New pallets for meat and poultry

Wood that stays damp grows mold, and refrigerated rooms are damp. Lumber dried below 20% moisture content won’t support it. A heat-treated pallet loaded while still warm into a cold trailer is a known source of trouble. Tell us your plant’s rules on wood and we write them into the spec.

USDA counted 3.99 billion cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse space in the US in October 2025, with California, Georgia, Washington, Wisconsin and Texas holding the most. Pallets in those rooms are racked high, so a pallet that sags under frozen weight is a real risk.

Meat and poultry processing employed 556,647 people in 2025. In Nebraska it is 3.7% of all private jobs, almost nine times the national share; Hall County, Georgia, had the most processing jobs of any county that reports them.

Can a pallet go straight from the plant into a blast freezer?

Yes, if it is built for frozen weight and racking. Cold makes wood stiffer, but ice and condensation add moisture, so dried lumber and good airflow around stacks help.

Do processing plants reuse pallets?

Some run their own pallets in a closed loop between plant and cold store; most outbound pallets leave with the product and don’t come back. A closed-loop pallet is built heavier for repeated washing and freezing.

What about plants that ship to export markets?

Pallets carrying meat abroad need the ISPM 15 treatment and mark, applied by a registered facility. Name the destination country on the request.

Does a spill soak into wood?

Boxed product shouldn’t leak, but liners fail. Wood absorbs spills, which is one reason many meat plants ship one-way pallets and never bring them back into the processing area. Plants with stricter rules may require plastic for internal use.