New pallets and skids in Iowa
Iowa is fifth in the country for meat and poultry processing, with 33,386 jobs, six times the national concentration. Food manufacturing as a whole is 4.6% of all private jobs in the state, one of the three highest shares anywhere. Processing plants ship boxed product by the truckload, every day, on pallets that go straight into the cold.
The cold chain is large for the state’s size: 70 million cubic feet of refrigerated space and 1,814 refrigerated warehousing jobs. Dairy adds 3,922 jobs. Polk County, Des Moines, leads warehousing with 4,393 jobs; Scott County, on the Mississippi, has 3,450.
A processor shipping that much on a fixed schedule usually buys on a standing order of one written spec, often a 48 x 40 built with a close deck for soft, chilled cartons. See meat and poultry and by the truckload.
Illustrative imageWhere the pallets go
| Industry | Jobs, 2025 | Common footprint |
|---|---|---|
| Food manufacturing | 60,161 | 48 x 40 |
| Meat and poultry processing | 33,386 | 48 x 40 |
| Warehousing and storage | 19,824 | 48 x 40 |
| Plastics product manufacturing | 8,910 | Sized to the bag |
| Dairy product manufacturing | 3,922 | 40 x 40 |
Private-sector jobs, BLS QCEW 2025.
Buying in Iowa
Iowa’s processors buy in volume: meat and poultry processing is 6.1 times the national concentration here. Plants shipping boxed pork every day want one written build repeated on each delivery, usually a 48 x 40 with a close deck, and enough on hand that a late truck never stops a line. Black Hawk County, around Waterloo, has 2,144 warehousing jobs. Auto parts adds 4,137 jobs and pharmaceutical manufacturing 4,094.
Pork and food plants here run every day, so a pallet shortage stops a line. A standing order, with the quantity per week on the request, is how most large processors buy.
Send the size, the load per pallet, the quantity and a Iowa delivery ZIP. We write the build down as a spec, quote new pallets against it with delivery priced in, and reorders follow the same sheet.
Quote new pallets for Iowa
Every pallet is quoted to a written spec, wherever the dock is. Give the delivery ZIP with the size, load and quantity.
- Delivery
- ZIP code in Iowa
- Pallet size
- Stringer length first
- Load weight
- Per pallet, in pounds
Not sure of a line? Leave it blank. Size, load weight and quantity are enough to start a quote.
The builds Iowa’s trades use
- Food and groceryThe 48 x 40 at its home: distribution centers, food plants and store docks, and why dry, clean lumber matters.
- Meat and poultryBoxed product into blast freezers: a close deck, dried lumber, one-way builds.
- Plastics and bulk bagsA full, smooth deck under resin bags that slump into any gap.
- DairyCrates and cases on the 40 x 40, straight into coolers or aging rooms.