Accessories · collars
Pallet collars
A hinged wooden frame that turns a flat deck into a box of adjustable height. The most useful fifteen dollars in warehousing, and almost nobody in North America uses them.
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In short
A pallet collar is a four-sided hinged wooden frame that sits on a pallet deck. Stack one for a shallow tray, four for a deep container. They fold flat for return and empty storage, so a hundred collars occupy roughly the space of a small pallet stack.
Standard sizes are 48″ × 40″ and 1200 × 800 mm, typically 200 mm high. Available new and reclaimed from our Columbus yard.
The reason collars are worth attention
The value is not the collar. It is the variable height.
A conventional packaging system needs a small box, a medium box and a large box, each of which has to be stocked, stored, tracked and eventually thrown away. A collar system needs one SKU: a quarter-height load takes one collar, a half-height load takes two, a full load takes four.
For operations shipping variable quantities — spare parts, seasonal goods, returns processing, kitting — that flexibility routinely eliminates two thirds of packaging SKUs. And unlike corrugated, a wooden collar survives well over a hundred cycles.
Specifying collars correctly
- Match the footprint exactly. A 48×40 collar fits a 48×40 pallet and nothing else. Mismatched collars overhang, snag on racking and fail at the corners.
- Check the hinge count. Four hinges — one per corner — is standard and allows the collar to fold flat in a Z. Two-hinge collars fold only in one axis and take more return space.
- Confirm the height. 200 mm is the common standard; 100 mm and 300 mm exist. Mixing heights in a stack works, but only if everyone knows the rule.
- Decide on a lid. Without a lid or top cap, a collared load cannot be safely stacked, which throws away most of the cube benefit.
- Ask about reclaimed. Used collars in sound condition cost substantially less and perform identically.
Stacking, load and practical limits
Collars carry the load of anything stacked above them, transferring it down the corners rather than through the product. That is precisely why they are useful — a collared load protects the goods inside from the weight of the load above.
Practical limits: four collars (800 mm) is a comfortable working height, and beyond about six the stack becomes unstable during handling. Stacking loaded collared units above two high requires a lid on each and reasonably even weight distribution.
Collars fail at the corners and at the hinges, never in the panels. Both are repairable, which makes them one of the few packaging items where a repair programme genuinely pays.
Working out whether collars pay for you
The calculation is simple and rarely done. Collars replace boxes, so compare against what you currently spend on corrugated for the same job.
Corrugated: cost per box × boxes per year. Single use, so the whole amount recurs annually. Plus the storage space for three box sizes, plus the disposal.
Collars: cost per collar × collars needed, divided across the number of years they last — typically many. Plus the lid. Minus the corrugated you stop buying, the storage space you free up and the disposal you stop paying for.
The break-even is usually fast for operations shipping variable quantities, because that is where one collar SKU replaces three box sizes. It is much slower where every shipment is the same size, since a single right-sized box is hard to beat.
The other case where collars win decisively is where the load needs to be opened, inspected and reclosed — service parts, returns processing, trade shows. Corrugated does not survive that.
Reference
Collar stack heights and typical uses
| Collars | Interior height | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ~200 mm | Shallow tray, flat parts, tiles |
| 2 | ~400 mm | Half-height loads, service kits |
| 3 | ~600 mm | General components, returns |
| 4 | ~800 mm | Full-height load, comfortable working limit |
| 5–6 | 1000–1200 mm | Possible but less stable in handling |
Stacking loaded collared units on top of each other requires a lid or top cap on every level.
Avoid these
Mistakes we see
Buying collars without a lid
You cannot safely stack a collared load with an open top, which discards most of the cube benefit that justified the collars in the first place.
Ordering two-hinge collars for a return programme
Two-hinge collars fold in one axis only and take far more return space than four-hinge, which fold flat in a Z.
Assuming any 48x40 collar fits any 48x40 pallet
It should, but deck overhang varies in reclaimed stock. If you are pairing collars with reclaimed pallets, check the fit on a sample first.
Checklist
Work through this before you order
Specifying collars
- Pallet footprint fixed and confirmed
- Collar footprint matched exactly
- Four hinges for flat folding
- Height chosen and standardised across the operation
- Lid or top cap ordered alongside
- Restraint method decided
- New or reclaimed — reclaimed is usually the better buy
Questions
Before you ask us
Do pallet collars fit any pallet?
No. A collar must match the pallet footprint exactly. A 48x40 collar fits a 48x40 pallet only. Mismatched collars overhang, snag and fail early.
How many collars can you stack?
Four is a comfortable working height at 200 mm each. Beyond about six the stack becomes unstable during handling, and stacking loaded units on top of each other requires a lid on every level.
How long do wooden collars last?
Well over a hundred cycles with normal handling. They fail at the corners and hinges rather than in the panels, and both are repairable.
Are collars available used?
Yes, and they are usually the better buy. Reclaimed collars in sound condition cost substantially less than new and perform identically.
Can collars be used on plastic pallets?
Yes, provided the footprint matches and the plastic deck has a flat perimeter for the collar to sit on. Some nestable plastic pallets have profiled edges that collars do not sit squarely on.
How do you stop a collared load coming apart in transit?
A ratchet strap around the whole assembly is usual. Some operations band through the collar handles. Without restraint, collars can lift off under vibration.
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