Mixed loads: pallets nobody has sorted yet

What is in the pile

A real mixed pile has 48x40s of three grades, a few odd sizes, a pooled pallet or two, and some broken ones. None of it is wrong; it is unsorted. The first step to selling or clearing it is to sort it, and to describe it honestly if no one has.

Pooled pallets

Some pallets belong to a pooling company and carry its colour. They are rented, not owned by the shipper, and cannot be sold. Pull them out first.

How to describe a pile

1. Count the stackRows times height gives a rough number.
2. Pick the dominant sizeSay what share is 48x40.
3. Note grade by eyeMostly B? Some A? Many broken?
4. Mention the pooled onesSo no one is surprised.

What happens next

A recycler sorts a mixed load into sellable grades, repairable pallets and scrap. The sorted pieces fetch more than the pile did, which is why describing it as mixed is not an apology. Read sell or clear depending on which way you lean.

A sample description

Something like: about three hundred pallets stacked in rows of ten, roughly two thirds 48x40 with the rest in other sizes, mostly Grade B with some A, a dozen blue rented pallets, a few broken ones on top. Stored indoors, reachable by a truck. That is enough for a seller to price and plan.

What a sort can add

Sorting a mixed pile splits it into stacks of one size and grade. Each stack sells to someone different: Grade A to a food dock, Grade B to a distributor, cores to a recycler, scrap to a grinder. Together the stacks fetch more than the pile did.

Why not sort it yourself

A dock that sorts its own pile spends labour on it. A dock that leaves it for a recycler to sort pays in a lower price. The right choice depends on how much labour is available and how fast the pile is growing.

The ordinary fate of a dock's output

Most mixed loads are the natural result of a busy dock. Pallets arrive from many suppliers and are dumped in a corner. Weeks pass. By the time someone looks, the pile holds several sizes and conditions, and nobody remembers where any of it came from.

That is not a failure. It is how mixed loads form, and a recycler or sorting crew expects them. What helps is a description that names the main size and gives a rough share of each grade.

Rented pallets in the mix

A pooled pallet is rented and carries the colour of the pool that owns it. It is not the shipper's to sell. If a mixed pile includes them, pull them out first. A seller who offers them creates a problem for the buyer, who may face a claim from the pool.

Selling or buying a mixed lot

A mixed lot contains different sizes, conditions or both. It is the cheapest grade to buy and the hardest to use, because every pallet has to be checked before it is loaded.

Buyers who accept mixed lots usually sort them first. A seller can raise the value of a lot by sorting out the standard 48x40s before listing the rest.

Grade meanings: pallet grade definitions as commonly used by buyers and sellers (read 11 November 2026). No single body enforces them.

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