EUR-pallet

In 1961 the European railways commissioned the standardization of a common pallet type under the auspices of the UIC.

Following the standardization, most of the European industry switched over to using Euro-pallets with trucks, forklifts, and high-rack warehouses optimized for their size.

With the success of the Euro-pallets, a number of replicas entered the market that used low-quality wood which splintered easily and were prone to mold, so the European railways, which own the trademarks for EUR/EPAL, created a separate standardization body.

It is still the most widespread pallet type in the world, with an estimate of 350 to 500 million EUR-pallets being in circulation.

[10] These containers feature an internal width of 2,440 mm (96 in) for easy loading of two 1,200 mm (47 in) long pallets side by side—many sea shipping providers in Europe allow these, as overhangs on standard containers are sufficient to fit them in the usual interlock spaces.

The 45 ft (14 m) pallet-wide high-cube shortsea container has gained wide acceptance, as these containers can replace the A-Behälter swap bodies with a length of 13,670 mm (44 ft 10 in) that are common for truck transport in Europe.

The EU has started a standardization for pallet-wide containerization in the EILU (European Intermodal Loading Unit) initiative.