Hey there, let’s cut to the chase—if you’re reading this, you’re probably either a warehouse manager, a production supervisor, or someone stuck making sure your pallets hold up when they roll out the door to the shop floor, cross-country shipping, or even a quick run to the local distribution hub. As a pallet parts supplier, I’ve seen it all: pallets that snap mid-load, nails that pull out so fast they take a piece of board with them, and entire orders delayed because someone didn’t handle the parts right before they even get assembled. Handling pallet parts isn’t just “moving boxes of nails around”—it’s the make-or-break step between a pallet that lasts 10 loads and one that’s a liability before it even leaves your dock. Let me walk you through the stuff I’ve learned over 12 years in this game, no fancy jargon, just real talk that’ll save you time, money, and a whole lot of headaches. Pallet Parts
First off, let’s get the basics straight: what are pallet parts, anyway? Most folks know the big pieces—stringers, deck boards, that’s obvious. But the smaller, easily overlooked bits? The block feet, the staples, the corner protectors, the metal reinforcement plates, even the little plastic spacers that keep everything aligned. Each of these has its own kryptonite when it comes to handling, and messing up even one category can throw your whole build off. I’ve had a customer call me panicking last year because their new order of 10,000 block feet arrived with half the edges chipped—they’d stacked them too high on the truck, and the bottom ones had been crushed, leaving sharp, splintered edges that couldn’t fit into the stringer slots without splitting the wood. That cost them three days of production, because they had to sand every single one by hand before they could assemble anything. Sound familiar? That’s the kind of stuff we’re here to avoid.
Let’s start with the big, wood-based parts first—stringers and deck boards, since those make up 80% of a standard pallet. You’d think wooden planks are tough, right? Well, they’re not indestructible, and handling them wrong is how you get things like warping, cracking, or even hidden splits that don’t show up until you’re loading a 2,000-pound crate on top. Here’s the thing: wood is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs and releases moisture like a sponge. If you leave stringers stacked out in the rain for a day, they soak up water, and when you bring them into a dry warehouse, they shrink unevenly. That leads to gaps between deck boards, or stringers that twist so bad you can’t get them to line up. So the first rule for wood pallet parts: control moisture, and don’t stack them like you’re building a fort. I tell every new customer this—store wood parts in a covered area, off the ground (pallet skates work great, no need to overcomplicate it), and stack them no higher than 10 feet. Wait, why 10? I’ve seen a stack of 16-foot stringers collapse at 11 feet, taking out half a warehouse’s worth of parts and two forklift forks. Yeah, that’s a story I still bring up in training calls. Also, never drag wooden parts across concrete or metal—even if they’re smooth, that’s how you get splintered edges or small nicks that turn into cracks during shipping. Use a hand truck or a forklift with soft forks, or even just lift them by the stack if they’re not too heavy. I once watched a worker drag a stack of deck boards across a concrete floor and nick every third board—they didn’t notice until the pallet came apart at a retail store, and we got a complaint. We fixed it, but that customer switched to using dollies after that.
Next up, the tiny, metal and fastener parts—staples, nails, screws, and reinforcement plates. These are easy to take for granted, but they’re the reason a pallet holds together. Handling them wrong is how you get bent staples, rusted nails, or reinforcement plates that are dented so bad they can’t fit into the pallet’s corners. Let’s start with the packaging first: I ship fasteners in cardboard bins lined with plastic, right? That’s non-negotiable, but I still get customers who leave those bins open on the floor overnight, or stack other heavy bins on top of them. A bin of 1,000 staples with another 50-pound bin on top? Those staples bend. And a bent staple won’t drive straight into wood—you’ll get misdrives, which mean more time with the nail gun, or staples that pop out when the pallet’s loaded. Rust is another big one. If you store metal parts in a damp area, even if they’re coated, they’ll rust. Rust makes nails weaker, and if a nail snaps mid-drive, that’s a hazard for whoever’s assembling the pallet, or for the guy pulling it apart at the other end. Last quarter, I had a customer reject a whole order of 50,000 screws because half were rusted. Turns out their warehouse was next to a leaky HVAC unit, and they’d stacked the screws right under it. We replaced them, but we also started sending them a small bag of silica gel packets with every metal order as a tip. Pro tip for metal parts: keep them in their sealed packaging until you’re ready to use them. If you have to store leftover fasteners, put them in airtight containers with a little desiccant. And never use a metal tool to pry open a bin of staples—use a plastic or rubber pry bar, so you don’t bend the edges of the staples.
Now, the plastic and composite parts—block feet, corner protectors, plastic banding clips, that kind of stuff. These are lighter than wood or metal, so people think they can handle them rough. Wrong. Composite block feet, for example, get brittle if they’re exposed to extreme temperatures for too long. If you leave them outside in 100-degree weather for a week, they soften and warp, so they won’t sit flat on the floor, and the pallet wobbles. Leave them in freezing temps, and they crack when you drop them. I had a construction supply company order 20,000 composite feet for a pallet build back in January. They stored them outside in their yard, and by the time they opened the bin, half were cracked so bad they couldn’t support the weight of a pallet. We swapped them for wood feet that time, but we also started putting temperature warning stickers on plastic/composite parts now, just to remind customers not to leave them exposed for long periods. Corner protectors are another one—they’re thin, so if you stack heavy boxes on top of them, they crease, and they can’t protect the pallet’s corners during shipping anymore. I’ve seen a pallet get damaged in transit because the corner protectors were creased, so the fork truck tines scraped the deck board and split it. For plastic and composite parts: store them in a temperature-controlled space (even just a covered, shaded area works if you don’t have a climate-controlled warehouse), stack them no higher than 6 feet, and never drop them or throw them around. They’re tough, but not that tough.
Wait, let’s not forget the middle step—transporting the parts between your storage area and the assembly line. A lot of folks overlook this, and it’s where a lot of damage happens. I’ve seen workers load a hand truck with 20 deck boards, leaning them against each other so hard they splinter the edges. Or they stack metal reinforcement plates on top of wood parts, and the metal scratches the wood so bad it’s unsellable. The rule here is: separate different types of parts when moving them, and don’t overpack carts or bins. For wood parts, use a cart with slots that hold each board upright, so they don’t rub together. For metal parts, use a bin with dividers, so staples don’t scratch each other or bend. For plastic parts, use a soft-sided bin, so they don’t get scuffed. I also tell customers to label their bins—last year, a customer mixed up 16-gauge staples with 18-gauge, and when they assembled 500 pallets, the staples were so thin they pulled out. That’s a whole other problem, but it ties back to handling—if you’re not careful, you can mix parts when moving them, which causes issues down the line.
Another big one: inspecting parts when they come in, and before you use them. I know, it’s an extra step, but it saves you so much time. When you get a shipment of pallet parts, take 10 minutes to check a sample of each type of part. For wood, look for cracks, warps, or excess moisture. For metal, check for rust, bends, or dents. For plastic, check for cracks or warping from temperature. If you see more than 5% of a shipment is damaged, send it back—don’t try to use it, because it’ll cause problems later. I always tell customers: “A bad part is worse than no part.” I once had a guy call me begging for a rush order of stringers because he’d tried to build pallets with damaged ones, and 20% of them failed a load test. We got his order to him in 24 hours, but he said he’d learned his lesson—he now inspects every pallet part shipment before it even goes into storage.
Wait, let’s talk about something a little niche, but still important: special-use pallet parts. Like, if you’re making pallets for food grade or pharmaceutical shipping, the handling rules are even stricter. Food-grade pallet parts can’t have any contaminants—no rust, no splinters, no chemicals from improper storage. If you leave a food-grade wood board near a cleaning supply, it absorbs the chemicals, and that pallet’s no longer food-safe. I work with a few food distributors, and I always remind them to store their food-grade parts in a separate, clean area, away from any other supplies. For pharmaceutical pallets, you have to make sure parts don’t have any sharp edges that could tear packaging, so handling those parts is extra careful—no rough moving, no dropping.
Let’s wrap this up with a few quick tips I’ve picked up over the years, the ones I hand out to every new customer. First, train your team. I can tell you all the rules, but if your warehouse workers don’t know why you’re doing them, they’ll skip the steps. A 10-minute training session once a quarter can cut damage by 70%—I’ve seen that with customers who follow through. Second, don’t mix old and new parts. If you have leftover stringers from a previous order, check their moisture level before using them with new parts. Different moisture levels mean different expansion and contraction, which leads to gaps or warping. Third, invest in cheap, simple supplies: soft fork covers for forklifts, dividers for fastener bins, plastic covers for outdoor storage. These cost a few bucks, but they save you hundreds in damaged parts and lost production.
At the end of the day, I’m not just selling you pallet parts—I’m selling you parts that work, and I want your pallets to hold up as good as you need them to. Handling doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be consistent. Skip the shortcuts, take the extra 5 minutes to move parts right, and inspect before you build, and you’ll have way fewer headaches, way fewer failed loads, and way more happy customers for your pallets.
If you’re tired of dealing with damaged pallet parts, or you need a reliable supplier to get you the right parts for your build, hit me up to chat. No pushy sales pitches, no fine print—just straight talk about what you need, and we’ll get you set up with parts that work, and tips to handle them right.
IBC Plastic Pallet References
- National Wooden Pallet & Container Association. (2021). Best Practices for Pallet Part Handling & Storage. NWPCA Technical Bulletin Series.
- American Society for Testing and Materials. (2020). Standard Practice for Handling, Storing, and Distributing Unit Load Components. ASTM D4168-20.
- Global Pallet Council. (2022). Temperature Effects on Composite Pallet Part Durability. GPC Industry Report.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2019). Warehouse Material Handling Safety Guidelines for Small Parts. OSHA 3541-19.
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