How to weigh your pallet stream
Weigh a sample of 20 to 30 pallets from your outbound pile on a floor scale, by type, and use the average. Without a scale, the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's averages for 48×40 designs are a documented fallback: 31, 41, 44 and 67 lb for light and heavy stringer and block pallets (FPL-RP-707, Table 2).
Sampling
- Pick pallets at random from the outbound pile, not the best-looking ones.
- Weigh stringer and block pallets separately; they differ a lot.
- Note wet weather. Wet wood weighs more, which inflates tons.
- Repeat once a year, or when suppliers change.
Cited averages
| 48×40 in. design | Average weight (lb) |
|---|---|
| Stringer, light duty | 31 |
| Stringer, heavy duty | 41 |
| Block, light duty | 44 |
| Block, heavy duty | 67 |
Converting
Short tons per year = pallets per month × 12 × average lb ÷ 2,000. For 400 pallets a month at 41 lb: 400 × 12 × 41 ÷ 2,000 = 98.4 short tons. WARM and EPA's Hub both use short tons, so no metric conversion is needed for the factors.
Sources
- Cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment of wooden pallet production in the United States (Res. Pap. FPL-RP-707) USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (Alanya-Rosenbaum and Bergman, 2020). Accessed October 27, 2026. Table 2 (p. 8): average weights of 48×40 in. designs.