What Is a Sandwich Pallet

Why Is It Called a Sandwich Pallet?

A sandwich pallet takes its name from the three-layer structure — a top deck board and a bottom deck board enclose an intermediate layer of spacer blocks or a structural frame, exactly as a sandwich places two outer layers around a middle filling.

Two distinct operational meanings circulate in European logistics for this term. The first refers to the manufactured product — a pallet designed and built as a single unit with a top deck, spacer blocks, and a bottom deck to a stated load specification. The second describes an operational practice where two single-layer pallets are stacked base-to-base or deck-to-deck over a shared consignment to form one combined transport unit. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics defines the term using this second interpretation — stacked single-layer pallets forming one transport unit.

Both produce the same functional outcome: a dual-surface structure where cargo weight transfers across two deck planes rather than one. Shippers specifying sandwich pallets for heavy industrial cargo typically mean the manufactured product. Warehouse operators using the term in LTL and groupage consolidation most often mean the stacked-pallet method.

The product also appears as a double-bottom pallet or twin-deck pallet in different European markets — all three names refer to the same dual-deck structure.

What Is a Sandwich Pallet Made Of?

• Sandwich pallets in European freight are built primarily from solid wood or plywood. Top and bottom deck boards are typically 18 to 22 mm thick solid timber or laminated plywood panels. The intermediate layer consists of solid wood spacer blocks arranged in a three-by-three grid — nine blocks across the pallet footprint — or a continuous perimeter frame with a central support member running the pallet length.
• Plastic composite variants replace timber with moulded polymer panels and composite spacers. These suit washdown environments and hygiene-controlled facilities where wooden pallets are excluded from use. Metal frame variants use a steel perimeter in place of wooden spacers, handling the heaviest industrial loads where timber blocks would compress or split under concentrated weight.
• Forklift entry depends on the base design. Solid runner bases allow entry from two sides. Block or leg bases allow entry from all four sides. Both configurations work with counterbalance forklifts and reach trucks across European warehouse operations.
• A sandwich pallet weighs between 20 and 35 kg depending on material and footprint size. A standard wooden euro pallet weighs 20 to 24 kg. The additional tare weight of a heavier sandwich pallet applies to the total gross consignment weight declared at freight booking — on a multi-pallet shipment the difference accumulates across every loaded unit.

What Are the Standard Dimensions and Load Capacity of a Sandwich Pallet?

• Sandwich pallets in European freight come in two standard footprints — 1200 × 800 mm matching the euro pallet format, and 1200 × 1000 mm for industrial applications where wider load surfaces are required.
• Static load capacity runs from 1,500 to 3,000 kg depending on deck thickness, spacer block specification, and material. A standard wooden euro pallet carries 1,500 kg static load. The sandwich pallet meets and exceeds that figure because the bottom deck distributes incoming cargo weight across a larger contact surface against the floor or racking beam.
• A single-deck pallet transfers all cargo weight through its base boards at the points where those boards contact the floor or beam. Dense or irregularly shaped cargo concentrates that transfer at a small number of points, which cracks or permanently deforms the base boards under load. The bottom deck of a sandwich pallet creates a second continuous surface that spreads the same total weight across a wider contact area, reducing pressure at each individual point and preventing base board failure under heavy or point-loaded cargo.
• Dynamic load capacity — the weight rating while a forklift moves the loaded pallet — is always lower than static capacity. Manufacturer specification must be confirmed before moving very heavy sandwich pallet loads at handling speed.

Which Industries and Cargo Types Use Sandwich Pallets?

Sandwich pallets are specified across automotive tooling, stone and ceramic tile, printing equipment, industrial machinery components, and heavy retail goods — each sector uses them for a specific load characteristic the dual-deck structure handles correctly.

• Automotive pressing tools and die components are dense and irregularly shaped. Their weight concentrates at a small number of surface contact points, which fractures single-deck base boards during forklift handling. The sandwich pallet distributes that contact pressure across the bottom deck surface, removing the fracture risk under normal handling conditions.
• Stone and ceramic tile shipments reach high weight density per unit area — a full 1200 × 800 mm pallet of 600 mm floor tiles exceeds 1,200 kg. Single-deck wooden pallets at that loading density fail under forklift movement. The dual-deck structure carries the load without surface failure.
• Printing machinery components — platens, impression rollers, ink cylinders — are single heavy items that bear down on a small footprint area, making them a poor match for standard single-deck pallets. The sandwich format absorbs the concentrated load without deformation.
• LTL and groupage consolidation operators use the stacked-pallet version for mixed-load consolidation. Two loaded single-layer pallets are combined deck-to-deck into one transport unit, which travels more securely through consolidation hubs than two separate pallets strapped and stacked. Shippers running high-volume mixed loads alongside heavier cargo regularly use the industrial pallet format for the heaviest units in the same consignment.

How Does a Sandwich Pallet Differ from a Euro Pallet and a Wire Mesh Pallet?

A sandwich pallet has two solid deck surfaces, a euro pallet has one solid wooden deck, and a wire mesh pallet has one open steel deck — the three differ in deck count, material, and the load type each handles correctly.

• The euro pallet is a single-deck wooden platform certified under EPAL standards, measuring 1200 × 800 mm and weighing 20 to 24 kg. It participates in the European pallet pool — EPAL pallets exchange at carrier depots, which reduces procurement cost for shippers running high volumes through standard freight networks. The euro pallet carries 1,500 kg static load and handles standard dry cargo without issue. Where cargo weight exceeds that rating or concentrates at point locations, a single deck is not the correct specification.
• The sandwich pallet uses the same 1200 × 800 mm footprint but extends static load capacity to 3,000 kg through the dual-deck structure. It is not EPAL-certified and does not exchange at carrier depots. Shippers recover sandwich pallets at delivery or factor replacement into their cost model — no pool system exists for this pallet format.
• A wire mesh pallet uses a single open steel grid as its deck surface. Its primary application covers cold chain goods, food production components, and pharmaceutical materials where airflow, all-side visibility, and full washability are the requirements. It does not provide dual-surface load distribution. For stone, pressing tools, or printing equipment, wire mesh is not the right pallet format.

Does a Sandwich Pallet Require ISPM 15 Treatment?

Wooden sandwich pallets crossing international borders require ISPM 15 heat treatment certification — the same requirement that applies to wooden euro pallets in cross-border European freight.

The heat treatment marking must be present on the pallet before it leaves the origin country. Border detention and compulsory repalletisation follow at the point of entry when a wooden sandwich pallet arrives at an international crossing without the correct ISPM 15 marking — delays of this kind affect the entire consignment, not just the individual pallet unit. For shipments from Belgium to non-EU destinations including the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Switzerland, the marking must be legible on every wooden pallet in the consignment.

Plastic composite and metal frame sandwich pallets carry no wood fibres and are fully exempt from ISPM 15. The exemption applies without any certificate or marking on the pallet itself. Sandwich pallets used in closed-loop return systems — where pallets travel back to the sender after each delivery — operate on the same return-loop model as the reusable pallet in European freight, and shippers running those systems often specify plastic composite formats to remove the ISPM 15 compliance step from every international movement.

How Does the Pallet Type Affect a Freight Booking with Go Trans?

Sandwich pallets fall outside the standard carrier tariff system in European road freight. Carrier rate cards and vehicle loading plans are built around euro pallet footprints and weight ranges — a sandwich pallet shipment with a tare weight of 20 to 35 kg per unit and a non-standard footprint sits outside those defaults and requires explicit declaration at booking.

At booking, shippers must state the pallet type, footprint dimensions, and total gross consignment weight including pallet tare. A booking placed without this declaration results in a vehicle arriving configured for standard euro pallets, which cannot correctly accommodate the weight or footprint of a sandwich pallet load — the collection fails, a surcharge is raised, and the shipment is rescheduled.

Go Trans arranges pallet delivery across Europe through carrier partners who accept sandwich pallets and other non-standard pallet types when shipment details are correctly declared at the quote stage. Accurate pallet specification at booking means the correct vehicle arrives on the first visit with no additional cost.