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Reference · Base assemblies
The pallet decides where a container is allowed to go.
Buyers specify capacity, grade and fittings and then take whatever base the container happens to have. That is backwards. The base determines whether a tote can enter a food plant, survive a washdown area, cross a border without a phytosanitary argument, or take five years of forklift abuse — and it is the cheapest thing on the container to change.
Short answer
Four base types: composite (default), all-steel (toughest), all-plastic (food and washdown), wood (avoid for food and export). Bases can be swapped cheaply.
- Types
- 4
- Food safe
- Plastic / steel
- Footprint
- 48" × 40"
- Entry
- 4-way
Form 01 · Spec request
Need a specific base?
Say so in the message field. Sorting by base type at the yard costs us nothing and prevents an entire category of rejected delivery.
The four types
What each base is actually for.
| Base type | Construction | Food service | Washdown | Durability | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite | Steel frame with plastic or wood decking | Only with plastic decking | Good with plastic decking | Good | The general-purpose default |
| All-steel | Fully welded steel frame and deck | Yes | Excellent | Excellent | Jobsites, oversize units, heavy abuse |
| All-plastic | Moulded polyethylene base | Yes | Excellent | Moderate | Food, beverage, pharma, clean rooms |
| Wood | Timber deck on a steel frame | No | Poor | Moderate | Legacy and some regional stock |
Choosing
Match the base to the destination
- Food, beverage or pharmaceutical plant: all-plastic or all-steel. Never wood, never composite with wood decking.
- Washdown or wet processing area: plastic or steel. Wood swells, splits and stays wet.
- Construction and outdoor jobsite: all-steel. It takes forklift contact that would crack a plastic base.
- General warehouse and racking: composite. Cheapest, lightest, entirely adequate.
- Export shipments: plastic or steel, avoiding wood-packaging treatment requirements altogether.
Inspecting
What to look at on a used base
- Feet: crushed, spread or torn feet mean the unit has been dropped or overloaded
- Deck: splits, missing boards and delamination on composite decking
- Fork pockets: deformed pockets snag forks and make handling dangerous
- Welds at the frame corners, where load transfers concentrate
- Level: set it on flat ground and check it does not rock
- Corrosion where the deck meets the frame, the classic water trap
Handling
Entry, load transfer and stacking.
| Property | Composite | All-steel | All-plastic | Wood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fork entry | 4-way | 4-way | 4-way | 4-way |
| Pallet jack friendly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tolerance of fork strikes | Moderate | High | Low to moderate | Low |
| Weight added to tare | Baseline | +20 to 40 lb | −5 to +10 lb | +10 to 25 lb |
| Behaviour when wet | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Poor |
| Repairability | Deck replaceable | Weld repairable | Usually replace whole | Deck replaceable |
| Recyclability at end of life | Separated by material | Baled as steel | Plastic reclaim | Biomass or mulch |
Questions
Pallet types, answered.
01Which pallet type do I need for food service?
Plastic or all-steel. Wood is disqualifying because it absorbs moisture and product, harbours organisms and cannot be sanitised reliably. Composite bases with plastic decking are generally acceptable; composite with wood decking is not.
02Can the pallet be changed?
Yes. Swapping a base is routine work in our cage shop and it is far cheaper than replacing a container. Moving a sound tote from a wood base to a plastic one is one of the most common jobs we do for food and beverage customers.
03Does the pallet affect the weight rating?
It affects the tare weight and how the load transfers into the forks, and an all-steel base is more tolerant of abuse than a composite one. The gross rating on the plate applies to the assembly as approved, so a base swap should be done with matching components.
04Are wood-based IBCs still made?
They are less common than they were and are largely confined to older stock and some regional markets. We sort them out of food-grade and washdown streams automatically.
05What about export and ISPM 15?
Wooden packaging crossing international borders generally needs ISPM 15 treatment and marking. Plastic and steel bases avoid the question entirely, which is one reason exporters specify them.
Selection matrix
Base type against environment, in detail.
Four base types, seven environments. The intersections are where rejected deliveries and premature failures come from.
| Environment | Composite | All-steel | All-plastic | Wood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General warehouse | Best value | Fine | Fine | Fine |
| Food or beverage plant | Only with plastic decking | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pharmaceutical | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Washdown or wet processing | With plastic decking | Best | Best | No |
| Outdoor jobsite | Adequate | Best | Poor in cold | Poor |
| Cold storage or winter yard | Adequate | Best | Brittle | Poor |
| International shipment | Depends on decking | Yes | Yes | Treatment and marking required |
| Racked storage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Frequent forklift handling | Good | Best | Fair | Fair |
| Property | Composite | All-steel | All-plastic | Wood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Added tare | Baseline | +20 to 40 lb | −5 to +10 lb | +10 to 25 lb |
| Fork strike tolerance | Moderate | High | Low to moderate | Low |
| Cold-weather behaviour | Adequate | Unaffected | Brittle | Poor |
| Behaviour when wet | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Poor |
| Sanitisable | With plastic decking | Yes | Yes | No |
| Repairability | Deck replaceable | Weld repairable | Usually replace whole | Deck replaceable |
| End-of-life route | Separated by material | Baled as steel | Plastic reclaim | Biomass or mulch |
| Relative cost | Lowest | Highest | Middle | Low |
Extended FAQ · 6 questions
More questions, answered
01Which base type do I need for food service?
Plastic or all-steel. Wood is disqualifying because it absorbs moisture and product, harbours organisms and cannot be reliably sanitised. Composite bases with plastic decking are generally acceptable; composite with wood decking is not.
02Can the base be changed?
Yes. A base swap is routine shop work and far cheaper than replacing a container. Moving a sound container from a wood base to a plastic one is one of the most common jobs we do for food and beverage customers.
03Does the base affect the weight rating?
It affects tare weight and how the load transfers into the forks, and an all-steel base tolerates abuse better. The gross rating on the plate applies to the assembly as approved, so a base swap on a rated container should use matching components.
04Are wood-based containers still made?
Less common than they were, and largely confined to older stock and some regional markets. We sort them out of food-grade and washdown streams automatically.
05What about export and wood packaging rules?
Wooden packaging crossing international borders generally needs phytosanitary treatment and marking. Plastic and steel bases avoid the question entirely, which is why exporters specify them.
06Are plastic bases weaker than composite?
In cold weather and against fork strikes, noticeably. In normal indoor handling, no. Choose by environment rather than by strength on paper — for outdoor winter work, all-steel is the correct answer.
Next step
Specify the base, not just the tote.
It costs nothing at quote time and prevents the most avoidable rejected delivery in this business.