Custom Design & Build

Some loads don't fit a standard build. Those are the ones we engineer.

Most jobs do not need a custom pallet, and we will tell you when yours does not. But when the load falls outside what a standard build handles, guessing at a size is expensive. We design it properly, model it against your real conditions, and build to that spec.

Talk through a build Call 630-747-8202

Where standard ends and custom begins

Worth knowing before you ask for a custom quote, because a lot of what people assume is custom is not.

24" to 65"Any deck dimension in this range is a standard new build. Not custom, not a special order.

Outside that rangeUnder 24" or over 65" is where a custom design starts.

Or a special constructionWhen the requirement is not the size but the build: unusual load paths, specific entry, or a configuration a standard deck cannot deliver.

When custom pays for itself

The cost of a custom build is almost always smaller than the cost of the problem it solves.

The load is outside the envelope

If your product overhangs the deck it sits on, you are damaging product. Overhang is the single most common cause of in-transit damage, and no amount of wrap fixes it.

The weight is concentrated

A load that is heavy in one spot behaves very differently from one that spreads evenly. Deck boards and stringers can be placed where the weight actually sits rather than where the standard puts them.

You are shipping air

Trailer cube is money. A footprint sized to your carton pattern can change how many units fit on a truck, and that shows up on every load after the first.

Automation has requirements

Conveyor, AS/RS and racking systems have specific demands on entry type, bottom-board layout and dimensional tolerance. A pallet designed to those requirements stops being the thing that jams the line.

Engineered before it is built

We are a licensed user of the Pallet Design System (PDS License 1158), the pallet engineering software developed by the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association with Virginia Tech and the USDA Forest Service. On a custom build this is the whole point: the design gets validated on screen before anyone cuts lumber.

ANALYSIS 01

Structural

Safe maximum load and deflection under your actual support conditions, whether that is racking, floor stacking or fork entry.

ANALYSIS 02

Durability

Predicted service life in handling cycles and which component gives out first. That is what tells you whether a heavier build is worth paying for.

ANALYSIS 03

Your unit load

The model includes your cartons and stacking pattern, so we are testing the load you actually ship rather than a generic one.

You get the specification sheet and fully dimensioned drawings for your design. That is what makes the build repeatable, so the pallet you approve is the pallet you keep receiving. A UL-certified environmental product declaration with carbon footprint per pallet is available too, if you report on that.

Wood and treatment

On a custom build, species is part of the design rather than a default.

High-density hardwoodHeavy loads, or pallets that will be reused many times.
SoftwoodLighter, and often better economics on one-way or lighter loads.
KDHT SPFKiln-dried heat-treated spruce-pine-fir. Dry, dimensionally stable and lighter than hardwood.
Certified heat treat stampsFor international shipping, so your pallets meet export wood packaging requirements without a separate treatment step or a hold at the border.

How it works

The first step is a conversation, not a drawing.

STEP 01

Tell us about the load

Dimensions, weight and where that weight sits, how it gets handled, whether it racks, and whether the pallet comes back. Photos of the current setup help more than specs do.

STEP 02

We design and model it

Deck size, board layout, thickness, entry and species, then run through PDS against your conditions. You see the spec and drawings before we build.

STEP 03

We build, stock and deliver

Built in our Rochester yard, held in our inventory so it is there when you need it, and delivered on our own trucks inside 100 miles.

Once a custom design is approved we store both unfinished and finished stock of it for you. That matters more on custom than on standard, because a bespoke pallet is not something you can source somewhere else at short notice. Your design exists on our floor before your schedule needs it.

24" to 65"New pallets, engineered and built to spec Lower cost per tripRefurbished pallets in three grades Getting it thereDelivery on our own trucks, 100-mile radius

Talk to usJoe Dal Santo
630-747-8202
Email Joe

Yard405 20th Street SE
Rochester, MN 55904
Mon–Fri, 8:00am–5:00pm

DeliveryOn our own trucks anywhere within 100 miles of Rochester, including the Twin Cities, La Crosse, Mankato and Mason City.