Parts of a Pallet – Deckboards, Stringers, Blocks, Notch

All 10 parts on the diagram

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Stringer pallet 6

Top deck The top layer of boards, which carries the load.
Stringer A runner the deck boards are nailed to.
Bottom deck The bottom layer of boards, which spreads the load.
Fork entry The opening between stringers that the forks go into.
Nails They fasten each deck board to the stringers.
Notch A cut-out that lets forks enter from the side.

Block pallet 4

Block A short post that takes the place of a stringer.
Deckboard One board of the top or bottom deck.
Stringer board A board that joins a row of blocks to the deckboards.
Chamfer A bevel that lets pallet truck wheels roll over the board.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Pallet (stringers, top deckboards, notch, four-way entry, block pallets, stringer boards, nails), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet. (2) IS 3971:2005, Pallets for Materials Handling: Vocabulary, identical to ISO 445:1996 (top deck, bottom deck, deckboard, stringer, notch, block, stringerboard, chamfer, entry, nail), https://archive.org/details/gov.in.is.3971.2005. (3) USDA Forest Service, Wood Pallets in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Area (1956), glossary of pallet terms (top and bottom decks, deck boards, stringers, two-way and four-way entry), https://archive.org/details/woodpalletsinmin43warn. (4) USDA Forest Service, The Effect of Initial Moisture Content on Performance of Hardwood Pallets (1966) (deckboards, stringers, pallet nails), https://archive.org/details/nfsl_2_256862. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's product, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A pallet is a flat wooden platform that holds goods steady while a forklift or pallet truck lifts them. This drawing names six parts of a stringer pallet, then four on a block pallet.

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Stringers or blocks

Both pallets have a top deck, which carries the load, and a bottom deck, which spreads it. Each board in a deck is a deckboard. On a stringer pallet the decks are nailed to three stringers, and the forks enter between them. A notch cut in each stringer lets forks in from the side as well. A block pallet has blocks where the stringers were, so it can be entered from all four sides. Stringer boards join each row of blocks, and a chamfer on the bottom boards lets pallet truck wheels roll over them.

Stringer or stringer board? A stringer stands on edge. A stringer board lies flat on the blocks.
A deck is a whole layer. A deckboard is one board in it.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a pallet called?

The boards are deckboards, and they make up a top deck and a bottom deck. Between the decks are stringers, which run the full length, or blocks joined by stringer boards. Nails hold the parts together.

What is the difference between a stringer pallet and a block pallet?

A stringer pallet holds its decks apart with long runners called stringers. A block pallet uses short blocks instead, joined by stringer boards. Forks can enter a block pallet from all four sides.

What is the notch in a pallet for?

A notch is a cut-out in the lower edge of a stringer. It lets the forks of a forklift enter from the side, which makes a two-way stringer pallet into a four-way one.

What are the boards on top of a pallet called?

Top deckboards. Together they form the top deck, the surface the load sits on. The boards underneath are the bottom deckboards.