How tall a pallet is
A standard 48 x 40 wood pallet is typically 5.5 to 6 inches tall; another reference gives 6½ inches. The height is the top deck board, plus the stringer or block, plus the bottom deck board.
| No. | Member | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Top deck boards | Run across the stringers; count and width set the deck coverage. |
| 2 | Lead boards | The deck board on each outside edge, top and bottom; the first board a fork meets. |
| 3 | Stringers | The long supports under the deck; their length is the first number in the size. |
| 4 | Bottom deck boards | Spread the load on the floor or a conveyor and tie the stringers together. |
Adding it up
A pallet’s height is the sum of three layers. The top deck board is the thinnest layer, thicker on heavy builds. The stringer below it is nominally 4 inches tall in a standard IPPC 48 x 40, though actual lumber is often a little less than nominal. The bottom deck board adds another board thickness. Put together, that lands in the 5½ to 6½ inch range most references give.
Why height matters
Fork clearance. The opening between the decks has to let the forks in. Measure your forks’ thickness; the stringer sets the opening they must pass through. A pallet built with shorter stringers to save height may not take your forks.
Load height limits. Trailers, containers and racking openings have fixed heights. If you ship two tiers of product to a 96-inch limit, every inch of pallet comes out of the product. Customers and carriers sometimes set an overall height; the pallet counts toward it.
Conveyors and automation. Automated systems expect a fixed height and a flat bottom. A pallet that varies by a quarter inch can catch on a transfer or misread on a sensor.
Skids and block pallets
A skid has no bottom deck, so it is one board thinner. A block pallet’s height is set by its blocks, which are commonly about the same as a stringer’s height but can be specified taller for more fork clearance.
Specifying height
If height matters to you, give it as a maximum overall height, or as a minimum fork opening, or both. We write it on the spec and the board thicknesses and stringer size are chosen to meet it while still carrying the load.
Height in a trailer
Truck trailers and shipping containers have fixed inside heights. If you load two tiers of product, the pallets take height twice. A pallet half an inch shorter saves an inch of product space on a double stack, which can mean one more layer of cartons per load for some products.
Height and stacking
Empty pallets are shipped and stored in stacks, and their height decides how many fit in a stack, a truck or a magazine. Automated pallet dispensers expect a consistent height so they can separate one pallet from the stack below it.
Block heights
On a block pallet the blocks set the fork opening. Taller blocks give more clearance for forks and pallet jacks, at the cost of more lumber and a taller pallet. Block heights are part of the written spec like any other member.
Measuring a pallet’s height
Measure from the floor to the top of the top deck at a corner and in the middle. A pallet that is higher at the corners than in the middle may have bowed boards. Note the fork opening too: from the floor, or from the top of the bottom deck, to the underside of the top deck.
Common height problems
Forks that won’t enter because the opening is too low; loads that won’t fit under a trailer roof or a rack beam because the pallet added an inch; automated lines that misread a pallet taller or shorter than the last. Most come from a build that changed without anyone writing it down: thicker boards from a different lumber batch, taller stringers from a different supplier.
Writing height into a spec
Give a target overall height with a tolerance, plus or minus an eighth or a quarter of an inch as your line requires, and a minimum fork opening. Both are checked on delivery with a tape.
Skids and runners
A skid’s height is its deck plus its runners. Taller runners lift the deck for fork clearance under machines and crates.
Low-profile and tall builds
Some loads want a low pallet: tall machines that must pass under doors, product that is double-stacked to a tight trailer height. Thinner boards and lower stringers make a low-profile build, at the cost of capacity and fork clearance. Other loads want a tall pallet: a higher opening for long forks or for handling over obstructions. Both are drawn like any other, with height on the sheet.
Height after loading
Under load, deck boards bend slightly and a heavily loaded pallet can stand a little lower in the middle. Racking clearances should allow for that.
Measure the tightest space
Before setting a height, measure the tightest place the pallet goes: rack beam openings, trailer door height, mezzanine clearance or a conveyor’s side guides. Subtract the loaded product’s height, and what is left is the most the pallet can take. Too low and the forks scrape the floor; too tall and a load won’t clear the beam above it. Leave a few inches of clearance for the lift itself. For double-stacked loads, count both pallets and both loads against the trailer’s inside height, roof bows and any refrigeration unit included.
Small differences in height add up quickly across a double-stacked trailer, a tall rack or an automated line. Measure what you have, decide what you need, and put both figures on the drawing so every delivery stays within them. Inspection on arrival then takes seconds. Remember mezzanine clearances, sprinkler heads above top-tier racking, and low-ceilinged basements or older freight elevators, which frequently impose stricter limits than any trailer.