they may have collected. The cleaning agents and disinfectants you will use won't be able to do their job if the pallets have clumps of material stuck to them. So, you should brush or wipe the pallets down before proceeding to the next steps. If the material is too difficult to remove manually, you can always try pressure-spraying the pallets instead.
2. Wash the Pallets
You can perform this step by hand with detergent or an all-purpose cleaner, though hand-washing your pallets can be time-consuming. Or, you can use an automated pallet washer. Automated pallet washers offer the benefit of cleaning pallets thoroughly and quickly. They help save time and provide peace of mind that your pallets are safe to use.
3. Apply Disinfectant
After you've performed the initial cleaning, it's a good idea to apply disinfectant to your pallets and let them sit according to the manufacturer's instructions. Using a disinfectant helps make sure you kill microbes that could otherwise lead to food spoilage and disease outbreaks.
4. Store Pallets in a Clean Area
After you've washed and disinfected your pallets, you need them to stay clean and sanitized. Be sure to store them in a sanitized area. Wiping down the storage area beforehand can help avoid contamination of the pallets between cleaning and use.
We Provide Custom Pallet Solutions for Your Unique Material Handling Application
Need a custom pallet solution? Cherry's Industrial offers plastic custom pallets with your choice of dimensions, capacity, material composition, unique design features, durability, and portability. We can also provide custom aluminum pallets that allow you to tailor the pallet’s dimension, capacity, and seam type. We can transform your basic design concept into a sturdy, well-constructed finished product that meets your exact specifications.
Choose Cherry’s Industrial as Your Pallet Supplier
At Cherry’s Industrial, we focus on supplying high-quality material handling products that help you find solutions for your most demanding challenges. That has been the guiding philosophy of our company since its founding in 1983. You’ll have access to our team of capable product specialists who are the best in the industry — we can help you make the right product selection decisions for your organization.
Whether your goal is to increase productivity, organization, safety or sanitation, you’re always assured of getting the best product at a fantastic price.
Explore Our Pallet Inventory
We invite you to browse our large pallet inventory and to contact us for additional product and pricing information. Reach us by phone at 877-350-2729 or by filling out and submitting our online contact form. If you’re interested in a custom pallet solution, we’ll provide comprehensive consulting services and a custom quote at no charge.
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