Standard Wood Pallet

Specifications

Built in-house: from our sawmill to the finished pallet

Every standard pallet leaving our facility is built start to finish at our own sawmill in Berdoias: sawing the timber, drying, cutting to the requested size, assembly and nailing, with no part of production subcontracted to a third party. We start from Galician pine, grade pieces for structural behaviour, and reject timber with loose knots or excessive curvature at the sorting stage, since that kind of defect is what later shows up as split boards in service. Because it is a two-way design, simpler than the nine-block layout of an EPAL pallet, assembly is quicker, and that shows up directly as a lower unit cost for the customer.

Working with our own timber, rather than reselling pallets built by someone else, lets us schedule production batches to order volume and handle size variations without depending on a third party's stock. We can combine standard pallets with other sawn timber items from our catalogue in the same shipment, for customers ordering sawn timber and pallets together, or set up a recurring delivery schedule when a customer's outbound volume is regular rather than one-off.

Nailing uses a helical or annular-ring shank nail, sized to whatever deckboard and stringer thickness a given batch calls for, aimed at a joint that holds up well to forklift and pallet-truck handling without the over-engineering typical of a pool pallet. Because we do not have to follow a marking pattern or a dimensional tolerance set by an outside body, we have room to adjust small assembly details — stringer spacing, number of top deckboards — to what a customer actually asks for, all within the same process controls we apply across every format we build.

A flexible standard, not EPAL: two-way entry and sizes built to order

The main difference from a European pallet lies in the design and in how open the sizing is. An EPAL/EURO pallet is built on a fixed nine-block, four-way design meant to circulate through an open exchange pool shared by businesses across Europe, and because of that its format and marking are locked to a handful of standardised sizes. The standard pallet we build here is different: it uses a two-way, stringer-style design, carries no EPAL marking and makes no attempt to fit that exchange system, which means we can adjust the final size to what your load genuinely needs rather than forcing it into a single fixed format.

The most common sizes we are asked for are 1000x1200mm and 1100x1100mm, alongside the familiar 800x1200mm, but these are reference examples rather than a closed standard — we also build other dimensions depending on a customer's racking, container or product. That flexibility is exactly what a block-format EPAL pallet cannot offer, since its footprint is fixed in advance. If your operation needs compatibility with the European exchange pool, our European EPAL/EURO wood pallets range is the better fit; if what you need is a fully bespoke design, with extra reinforcement, specific finishes or an unusual load capacity, we also build custom-made wood pallets under the same production process.

Load capacity and dimensional control

Load capacity on a two-way standard pallet depends on deckboard thickness, the number and layout of the stringers, and the timber species used, as well as the pallet's condition and how the load is actually distributed in use. Under normal conditions, this kind of construction handles static loads in the range of roughly 1,500 to 2,500kg and meaningfully lower dynamic loads — indicative figures, not a fixed guarantee, since real performance depends on how each customer stacks, handles and transports the goods. We work the timber within a moisture range of roughly 12-18% depending on the batch, a level aimed at limiting later movement in the piece without adding the cost of drying regimes more typical of structural timber.

Before a batch is signed off we check squareness, flatness and how securely the nailing holds, because a warped pallet or loose boards cause problems both on the forklift and on the customer's own racking, even without EPAL marking formally binding it to a specific tolerance. If your load is especially heavy or irregular, let us know when ordering — we can add stringers, increase deckboard thickness, or move closer to a fully custom pallet, without necessarily giving up the price and lead time of a standard build.

Unlike an EPAL pallet, where dimensional tolerance is set by the pool system itself, here we agree with each customer what margin of variation is acceptable for their particular use: a pallet feeding an automated palletising machine, where a deviation of a few millimetres can cause problems, needs different handling from one that will always be moved by hand in a warehouse. That conversation about tolerance and actual use is part of the ordering process, not an add-on step, and it lets us set quality control at the level a given batch actually needs without raising the cost of the rest of the order.

Use cases by industry

This pallet is bought mainly by businesses that need to move goods without the packaging having to be returned or circulate through an outside pool. Workshops and industrial manufacturers use it to move parts and light machinery within their own premises; agricultural cooperatives and food warehouses use it to palletise sacks, boxes and packaged product headed for local markets or export; distribution and logistics companies use it as an internal warehouse load carrier with no need for it to leave their own network; and exporters shipping goods on a single trip prefer it precisely because it carries none of the cost or the replenishment obligation that comes with a pool pallet.

It is also common in building materials warehouses and industrial hardware suppliers, where a load carrier able to take irregular loads without adding packaging cost is needed, and in one-off jobs — warehouse relocations, transfers between facilities, shipments of second-hand machinery — where buying an EPAL pallet would not make economic sense.

• Single-trip, one-off shipments
• Internal warehouse goods movement
• Palletising medium-weight sacks and boxes
• Export outside the EPAL exchange circuit
• Support for light machinery and industrial parts
• Local food and agricultural distribution
• Storage of building materials

Forestry sourcing and environmental commitment

The timber used in these pallets comes from Galician pine forests, part of a regional forestry tradition going back generations of managing woodland as a working resource. Sourcing from forests near our sawmill in Berdoias cuts down transport of raw material before processing and lets us know first-hand where the timber entering each batch comes from.

Our sourcing and process approach is aligned with the sustainable forest management principles promoted by frameworks such as the FSC — Forest Stewardship Council: sensible use of woodland, avoiding over-harvesting the same plot, and favouring regrowth. We do not advertise a formal chain-of-custody certification we do not hold; we would rather be upfront about that and talk about a way of working aligned with those principles, not a certification badge. Being a lighter build than a four-way EPAL pallet, it also uses less timber per unit produced, which can matter to customers looking to cut packaging material volume without giving up the strength their load needs.

Export and logistics across Europe

We ship standard pallets from Galicia to customers in Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Ireland, alongside orders within Spain. Without a pool system behind it, logistics are simpler for the buyer: there is no need to manage the return of equivalent units or agree exchange terms with a customer, which fits especially well with one-off shipments, single-trip contracts, or goods that will not move again within the European distribution chain.

For shipments to destinations outside the European Union — the United Kingdom, Switzerland or other non-EU markets — packaging timber has to meet the phytosanitary treatment required under the international ISPM 15 standard, with visible marking stamped on the pallet; we apply it on request whenever the destination requires it. We work with common delivery terms such as EXW, FOB or delivered, depending on volume and destination country, and prepare shipping documentation in Spanish and English to speed up customs clearance. If your shipment is genuinely single-use and does not even need the strength of this standard pallet, take a look at our one-way lightweight export pallets instead, built specifically for that kind of trip.

For combined orders — a container carrying standard pallets alongside sawn timber or biomass by-products, for instance — we coordinate the load and the paperwork as a single shipment rather than handling each product line separately, which usually simplifies both customs documentation and the haulier's own logistics. If you work with several warehouses or branches across different European countries, we can also talk through a staggered dispatch schedule out of Galicia instead of concentrating the whole volume into one shipment.

Why choose Maderas Caamaño for your standard pallet

We are a family-run sawmill, not a middleman reselling pallets built by someone else: we control the process from raw timber through to the finished pallet, which gives us room to adjust size, volume and lead time to each order without the rigidity of a fixed standardised format. We carry decades of forestry tradition and hands-on work with Galician pine in the Vimianzo area, and that experience with the material shows up in a well-built pallet, even though it is the simplest, most affordable option in our packaging range.

We handle both one-off orders and recurring supply agreements, and can combine standard pallets, custom pallets and sawn timber in the same shipment, which simplifies logistics for customers buying several references at once. Because production stays in-house, questions about a specific order — an unusual size, a tight deadline, a query about a particular batch — go straight to the people actually cutting and nailing the pallets, rather than being relayed through a reseller to someone else's factory. If your operation needs a sturdy load carrier without the cost or the obligations of a pool pallet, built by the people who actually cut and assemble the timber, Maderas Caamaño can fit your volume and your delivery schedule.

Applications & uses

• Single-trip, one-off shipments
• Internal warehouse goods movement
• Palletising medium-weight sacks and boxes
• Export outside the EPAL exchange circuit
• Support for light machinery and industrial parts
• Local food and agricultural distribution
• Storage of building materials

Frequently asked questions