- Shipping Pallet
- A pallet designed for a single one-way trip from shipper to receiver, then discarded or recycled. Also called an expendable pallet. Shipping pallets prioritize low upfront cost over long-term durability.
- Shook
- Cut-to-size pallet parts, including deckboards, stringers, and blocks, that have been sawn to finished dimensions and are ready for assembly into a finished pallet.
- Shook Grade
- The quality classification of pallet parts based on the size, number, and distribution of natural wood defects (knots, splits, wane) that affect structural performance. Grading is done independently of wood species and determines the strength and service life of the finished pallet.
- Single-Face Pallet
- A pallet with deckboards on the top surface only, with no bottom deck. Lighter and less expensive than double-face pallets, but structurally weaker and not suitable for two-sided use. Common in retail display and one-way shipping applications.
- Single-Wing Pallet
- A pallet where only the top deckboards extend beyond the edges of the stringers or stringerboards; the bottom deckboards (if present) remain flush. The single wing facilitates strap-over loading and improves top-deck access without increasing the racking footprint.
- Skid
- A platform similar to a pallet but with no bottom deck, resting directly on the floor on its stringers or runners. Skids are lighter and less expensive than pallets but cannot be double-stacked and offer less floor protection. Common in manufacturing and heavy-duty applications.
- Slave Pallet
- A dedicated support pallet, thick panel, or platform used as a base for a palletized load in rack-storage or automated production systems. Slave pallets remain in the system and receive product pallets placed on top of them; they are not primary shipping pallets.
- Soft Nail
- A pallet nail with a MIBANT bend angle of 47 degrees or greater, indicating low hardness. Soft nails are more ductile and absorb impact energy without breaking, but provide less joint stiffness than hardened or stiff-stock nails.
- Softwood
- Wood from coniferous (needle-bearing, typically evergreen) tree species such as Southern Yellow Pine, Douglas Fir, Spruce, and Hem-Fir. Softwoods account for the majority of pallet lumber in North America due to their wide availability, ease of nailing, and favorable strength-to-weight ratio.
- Solid Deck Pallet
- A pallet constructed with no gaps between deckboards, creating a continuous closed surface. Required for small-part, granular, or dusty product loads that would fall through standard-spaced decks. Common in food-grade, pharmaceutical, and clean-room applications.
- Span
- The unsupported distance a pallet component must bridge between its supports: between stringers or blocks for deckboards, or between rack beams or the floor for stringers. Span is a primary driver of required component size and load capacity calculations.
- Static Load Capacity
- The maximum weight a pallet can safely support while stationary on a flat, fully-supported surface such as a warehouse floor. Static capacity is generally the highest of the three standard pallet load ratings because there are no unsupported spans or dynamic forces involved.
- Stevedore Pallet
- A heavy-duty, double-wing pallet designed for use on seaport docks and maritime shipping environments. Built to withstand rough handling, outdoor exposure, and the extreme loads associated with shipping container operations.
- Stiff-Stock Steel Nail
- A pallet nail made from medium-high carbon steel without heat treatment or tempering, with a MIBANT angle between 29 and 46 degrees. Stiffer than soft nails but more ductile than hardened nails: a middle-ground fastener for general pallet construction.
- Strap Slot
- A recess or cutout on the upper edge of the stringer, or on the bottom face of the top deckboard, that allows tie-down strapping to be threaded around the unit load and seated flush with the pallet surface. Prevents the strap from being crushed or severed during handling. Also called a banding notch.
- Strapping
- Thin flat bands made from polypropylene, polyester, or steel wrapped around a unit load and pallet to prevent shifting during transit. Strapping is threaded through strap slots when present and secured with buckles, heat welds, or crimped seals.
- Stringer
- A continuous longitudinal lumber member, typically a 2x4 or 3x4, that runs the full length of a stringer pallet and directly supports the top and bottom decks. Most stringer pallets use three parallel stringers: two outer and one center. The stringer length defines the primary pallet dimension.
- Stringer Pallet
- The most common pallet type in North America: three parallel stringers connecting the top and bottom decks. Standard stringer pallets offer two-way forklift entry from the ends; notched stringers enable partial four-way entry. Lighter and less expensive than block pallets, but generally weaker for racking applications.
- Stringerboard
- In block pallets, a continuous solid board member running the full length of the pallet perpendicular to deckboards, sandwiched between the deckboards and the blocks. Stringerboards distribute load from the deck into the blocks and add rigidity to the overall assembly.