We're the Pallet Company That Gives a Damn
Started from a single truck and a warehouse corner. Now one of San Diego's most trusted pallet operations.
San Diego Pallet Co. was built on a simple idea: used pallets have enormous value — and most of that value gets thrown away. We set out to change that.
Over 12 years, we've grown from a scrappy operation into a full-service pallet company with deep roots in San Diego's manufacturing and distribution community.
Founded
Years in business
Pallets recycled
Based in San Diego
Six Principles That Drive Every Decision
These aren't framed posters in a lobby. They're the operating principles behind every pallet we touch, every truck we dispatch, and every relationship we build.
Circular Economy First
Every pallet has multiple lives. We grade, repair, resell, and recycle — extracting maximum value from every board and nail before anything leaves the cycle. The linear model of buy-use-trash is broken. We operate on buy-use-recycle-repeat.
Radical Honesty
If a Grade B pallet will handle your load just fine, we'll tell you — even if a new pallet costs three times more. We don't upsell when it doesn't make sense. Our pricing is published, our grading criteria is transparent, and our reports are verifiable.
Speed Without Compromise
Same-day delivery doesn't mean cutting corners on quality. We maintain deep inventory — over 5,000 pallets across all grades at any given time — so we can move fast without sacrificing inspection standards or load integrity.
Local Roots, Regional Reach
We're headquartered in San Diego and that's where our deepest relationships live. But we serve the entire Southern California corridor — from the Mexican border to Los Angeles County. Local knowledge with regional capability.
Relationships Over Transactions
Our average client relationship lasts over 4 years. We don't chase one-time sales — we build ongoing pallet management partnerships. That's why we invest in understanding your operation, your seasonal patterns, and your growth plans.
Measure Everything
You can't improve what you don't track. We log every pallet — inbound and outbound — by grade, condition, weight, and destination. That data drives our pricing, our environmental reporting, and our continuous improvement process.
Built by People Who Know Pallets Inside and Out
Our team brings a combined 45+ years of experience in pallet manufacturing, repair, logistics, and wood recycling. We're not generalists who happen to sell pallets — we're specialists who've spent careers in this industry.
From ISPM-15 heat treatment protocols to NWPCA grading standards, from GMA pallet specs to custom aerospace skids — our team has hands-on experience across the full spectrum of pallet applications. That depth of knowledge means faster problem-solving, better recommendations, and fewer costly mistakes.
Combined years experience
Industry certifications
Pallet specifications known
Average client rating
Core Competencies
Pallet Grading & Quality Control
Every pallet is inspected against NWPCA standards. We grade on structural integrity, board condition, moisture content, and contamination. Our rejection rate for outbound pallets is under 0.5% — well below the industry average of 2-3%.
ISPM-15 Compliance & Heat Treatment
For international shipments, pallets must meet ISPM-15 phytosanitary standards. We maintain certified heat treatment capabilities and provide HT-stamped pallets with full documentation for customs clearance.
Custom Pallet Engineering
Non-standard loads require non-standard pallets. Our team designs and builds custom skids, crates, and pallets for aerospace, biotech, electronics, and heavy machinery — engineered to your exact weight, dimension, and stacking requirements.
Logistics & Fleet Management
Our dedicated fleet covers San Diego County daily and the broader SoCal region on scheduled routes. We manage pickup scheduling, delivery windows, backhaul optimization, and real-time tracking for every load.
Sustainability Reporting & ESG
We generate verifiable environmental impact reports for every client — documenting pallets diverted from landfill, CO₂ equivalent savings, and wood waste reduction metrics. These reports are formatted for common ESG frameworks including GRI and SASB.
San Diego County & Beyond
Our primary service area is San Diego County, where we offer same-day pickup and delivery. We also serve the broader Southern California corridor on scheduled routes.
Primary Zone: San Diego County
Same-day and next-day service throughout San Diego County. Our fleet runs daily routes optimized across the county's major industrial, manufacturing, and distribution corridors.
Extended Zone: Southern California
Scheduled weekly and bi-weekly routes extending north through the I-5 and I-15 corridors. Bulk orders and recurring accounts receive priority scheduling in extended zones.
Same-Day Service
Orders placed before 10 AM for in-stock items within San Diego County are eligible for same-day delivery. Pickup requests are typically fulfilled within 4 hours of confirmation.
Average pickup response time
Delivery Fleet
Our fleet includes flatbed trucks, stake beds, and box trucks equipped for pallet transport. We handle loads from 20 pallets to full truckloads (400+ units). All vehicles are GPS-tracked with real-time ETAs available for scheduled deliveries.
Cross-Border Logistics
Located near the Otay Mesa border crossing, we support manufacturers operating across the US-Mexico border. We provide ISPM-15 compliant pallets and customs-ready documentation for cross-border freight.
Standards We Meet and Exceed
The pallet industry has real standards — and cutting corners creates real problems. We maintain active certifications and compliance with every relevant standard for domestic and international pallet operations.
ISPM-15 Certified
IPPC / USDA APHIS
International phytosanitary standard for wood packaging in international trade. All heat-treated pallets carry the approved IPPC stamp.
NWPCA Member
National Wooden Pallet & Container Association
Active member of the industry's primary trade association. We follow NWPCA Uniform Standard for Wood Pallets and PDS (Pallet Design System) guidelines.
California EPA Compliant
CalEPA / DTSC
Full compliance with California's environmental regulations for wood waste processing, including AB 939 diversion requirements and Title 14 composting standards.
OSHA Compliant
Occupational Safety & Health
Our facility and operations meet all OSHA standards for material handling, forklift operation, nail gun safety, and warehouse conditions.
GMA Pallet Standards
We stock and build to Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) 48"x40" specifications — the most widely used pallet size in North America, accounting for roughly 30% of all new pallets produced annually.
FDA-Safe Materials
For food and pharmaceutical clients, we provide pallets that meet FDA requirements for food-contact surfaces — including kiln-dried lumber, no chemical treatments, and contamination-free handling protocols.
Insurance & Bonding
Fully insured for general liability, commercial auto, and workers' compensation. We carry $2M in general liability coverage and provide certificates of insurance to all commercial clients upon request.
The Numbers Behind Our Green Commitment
Sustainability without data is just a slogan. Here's the verified, measurable impact of our operations since 2011.
Pallets recycled since 2011
Each recycled pallet saves ~22 lbs of CO₂
Pounds of CO₂ avoided
Equivalent to 60 cars off the road for a year
Tons of wood diverted from landfill
Repurposed as mulch, biomass, or repair material
Zero-landfill rate since 2017
Verified by processing logs, not marketing
Mature Trees Preserved
A standard GMA pallet requires approximately 12 board feet of lumber. By extending pallet life through repair and recycling, we've preserved the equivalent of over 680 mature trees — enough to cover 4 acres of forest.
Gallons of Water Saved
Manufacturing a new pallet consumes roughly 2.68 gallons of water when you account for lumber milling, treatment, and assembly. Our recycling operations use a fraction of that — saving an estimated 156,000 gallons since we began tracking.
Material Recovery Rate
Of every pallet we process, 92% of the material by weight is recovered for productive use — either as repaired pallets, reclaimed lumber, mulch, biomass fuel, or recycled steel from nails. Only 8% is truly non-recoverable waste.
Who We Work With
We've built a network of partnerships across San Diego's business community — from Fortune 500 distribution centers to local craft breweries. Here are the industries and partners that rely on us.
Manufacturing & Assembly
50+ active accountsAutomotive parts, electronics assembly, medical device manufacturing, and aerospace component companies throughout Otay Mesa and Miramar industrial corridors. We supply both standard GMA pallets and custom-engineered skids for oversized or sensitive components.
Food & Beverage
35+ active accountsBreweries, wineries, food distributors, cold storage facilities, and produce wholesalers. We provide FDA-compliant, kiln-dried pallets for food-contact applications and manage high-volume pallet return programs for regional distributors.
Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
15+ active accountsWarehousing and fulfillment centers need reliable, consistent pallet supply at scale. We serve multiple 3PL operations across San Diego with standing orders, dedicated inventory allocation, and flexible delivery scheduling.
Retail & E-Commerce
25+ active accountsFrom big-box distribution to boutique e-commerce fulfillment, our retail clients need clean, graded pallets that meet specific retailer requirements. We stock pallets that meet Costco, Walmart, and Amazon inbound specifications.
Strategic Partnerships
Beyond our direct clients, we maintain strategic partnerships with lumber suppliers, steel recyclers, mulch processors, biomass energy facilities, and waste haulers. This network ensures that every material stream from our operations has a productive destination — and that we can offer competitive pricing by optimizing the full value chain.
We also partner with local environmental nonprofits, including tree-planting organizations and habitat restoration groups, to offset our remaining environmental footprint and contribute to San Diego's sustainability goals.
Rooted in San Diego
We live here, work here, and raise our families here. San Diego isn't just a market — it's our community. That's why we invest time and resources in local organizations that make this region a better place to live and do business.
From sponsoring youth sports leagues to donating materials for community building projects, we believe a business should contribute more than jobs and tax revenue. We should be neighbors — not just vendors.
Annual Tree Planting
Every year, we partner with local reforestation nonprofits to plant trees equal to 1% of our annual pallet volume. In 2022, we planted 50 trees to celebrate our 50,000th recycled pallet.
Pallet Upcycling Workshops
We host free quarterly workshops teaching community members how to build furniture, garden beds, and home projects from reclaimed pallet wood. Materials provided free of charge.
Local Hiring & Apprenticeships
We recruit from San Diego communities first, offer apprenticeship programs in pallet repair and logistics, and provide skills training that transfers to careers across the construction and manufacturing sectors.
Community Impact by the Numbers
Want to Partner?
We're always looking for ways to contribute to San Diego's community and environmental goals. If you represent a nonprofit, school, or community organization and have a project that could benefit from reclaimed wood materials or pallet expertise, reach out — we'd love to talk.