We push about 620 pallets a week on my floor — anyone know the real origin of 48x40 as the US default: railcar dimensions, grocery standards, or forklift tine spacing? I care because forcing that spec across lines cut our trailer load-planning by 12 minutes and reduced snags at the docks, and I want the accurate backstory.
It’s mostly a GMA thing from the ’60s — 48×40 to fit two across in 8‑ft boxcars/trailers and standardize grocery DCs; forks followed, not led (shoes after the feet). Source: “GMA pallet” and MH1, with CHEP later cementing it; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMA_pallet — if you’re enforcing 48×40, are you loading 40‑across to cube out, or do you weight out first?