Australian standard pallet
Australian standard pallets are square softwood or hardwood pallets that are standard in Australia and non-standard anywhere else in the world.
They are 1165 × 1165 mm in size and fit exactly in the
Construction and specification
Australian standard pallets are defined by
The majority of Australian business will use a softwood pallet. Pricing ranges from $15.00 AU to $19.00 AU (2019) for a softwood standard size pallet, based on quantities.
Use
The Australian standard pallet is designed for use with the RACE container of Australian railways. Originally the pallet was specified at 46 × 46 inches (from a nominal size of 48 × 48 inches, or 4 ft × 4 ft),[3] but this has been metricated to the marginally smaller 1165 × 1165 mm dimensions. Two pallets will fit closely side by side in a RACE container. They can be stacked on two levels and one container can thus hold 20 pallets. A standard railway wagon carries three containers and can thus hold 60 pallets.[4]
Two-thirds of palletized transport within Australia uses the 1165 × 1165 standard pallet. For external use, where goods are to be shipped in ISO containers, an 1100 × 1100 mm pallet is used.[1] This is a pallet size widely used by Japan and Korea, but is also specified in the Australian standard for pallets.[2]
History
Australia was one of the first countries to develop a standard pallet. During
During the 1970s, Australia converted to the metric system. Australia pushed ahead with metrication quickly, and did this with less fuss and opposition than occurred in other countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom. In order to proceed rapidly, a quick decision was needed on pallet sizes before decisions on metrication of packaging could be made. Because of this, it was decided to retain the Australian standard pallet, despite it being peculiar to Australia.[1]
International standardisation
Not using an international standard pallet can increase transport costs of international trade. Export goods may have to be repalletized to suit the requirements of the destination country. In some cases they must be repalletized twice in the distribution chain, once on to a pallet suitable for international containers and again at the destination country if they are also not using a standard pallet. Likewise, import goods will not arrive on an Australian standard pallet and need repalletizing for RACE containers. The intrinsic advantage of palletized transport is that it minimises manual handling operations. These repalletizations detract from that advantage.[6]
A 2002 report commissioned by the Australian
Despite the analysis in the report, Australia continues to use the Australian standard pallet.[6] The cost of making the change is estimated at $600 million over ten years, which includes not only the change to the pallets themselves, but also to storage racking and other equipment. Operating costs are estimated to increase by $100 million over the same ten years: the smaller pallet means more handling operations for the same amount of goods, and a less efficient usage of truck and warehouse space (larger pallets have a greater ratio of goods to pallet and packaging).[9]
References
- ^ a b c Metrication, the Australian Experience, p. 130
- ^ a b AS 4068-1993 Flat pallets for materials handling, retrieved 30 January 2016
- ^ The Magazine of Standards, vol. 20-21, p. 180, American Standards Association, 1949
- ^ Bulletin with Newsweek, vol. 101, p. 76, J. Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1980
- ^
- Ackerman, p. 496
- LeBlanc
- ^ a b Raballand & Aldaz-Carroll, p. 3
- ^ Raballand & Aldaz-Carroll, pp. 4–5
- ^ Sd+D report, p. 15
- ^ Sd+D report, pp. 15, 17
Bibliography
- Acton, A. P., "Packaging and Packaged Goods", Metrication, the Australian Experience: Proceedings of the North American-Australian Metric Conference, pp. 127–140, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, April 1975.
- Review of Domestic and International Pallet Standards and Ongoing Operational and Cost Implications to Australian and International Logistics: Final Report, Strategic design + Development, 21 March 2002.
- Ackerman, Kenneth B., Practical Handbook of Warehousing, Springer, 1997 ISBN 0412125110.
- Leblanc, Rick, "Another sneak attack, war heralded pallet in industry", Pallet Enterprise, May 2002.
- Raballand, Gaël; Aldaz-Carroll, Enrique, How Do Differing Standards Increase Trade Costs? The case of pallets, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3519, February 2005.
- Another version of this paper published in The World Economy, vol. 30, iss. 4, pp. 605–702, April 2007.