Size · North America

The 48" x 40" GMA pallet, in full

Roughly three in every ten new pallets built in North America. If you do not know what footprint you need, this is almost certainly it — and here is why.

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The 48" x 40" GMA pallet measures 1219 x 1016 mm, weighs 33–37 lb, and carries a typical dynamic load of 2,800 lb and static load of up to 4,600 lb. Standard construction is a stringer pallet with seven top deck boards, five bottom boards and three stringers notched for partial four-way fork entry.

It is the dominant North American grocery and CPG footprint, originally standardised by the Grocery Manufacturers Association. RePallet Co. stocks it in Grade A, Grade B and core condition.

Full specification

Typical specification for a recycled GMA 48x40 stringer pallet in Grade A condition.
Attribute	Value	Notes
Footprint	48" x 40" (1219 x 1016 mm)	Length first, stringer direction
Height	5" – 6" (127 – 152 mm)	Varies with board thickness
Weight	33 – 37 lb (15 – 17 kg)	Hardwood; softwood 26 – 33 lb
Top deck boards	7	5 boards at 5.5", 2 lead boards
Bottom deck boards	5	Perimeter plus centre
Stringers	3 × 1.5" x 3.5" x 48"	Notched twice per stringer
Notch	1.5" deep x 9" wide	Gives partial 4-way entry
Fork entry	2-way full, 4-way partial	Pallet jacks enter the long side only
Static load	up to 4,600 lb	Stationary, evenly distributed
Dynamic load	2,800 lb	Being moved by fork or jack
Racking load	1,500 – 2,500 lb	Unsupported span; verify per rack
Deck coverage	≈ 87%	Gaps between boards

The most common mistake: quoting a static load when you need a racking load. A pallet sitting on a warehouse floor and a pallet bridging two rack beams are completely different structural problems, and the racking figure is often less than half the static figure.

Why 48 by 40, and not something sensible

The dimensions look arbitrary until you look at what they were designed to fit. A 48" x 40" pallet places two abreast across the 96" interior width of a standard North American trailer with the stringers running fore and aft, producing 30 floor positions in a 48' trailer and 30 in a 53' with room for a 13th row. It also matches the 40" depth of standard grocery shelving and the module used by most corrugated case sizes.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association formalised the specification in the 1960s to stop grocery distribution drowning in incompatible footprints. It worked — which is why, sixty years on, most North American material handling equipment is implicitly designed around it.

The 48x40 is not the best pallet ever designed. It is the pallet everything else was designed around, which turns out to be more useful.

Orientation, and the mistake it causes

A 48" x 40" and a 40" x 48" contain identical lumber and behave completely differently. The convention is that the first dimension runs parallel to the stringers — the direction a pallet jack enters. Get that backwards and a conveyor line will jam, a rack bay will overhang, or a pallet jack will not fit.

48x40: stringers 48" long, jack enters the 40" face. The grocery standard.
40x48: stringers 40" long, jack enters the 48" face. Common in beverage and cold chain.
Rack bays are usually specified for one orientation; the other overhangs or under-supports.
Automated wrappers and conveyors often physically cannot accept the rotated version.
When you order, state the orientation explicitly. We ask every time, and it is not us being pedantic.

See stringer vs block pallets for how entry type interacts with this.

Loading a 48x40 into trailers and containers

The footprint was designed around North American trailer geometry, which is why it fits so well in some equipment and so badly in others.

Floor positions for 48" x 40" pallets, single-stacked.
Equipment	Straight	Pinwheeled	Notes
53' dry van	26	30	The standard; 18" wasted width straight-loaded
48' dry van	24	26	Common on older fleets
48' flatbed	22 – 24	26	Banded, side-loaded
26' box truck	12	14	Metro deliveries and tight docks
20' ISO container	9 – 10	10	Poor fit; 1200x1000 does better
40' ISO container	20 – 21	21	Poor fit for the same reason
40' high cube	20 – 21	21	Same footprint, more height

Stacked empty

Empty 48x40 pallets stack in columns of 14 to 15 depending on deck thickness. A 53' dry van holds roughly 560 to 620; a 48' flatbed 440 to 520 banded. Check the weight before you celebrate the count — wet hardwood reaches axle limits long before it reaches the roof.

Pinwheeling is free. Rotating alternate rows 90° turns 26 positions into 30, costs nothing and takes a minute longer to load. It needs uniform footprints, no overhang and stable banded loads. The longer version is on the journal.

Variants you will meet in the wild

“48 by 40” describes a footprint, not a pallet. These all share it and behave differently.

Common 48x40 variants and what changes.
Variant	Construction	Entry	Where you meet it
GMA stringer, notched	3 stringers, 9" notches	2-way full, 4-way partial	The North American default
GMA stringer, unnotched	3 stringers, no notches	2-way only	Cheaper; awkward in tight aisles
40x48 (rotated)	Stringers on the 40" side	2-way full	Beverage, dairy, cold chain
Perimeter-base stringer	Full perimeter bottom deck	2-way full, 4-way partial	Racking-focused operations
Block pallet, 9 blocks	Blocks instead of stringers	Full 4-way	Pooled logistics; grocery
Winged	Deck boards overhang stringers	As base type	Clamp handling; textiles
Heat-treated GMA	Any of the above, HT stamped	As base type	Export
Plastic 48x40	Moulded	Usually full 4-way	Hygienic and closed loops

The orientation trap, once more

48x40 and 40x48 contain the same lumber and are not interchangeable. The first dimension runs parallel to the stringers — the direction a pallet jack enters. Racking, conveyors, wrapping machines and load patterns are all specified for one or the other. We ask every time, and it is not pedantry.

Buying and specifying this footprint

Denver metro pricing by grade and condition.
Grade	Price	Racking	Automation	Typical remaining lives
Premium / A+	$12.50 – $16.00	Yes	Yes	4 – 6
Grade A (#1)	$8.50 – $13.50	Yes	Yes	3 – 5
Grade B (#2)	$5.50 – $9.00	No	No	1 – 3
Core / Grade C	$2.75 – $5.00	No	No	Repair stock
New hardwood	$17.00 – $26.00	Yes	Yes	6 – 8
New, heat treated	add $0.60 – $1.60	Yes	Yes	6 – 8

State the orientation — 48x40 or 40x48.
State the destination — floor, rack, conveyor or customer-facing.
Ask for the written grade standard from us or from anyone else.
Decide on banding — lots of 20 or 25, included above 500 units.
Mention if you also generate cores. A paired run cuts the freight leg.
Check the next volume step before you settle on a quantity.

Questions people actually ask

How many 48x40 pallets fit in a 53' trailer?

Twenty-six floor positions loaded straight, or thirty with pinwheeling where the load allows. Stacked empty in columns of 14 to 15, a 53' dry van holds roughly 560 to 620 pallets.

What does GMA actually stand for?

Grocery Manufacturers Association, the trade body that standardised the specification. The name stuck even though the organisation has since become the Consumer Brands Association.

Is a GMA pallet four-way?

Partially. The notches in the stringers let forks enter from all four sides, but a pallet jack's wheels need the full opening and can only enter the two unnotched faces. True four-way entry requires block construction.

How much does a 48x40 pallet cost?

Recycled Grade A typically $8.50 to $13.50 in Denver, Grade B $5.50 to $9.00 and new $17 to $26. See our pricing guide for what moves those numbers.

How long does one last?

In an open loop where it leaves your control, assume one trip. In a managed loop with repair, six to eight cycles is normal and our yard average across all cores is around seven lives.

Why is it 48 by 40 and not something round?

Because two 40" widths fit across a 96" trailer interior with working clearance, and 40" matches standard grocery shelf depth. The pallet is downstream of the trailer and the shelf, not the other way round.

How tall is a 48x40 pallet?

Five to six inches overall, depending on board thickness. It matters more than people expect for container fill and for double-stacking under a fixed ceiling.

What is the deck coverage?

About 87% on a standard seven-board top deck, with roughly 1.5" gaps. If you ship anything that can drop through, use a butted deck, a slip sheet or a plywood cap.

Can a pallet jack use the notches?

No. Forks can enter a 9" notch; a pallet jack's load wheels need the full opening and cannot. This catches people out constantly and is the main practical argument for block construction.

Is a GMA pallet the same as a CHEP pallet?

No. CHEP pallets share the footprint but are block-built, painted blue and remain the property of the pool operator. They cannot be bought, sold or recycled by third parties.

Let's keep your pallets in the loop

Whether you have 40 broken cores behind the dock or need 4,000 Grade A pallets a month, the conversation starts the same way.

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