Buying Guides
Plastic Pallets for Flow Racks: Select From the Bottom View
Choose a plastic pallet for a gravity-flow lane from its bottom contact pattern, travel direction, completed load, and the lane owner's data.
For a gravity-flow lane, choose a plastic pallet from its bottom contact pattern and intended travel direction, not just its footprint or a general load rating. Give the lane designer a bottom-view drawing, the loaded pallet dimensions and mass range, and the actual temperature and lane details before you compare pallet models.
That is a separate buying task from ordinary selective racking or a powered conveyor. A pallet can be suitable for forks and still have feet, runners, or a flexible underside that does not meet the rollers as the flow lane expects. The lane owner designs the lane; the pallet supplier describes the actual model; the site confirms the completed unit load and operating method.
Start with the bottom view and the travel arrow
Ask for the current pallet-flow design sheet or equivalent technical questionnaire before asking a supplier whether a model is “flow-rack compatible.” Interroll’s pallet-flow design criteria request the pallet type from a bottom-board view, the direction of flow, pallet dimensions, minimum and maximum load weight, load dimensions, whether the load is secured, temperature and humidity, lane geometry, roller or track details, and stops or brakes. Those fields show why a nominal pallet size is not enough. Interroll’s pallet-flow design criteria are equipment-specific; use the actual lane owner’s current document for the real system.
Send these inputs together:
| Input | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Bottom-view drawing or sample | The location and shape of runners, feet, pods, openings, and ribs determine where the pallet meets the lane. |
| Travel direction | Turning the same pallet can present a different contact pattern to rollers or tracks. |
| Completed-load range | Minimum and maximum mass, footprint, height, and security can change starting, speed, stopping, and contact behavior. |
| Lane data | Roller or track type, centres, slope, lane length, stops, brakes, temperature, and humidity belong to the lane designer. |
| Pallet model evidence | A drawing, revision, material statement, and stated use limits identify what the supplier is actually offering. |
ISO 6780:2003 covers principal dimensions and tolerances for new flat pallets and handling features such as openings, clearances, chamfers, and wings. It is useful vocabulary for describing the carrier, but it does not approve a pallet for a particular flow lane, completed load, or operating condition. ISO 6780:2003 remains listed by ISO as current after confirmation in 2026.
Select by the contact problem, not a generic pallet label
Use the evidence to decide what needs evaluation. A pallet with continuous runners may present a different support pattern from one with discrete feet or pods. A flexible base may settle onto the rollers after time in a lane. Neither description proves good or bad performance by itself: the answer depends on the actual lane, orientation, load, and environmental conditions.
Mallard Manufacturing describes a test of a lightweight plastic pallet with staggered pod feet in a split-roller lane. Its example says limited contact changed flow behaviour, and that the loaded pallet could conform to the rollers after standing in the lane. This is an equipment-provider example, not a rule for every plastic pallet or lane. It does show why a representative loaded sample matters before a lane design is committed. See Mallard’s pallet-flow test example .
Use this short selection path:
- Obtain the lane owner’s current required input sheet and identify the permitted pallet orientation.
- Compare the actual pallet’s bottom view with the proposed rail, track, or roller contact arrangement.
- Put the completed-load range and environment beside the lane data; do not use an empty-pallet demonstration as the decision.
- Where the lane owner requires it, arrange a representative loaded trial before purchase approval or routine use.
- Record which model, drawing revision, load, orientation, lane revision, and decision owner the result covers.
Put one flow-lane block in the pallet RFQ
Do not hide the flow-lane requirement in a late trial note. Add a separate block to the RFQ so responses remain comparable.
| RFQ field | What to request |
|---|---|
| Lane reference | Lane owner, system drawing or data revision, flow direction, and stated pallet interface requirements. |
| Pallet bottom geometry | Bottom-view drawing, runner or foot layout, openings, contact surfaces, and model revision. |
| Completed unit load | Mass range, footprint, height, overhang, packaging, securing method, and relevant storage time or condition. |
| Environment | Temperature, humidity, and any cold-room or hygiene conditions stated by the site or lane owner. |
| Evidence boundary | Which facts come from the pallet supplier and which require the lane owner or site to assess. |
| Acceptance | Required representative trial, records, acceptance owner, and the change conditions that trigger a recheck. |
This is reasoned procurement guidance, not a calculation or a guarantee. It prevents a specific comparison error: treating a supplier’s size or general load statement as if it covered the lane’s underside contact, control hardware, speed, stops, or loaded route.
Trial the combination that will run
Before routine operation, the responsible lane owner and site team should confirm the current lane documentation and evaluate the actual pallet model with the intended completed unit load in the permitted orientation. Include entry, travel, stopping or separation devices, dwell where relevant, discharge, and the next transfer point. Record observed contact, starting, speed, stopping, clearance, load condition, and the decision.
Recheck when the pallet model or bottom geometry, load, wrapping, orientation, lane hardware, slope, environment, operating method, or controls change. A passing result for one carrier and one completed load does not approve another.
This guide gives the buyer an earlier, usable selection control: compare plastic pallets from the bottom view and lane data before a quotation or sample is treated as relevant. It does not replace the lane owner’s design, a site safety assessment, equipment instructions, or local requirements.
