48x40 GMA Pallets in Indianapolis and Noblesville

GMA pallet dimensions and specs

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A GMA pallet is a 48 x 40 inch wood stringer pallet built to the standard the Grocery Manufacturers Association set decades ago. Most racking, dock plates and trailers in central Indiana are laid out around that footprint. That is why "48x40" and "GMA" get used as the same thing on most purchase orders.

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• Size: 48 inches along the stringers, 40 inches across the deck boards

• Entry: notched stringers, so forklifts enter from all four sides and pallet jacks from the two 40-inch ends

• Empty weight: roughly 35 to 50 pounds, depending on wood species, moisture and grade

• Static load: about 2,500 to 3,000 pounds on a flat floor for a good Grade A or new pallet; racked capacity is lower

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If your load sits in beam racking, tell us that up front. A pallet that holds 2,500 pounds on the floor can sag or fail when it is only supported at the edges.

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Which grade of 48x40 do you need?

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Grade is where most of the cost difference comes from, so it is worth getting right. These are the options we source most often:

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• New hardwood or softwood: heavy loads, high-value product, or a customer who requires new pallets

• Grade A recycled: clean, sound, near-new pallets at a lower price; the default for most outbound shipments

• Grade B recycled: more wear and some repaired boards; fine for lighter, one-way or in-house use

• Remanufactured combo: rebuilt with a mix of new and used lumber when price matters most

• Heat-treated (ISPM-15): stamped pallets for export shipments

• Food-grade: clean, dry, untreated pallets for food and pharmaceutical handling

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Which one fits? It comes down to your load weight, whether the pallet comes back, and what your customer's receiving dock will accept. Some retailers and pharmaceutical distributors name the grade in their vendor guide, so check that before you order.

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How many 48x40 pallets fit on a truck or in a container?

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A 53-foot dry van holds 26 pallets single-stacked, two across and 13 deep. If your product can be double-stacked within the trailer's weight limit, that becomes 52. A 40-foot ocean container holds about 20 in a single layer, and a 20-foot container holds about 10.

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Those numbers matter when you plan a full truckload. If you are buying empty pallets by the load, a trailer of stacked empties holds several hundred, and we can quote the count for the grade you choose.

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How ordering through a broker works

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Top Packaging Products is a broker, not a mill. In other words, we do not build pallets ourselves. We source them from a network of pallet manufacturers and recyclers across Indiana and the neighboring states.

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So what does that mean for you? When one supplier is backed up, we go to the next one instead of making you wait on a single production schedule. It also means you can get new, recycled and heat-treated pallets on one order from one phone call.

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1. Call or text Curt at 765-661-3643 with the grade, quantity, delivery address and the date you need them.

2. We check our suppliers and come back with a price and a delivery date.

3. You approve it, and the pallets are delivered to your dock.

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Delivered orders start at 50 pallets, and we handle full truckloads and repeat orders for several sites. We deliver across Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Indianapolis, Plainfield, Whitestown and Greenwood.

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Other pallets we source

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If a 48x40 is not quite right, we also source custom-size wood pallets, heavy-duty block pallets, EPAL euro pallets and two-way and four-way pallets. For bulk and truckload pricing, see our wholesale pallet supply page.

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Questions we get about 48x40 pallets

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Is a GMA pallet the same as a 48x40 pallet?

Almost always, yes. Every GMA pallet is 48x40, but a pallet can be 48x40 without meeting the GMA build standard. If your receiver specifies GMA, say so and we will source to that spec.

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Can I get food-grade 48x40 pallets?

Yes. We source clean, dry, untreated pallets for food and pharmaceutical use. Tell us your product and any customer requirements, and we will match the spec.

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What is the smallest order you deliver?

Delivered orders start at 50 pallets. If you need fewer, call anyway and we will tell you what makes sense.

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Can you supply more than one of our locations?

Yes. We can schedule deliveries to several sites on one account, so you are not managing a different supplier for each building.

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Load capacity figures above are general guidance. For more on how pallets carry weight, see Virginia Tech's Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design paper How Much Load Can My Pallet Carry?