48 x 45 pallets: the automotive footprint

Five inches wider than the GMA

Take a 48 x 40 and add five inches to the width. The extra area is 240 square inches, which lets a larger carton or a part with an overhang sit on the deck without hanging over. That is why car-parts makers adopted it.

Utah plants that might ask

Ogden has an automotive-safety cluster, with Autoliv North America headquartered there; automotive safety manufacturing is among the trades at Business Depot Ogden as well. Layton and Clearfield suppliers to the base make aerospace parts. They show what freight the area ships.

Buying 48 x 45

This size is rarely a sorted used stack, so expect it to be new or custom more often than a Grade A pull. Say the footprint clearly, because a request that says only automotive pallet could mean a number of things.

• Give 48 x 45 and not just 48 by something.
• Say whether the stock needs to be block or stringer.
• Give a weekly count if it recurs.

Compare all six on the size chart.

A picture of the extra width

Five inches sounds small until it is a full deck of parts. The wider platform keeps long housings and bracketed assemblies inside the edge, which protects them from forks, wrap and neighbouring pallets. It also changes how many fit across a trailer, so a plant that moves to it should check its truck pattern first.

A request that works

• Write 48 x 45 in inches, not just "automotive".
• Say whether new stock is needed or Grade A is fine.
• Say how the pallets are handled: forks, jacks or an automated lane.
• Give the weekly count if it is a regular supply.

Used 48 x 45 stock is far less common than 48 x 40, so lead time and sourcing are the real question. Sending the specification early gives a supplier the longest runway to answer.