New wood skids

Because nothing runs under the runners, a skid sits flat and solid where a pallet’s bottom deck would rock on an uneven floor, and it costs less lumber. The trade-off is handling: a skid is lifted by forks or a jack slid under the deck between the runners, and it spreads less of its load on a conveyor or rack. For machines, coils, crates and equipment, that is usually the right trade.

Skids are drawn to a load more often than pallets are, because the loads they carry are rarely standard. A machine’s base, a coil’s width, a crate’s floor or a cabinet’s feet set where the runners go and how far apart. The pages below take each kind of load in turn; each has a drawing of a typical build, the questions that decide it, and the quote form. If you aren’t sure a skid is right, the skid vs pallet guide explains the difference and when each suits.

Common skid uses include machine tools, compressors, generators, electrical cabinets, transformers, coils of steel and wire, crated parts and stone. Each has its own page below or is quoted as a custom skid from its size and weight.

Runners are often heavier than pallet stringers, and hardwood suits loads measured in tons. Many skids make a single trip: loaded at the shipper’s plant, unloaded at the customer’s, and left under the machine or scrapped. That is why a skid is drawn for one journey and one load, which keeps its lumber honest.