APHIS The organization charged with regulations concerning treatment of solid wood packaging in the U.S.
Asian Longhorned Beetle: A wood-borne pest that has caused damage to forests in countries of destination when transported inadvertently in solid wood products.
Bearer: Member on which the top deck members bear; includes stringers, blocks, and block and stringer board combinations.
Bin: four-sided superstructure to be mounted on a pallet base, with or without a cover; alos known as a box or container bin pallet.
Block: Rectangular square or cylindrical deck spacer, often identified by its location within the pallet as corner block, end block, edge block, inner block, center or middle block.
Block Pallet: A class of pallet with blocks between the pallet decks or beneath the top deck.
Board: As in deck board; or slang term for pallet or skid.
Bottom Deck or Bottom Face: Assembly of deck boards comprising the lower, load-bearing surface of the pallet.
Break: Complete fracture of a deck board or stringer into two distinct, non-cohering parts.
Butted Deck Board: An inner deck board placed tightly against an adjacent lead deck board during pallet assembly.
Cantilever: Overhang of stringer board and deck.
Cap: A device of wood, fiberboard, plastic or canvas used on top of a unit load to improve stability and provide protection to top of unit load, sometimes to facilitate stacking of unit loads.
Center Cluster: Bottom-deck boards found on the middle of a partial 4-way entry pallet, located between the notches.
Center Stringer: Stringer located at the geometric center of the pallet width; it is parallel to, and equidistant from, the outside stringers.
Chamfer: Bevel on the top edges of bottom lead boards and the outer top edges of center-cluster end boards, facilitating the passage of front-supported hand pallet trucks.
CHEP: Widely used CHEP pallets are identified by their blue color and CHEP marking. CHEP pallets are owned by CHEP, which runs a pallet rental service. Contact CHEP to arrange return of their pallets.
Cleat: A strip of wood running horizontally, vertically or diagonally across the sides or ends of a pallet container to give strength or to hold the parts in position.
Closed Distribution System (also Closed Loop): A shipping system that restricts the use of pallets to an internal application wherein custody or control of the pallets is not relinquished. Involves effective reverse logistics to ensure recapture of empty pallets.
Collar: Collapsible wooden container or bin, which transforms a pallet into a box.
Color Coding: The markings of specific pallets by color in order to facilitate ease of identification, for example blue CHEP pallets, orange CPC pallets, or red PECO pallets.
Cost Per Trip: Average cost of pallet use for a single one-way unit load shipment.
Countersunk: Head of a mechanical fastener buried into the piece of wood in which the fastener was driven.
CPC: Orange stenciled stringer pallet, regulated by the Canadian Pallet Council. Commonly used for the palletization of fast moving consumer goods in Canada by members of the Canadian Pallet Council.
Deck: One or more boards or panels comprising the top or bottom surface of the pallet, either a load bearing or load distributing surface.
Deck Mat: Assembly of deck boards and stringer boards, forming the deck of a block pallet.
Deck Panel: Single, continuous plate spanning the entire deck surface. Deck Board: Element or component of a pallet deck, oriented perdindicular to the stringer or stringer board.
Deck Board Spacing: Distance between adjacent deck boards.
Deck Board Span: Distance between deck board supports (stringers, stringer boards or blocks.
Deflection: The amount of deformation or bending in a pallet or pallet component under load.
Dimensions: Typically refers to the length and width of the pallet.
Disassembly: The dismantling of pallets, either using basic pallet recycling tools, or pallet disassembly equipment.
Downstream: Pallets used by distributors and retailers.
Double-Face Pallet: A pallet with top and bottom decks.
Double-Wing Pallet: A pallet with top and bottom deck boards extending beyond the edges of the stringers or stringer boards drainage.
Dunnage: A term that means pallets, packaging and other materials used to support and secure goods in transit.
Dwell Time: The length of time that an emptied pallet sits idle at an accumulation or storage point before being returned for reuse.
