Difference between Standard and Euro Sized Hand Pallet Jacks

Australian businesses may use a number of different sized pallets transporting goods locally and also exporting goods overseas.

In this post we look briefly at the most common pallet sizes and the available warehouse handling solutions on sale through Adaptalift Store to help businesses move palletised goods.

Standard Australian Pallets

There are two common sized pallets used in the domestic Australian market:

  1. Australian standard pallets (CHEP)
  2. Australian export pallets

Standard pallets (CHEP) are predominantly used domestically for the storage and transport of goods nation-wide.

Their common dimensions are 1,165mm x 1,165mm (L x W) with a rated safe weight capacity of between 500kg – 1,800kg.

Export pallets are slightly smaller in size at 1,000mm x 1,000mm (L x W) with a rated safe weight capacity of 1,000kg.

The smaller dimensions and weight capacity make the pallets easier to fit in containers and international modes of transport such as sea, rail and air.

European Pallets

As international trade increased between North America and Europe particularly during and after World War 2 it was found that the large American pallets measuring 1,200mm x 1,000mm (L x W) and weighing up to 30kg unloaded were too large for European trains which made cargo handling and transport increasingly difficult.

To make transport and cargo handling easier a smaller euro pallet with dimensions of 1,200mm x 800mm (L x W) to better fit in European trains and utilise wagon space to transport even more cargo.

Hand Pallet Jack Options

Liftsmart Hand Pallet Jack

For most Australian businesses that operate locally and do not import products from Europe our standard Liftsmart hand pallet jack.

This is the larger of two hand pallet jacks we sell to warehouses and businesses for pallet handling as its width of 650mm provides the necessary support for the wider Australian standard pallets when transporting goods.

Liftsmart Euro Hand Pallet Jack

The Liftsmart Euro hand pallet jack is specifically designed for handling smaller euro sized pallets making them the ideal materials handling solutions for imports businesses who regularly import palletised goods from Europe.

The unit’s narrower width of 540mm allows the tynes to easily roll into narrow euro pallets with widths of 800mm whilst accounting for any corner blocks whilst still providing the necessary support to the load during transport.

Both our standard and euro width pallet jacks have safe lift capacities of 2,500kg and offer simple, economic and reliable materials handling solutions for businesses of all sizes and warehouses.

Their also available in nylon or poly wheel variations suitable for different applications:

  • Nylon wheel: More durable when compared to poly wheel equivalents, best suited to common warehouse applications where loads are being transported across standard concrete or hard floors.
  • Poly wheel: Lighter wheel material best for operating in areas such as mezzanine floors where surfaces are often constructed of particle, ply board or a similar lightweight material. They also offer superior smooth operation across tiled and vinyl floors such as those found in showrooms and have less chance of leaving marks.

In addition to our standard and euro hand pallet jacks we sell a number of other high quality warehouse and manual materials handling equipment to increase productivity and safety.

For assistance in finding the right hand pallet jack for your application contact our Parts team on 13 22 54.