Size library
The 48″ × 48″ pallet: built for drums and everything else that is too wide.
Price 48" × 48" stock
Give us the quantity, the size and the ZIP. You'll get a written quote with the grade, the freight and the pickup window — not a sales call.
- Written quotes, usually inside one business day
- Loads from 100 pallets to full 53' trailers
- We buy as readily as we sell — tell us which way it flows
Loaded
About 330 units, two high, roughly 15,000 lb in a trailer rated for three times that. Pallet loads cube out long before they gross out.
Drawn to scale
48" × 48" — 1219 × 1219 mm
7,000 lb
Static load
3,500 lb
Dynamic load
2,400 lb
Racked load
56 lb
Unit weight
5.75″
Overall height
7/3
Deck boards, top / bottom
48" × 48" · 7 top boards · 3 stringers
The load case
Four drums is a harder problem than it looks
A 55-gallon drum of solvent weighs about 480 lb loaded, and it puts almost all of that weight onto a chime ring roughly 22 inches across. Four of them on a pallet is not a distributed load; it is four rings pressing into a deck.
That is why 48×48 units are built heavier than the footprint alone would suggest — thicker deck boards, tighter board spacing under the drum positions, and often four stringers instead of three on new builds. A standard-build 48×48 will carry the weight statically and then fail in a rack.
If you are racking drums, tell us. It changes which units we pull off the stack.
Questions
48 × 48 questions
Is a 48×48 always four-way?
Most are notched four-way, but not all. Confirm before ordering if you run a pallet jack from the 48-inch side — a two-way unit will not accept it.
How many fit on a trailer?
About 24 on the floor of a 53-foot van, or 240 stacked two high in stacks of 10. The stacks are shorter because the units are heavier and taller.
Can I use a GMA for drums instead?
Two drums, comfortably. Four, no — they overhang the 40-inch dimension and overhanging drums are how drums fall off pallets.
Construction
Why a drum pallet is built differently
| Element | Standard GMA | Drum-spec 48×48 | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top deck thickness | 9/16″ | 9/16″ – ¾″ | Concentrated chime-ring loads |
| Deck gap | up to 3½″ | tighter under drum positions | Prevents deck deflection under the ring |
| Stringers | 3 | 3 or 4 | Four spreads a 2,000 lb load far better |
| Bottom deck coverage | ≈ 40% | ≈ 45 – 50% | Racked capacity depends on beam contact |
| Fastener count | 78 – 90 | 90 – 110 | More members, more joints |
| Unit weight | 45 – 55 lb | 52 – 68 lb | The construction, not the footprint |
The load case
Four drums is not a distributed load
A 55-gallon drum of water-density product weighs around 480 lb full, and almost all of that lands on a chime ring roughly 22 inches across. Four of them is four rings pressing into a deck, with the area between them doing very little work.
Published capacities assume uniform distribution. This is not that, and the gap between the two is where standard-build 48×48 units fail — usually not on a floor, where they are fine, but in a rack, where the deck between the rings deflects and the load starts to walk.
A working rule: halve the published racked capacity for a four-drum load. If you are racking drums, say so when you order. It changes which units come off the stack and the difference is about a dollar fifty against the cost of a drum leaving a beam.
Questions
More 48 × 48 questions
Is every 48×48 four-way?
Most are notched four-way but not all. Confirm before ordering if you run a pallet jack from the side — a two-way unit will not accept it and finding out on the dock is expensive.
How many fit on a trailer?
About 24 on the floor of a 53-foot van, or 240 stacked two high in stacks of ten. Stacks are shorter because the units are heavier and slightly taller.
Can I put four drums on a GMA instead?
No. They overhang the 40-inch dimension, and overhanging drums are how drums come off pallets. Two drums on a GMA is fine and common.
Are 48×48 pallets available recycled?
Yes, in Grade A and B, usually within one to three days. Heavy-deck variants come in batches and may take longer — say if you need them.
Trailer maths
How many of these fit where.
53′ dry van
26
on the floor
≈ 52 stacked two high
48′ dry van
22
on the floor
≈ 44 stacked two high
40′ container
9
on the floor
≈ 18 stacked two high
20′ container
4
on the floor
≈ 8 stacked two high