Reading the Marks: Stamps, Brands, and Codes on Pallets

Pallets Talk, If You Know the Language

Flip a pallet over and you will usually find a scatter of stamps, branded letters, painted blocks, and stenciled codes. To most people it is meaningless clutter. To someone in the trade it is a readable record of where that pallet came from, how it was treated, who owns it, and whether it is legal to reuse or export. Learning to read these marks turns a mystery pallet into a known quantity.

This matters for practical reasons. The wrong mark can mean a pallet is not export-legal, or that it belongs to a rental pool and cannot be freely sold, or that it was chemically treated when you needed heat treatment. Reading the marks protects you from expensive mistakes and helps you buy and sell pallets confidently.

At Cincinnati Pallet we read these marks all day, every day, as we sort incoming pallets. Here is a field guide to the most important stamps, brands, and codes you will encounter, and what each one is actually telling you.

The IPPC Treatment Stamp

The most standardized and important mark is the IPPC stamp, which certifies phytosanitary treatment for international shipping under ISPM-15. If a pallet is legal to send across most international borders, it carries this mark, and if it does not, the pallet is domestic-only until treated. This is the first stamp to look for on any pallet you might export.

The stamp is instantly recognizable by its logo, a stylized symbol commonly described as a wheat stalk or ear of grain, set inside or beside a bordered box. Alongside the logo you will find a country code, a certified facility number, and a treatment code. Together these prove the pallet was sterilized by an authorized treater and let a customs officer trace it back to source.

The treatment code is the part worth memorizing, because it tells you exactly how the pallet was made safe. Read it and you know whether the pallet suits your purpose, whether that is export compliance, food handling, or simply avoiding chemically treated wood.

• HT: heat treatment, core heated to at least 56 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes, no chemicals.
• MB: methyl bromide fumigation, a chemical treatment being phased out in many regions.
• DB: debarked, indicating bark was removed as required.
• DH: dielectric heating, a newer approved thermal method.
• Country code plus a unique facility number: identifies where and by whom the pallet was treated.

Pool-Owner Brands: CHEP, PECO, and Others

The most consequential marks after the IPPC stamp are the brands of the rental pool companies. Some pallets are not sold at all; they are rented out by pooling companies that own them and expect them back. The two you will see most in North America are CHEP, whose pallets are famously colored blue, and PECO, whose pallets are red. These colors are not decoration; they are ownership marks.

If a pallet is painted CHEP blue or PECO red and carries the pool company's branding, it belongs to that company. It is not yours to sell, and buying or selling pooled pallets outside the proper channels can create real legal and contractual problems. Reputable pallet dealers, including Cincinnati Pallet, sort these out and return or exclude them rather than trafficking in property that belongs to a pool.

This is a genuinely important point for anyone selling used pallets. When you clear out a yard of accumulated pallets, the blue and red ones are usually not yours to monetize. A good buyer will identify them and handle them correctly, which protects you from unknowingly disposing of another company's assets.

Company Brands and Custom Stamps

Beyond the pools, individual companies often brand their own pallets, especially those running returnable fleets. A branded stringer with a company name or logo signals that the pallet is part of a managed program and is expected to circulate back to its owner. These custom brands help a company track and reclaim its pallets across a distribution network.

You will also see manufacturer and builder marks that identify who made the pallet, and sometimes date or batch codes used for internal tracking and quality control. These do not usually affect whether you can reuse a pallet, but they tell part of its history and can matter if a customer requires traceability.

When we take in mixed loads of used pallets, distinguishing a genuinely open, sellable pallet from a branded returnable is part of the sorting craft. A pallet clearly marked as belonging to a specific program is treated differently from an anonymous white pallet that is free to enter general circulation. Reading these brands correctly is how a responsible dealer keeps everyone's property straight.

Color Coding and What It Signals

Color is one of the fastest signals on a pallet, and it usually means one of two things. Sometimes color indicates pool ownership, as with CHEP blue and PECO red, where the paint is a deliberate, trademarked identifier. Spot those colors and you should immediately suspect a pooled, non-sellable pallet.

Other times color marks a company's internal system, sorting pallets by grade, destination, customer, or program. A business running a returnable fleet might paint a stringer end or a corner block a specific color so its people can spot its pallets at a glance on a busy dock. That kind of color is meaningful only within that company's operation, but it still tells you the pallet is probably part of a managed pool.

The practical rule is simple: a deliberately and consistently painted pallet is usually somebody's property, marked on purpose. An unpainted, unbranded pallet is far more likely to be freely tradeable. When in doubt, treat a strongly colored pallet as owned until you confirm otherwise.

Putting It Together When You Buy or Sell

When you evaluate a pallet, read the marks in a sensible order. Check for pool colors and branding first, because that determines whether the pallet is even yours to trade. Then read the IPPC stamp to see whether it is export-legal and how it was treated. Then note any company brands or builder marks that tell you its history and program.

For a seller clearing out a yard, this reading is worth money and protects you from trouble. The white, unbranded, structurally sound pallets are your saleable stock. The blue and red pooled pallets are not, and mixing them into a sale you profit from is a mistake a good buyer will catch and set aside. Knowing the difference lets you deal in good faith.

Cincinnati Pallet does this sorting for you when we buy loads of used pallets. We identify pool property, verify treatment stamps, and grade the genuinely sellable pallets fairly. If you have a pile of mixed pallets and are not sure what you are looking at, bring us the details and we will help you read the marks and get a straight answer on what they are worth.