The terms skid and pallet are often used for similar platforms in shipping, warehousing, and freight handling, but they are not always technically identical. In common U.S. logistics usage, a pallet usually has a top deck and bottom deck boards, while a skid generally has a top loading surface without a bottom deck. FedEx uses this same distinction while noting that the two words are often used interchangeably.
That structural difference affects how each platform sits, moves, and is used. Still, the terminology is not perfectly standardized across every industry, so context matters.
Quick Answer
Both skid and pallet are correct, but they usually describe different platform designs. A pallet typically has bottom deck boards as well as a top deck, making it a common choice for handling and transporting freight. A skid normally lacks the bottom deck and rests on runners or supports. In everyday shipping conversation, however, people sometimes use the two terms interchangeably.
Skid vs Pallet at a Glance
| Feature | Skid | Pallet |
|---|---|---|
| Basic meaning | A load-supporting platform, typically without a bottom deck | A portable platform designed to support and move freight |
| Top deck | Usually yes | Yes |
| Bottom deck | Usually no | Commonly yes |
| Typical support | Runners, stringers, or similar supports | Stringers, blocks, and deck boards, depending on design |
| Common use | Equipment bases, storage, or certain freight loads | Shipping, warehousing, handling, and storage |
| Forklift use | Often possible, depending on design | Commonly designed for forklift handling |
| Pallet jack use | Depends strongly on construction | Common on compatible pallet designs |
| Everyday terminology | Sometimes called a pallet | Sometimes called a skid |
| Best general term | Use when the specific skid design matters | Usually the safer general term for ordinary freight platforms |
FedEx distinguishes the two mainly by bottom deck boards, while UPS defines a shipping pallet as a freight platform built for convenient forklift handling and describes a skid as a storage platform that sits closer to the ground.
What Is a Pallet?
A pallet is a portable platform used to support goods during handling, storage, and transportation. Boxes, containers, bags, or other products can be placed on the platform and secured as a single load.
UPS defines a shipping pallet as a platform on which freight is stacked and wrapped for transportation. It also notes that pallets can be made from wood, plastic, and other materials and are designed to make forklift handling easier.
A wooden pallet commonly contains components such as:
- top deck boards
- stringers or blocks
- bottom deck boards
- openings for forklift or other material-handling equipment
Not every pallet has exactly the same construction. Pallets can have two-way, partial four-way, or four-way entry, and their designs vary according to the loads and handling systems for which they are intended. Virginia Tech’s Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design identifies several pallet configurations and treats accessibility, stiffness, durability, size, and load capacity as important design factors.
Example
The warehouse worker placed the cartons on a pallet before wrapping the load.
Here, pallet is the natural choice because the sentence describes a standard freight-handling platform.
What Is a Skid?
In freight and material-handling contexts, a skid is also a platform or base used to support a load. The key practical distinction is that a skid generally does not have bottom deck boards.
FedEx states that this lack of bottom deck boards is the subtle difference between a skid and a pallet. UPS similarly lists skid as a shipping and storage term, although its definition emphasizes a platform positioned close to the ground.
A skid may therefore consist of a top surface supported by runners or stringers rather than a complete upper-and-lower deck structure.
Example
The machine arrived secured to a heavy wooden skid.
Skid works especially well here because industrial equipment is often mounted or supported on a base rather than merely stacked on a conventional shipping pallet.
The Main Difference: The Bottom Deck
For everyday U.S. freight terminology, the easiest way to remember skid vs pallet is to look underneath.
A pallet normally has bottom deck boards; a skid normally does not. FedEx explicitly uses this distinction in its current pallet-shipping guidance.
Imagine the structures from the side:
Typical pallet:
Top deck
Support structure
Bottom deck
Typical skid:
Top deck
Runners or supports
No bottom deck
That difference may seem minor, but the base configuration affects how a unit interacts with floors, racks, forklifts, pallet jacks, and other material-handling equipment.
Is a Skid Technically a Type of Pallet?
Sometimes yes, depending on the classification system being used.
This is where the distinction becomes more complicated than the simple “bottom deck versus no bottom deck” rule.
A U.S. Forest Service technical publication classifies pallets as either single-face or double-face units. It explains that a single-face pallet has only a top deck and says such units are sometimes called skids, particularly when they use only two stringers. Double-face pallets have both top and bottom decks.
That means skid and pallet are not two completely separate categories in every technical source. A structure one company calls a skid may be classified more broadly as a type of single-face pallet elsewhere.
For general readers, the practical rule remains useful:
Bottom deck → usually call it a pallet.
No bottom deck → often call it a skid.
But treat that rule as an industry convention rather than an absolute linguistic law.
Why Are Skid and Pallet Often Confused?
The terms are confused because the objects perform many of the same basic jobs. Both can support loads, help keep products off the floor, and allow heavy items to be handled as larger units.
The overlap is significant enough that FedEx specifically tells customers that pallet and skid are often used interchangeably. Historical and technical U.S. material-handling literature also shows overlap between a single-face pallet and what industry workers may call a skid.
So, someone saying:
“Put those boxes on the skid.”
may be referring to something another warehouse calls a:
“pallet.”
The speaker is not necessarily making an English mistake. The difference may reflect local workplace terminology.
When Should You Use “Pallet”?
Use pallet when discussing an ordinary platform used for warehouse handling, freight shipping, stacking, or transportation.
Examples:
- We loaded six pallets onto the truck.
- The boxes were secured to a wooden pallet.
- Use the forklift to move that pallet.
- The shipment arrived on two plastic pallets.
- The warehouse keeps empty pallets near the loading dock.
Pallet is also the more broadly recognizable term in general American English. Major shipping companies use it as the standard label for freight platforms and palletized shipments.
If you do not know the exact construction of the platform, pallet is usually the clearer general word.
When Should You Use “Skid”?
Use skid when the platform specifically lacks a bottom deck or when an industry, manufacturer, carrier, or workplace uses skid as its established term.
Examples:
- The compressor was bolted to a steel skid.
- The equipment remained on its shipping skid.
- Place the motor and skid inside the storage area.
- The damaged wooden skid needs to be replaced.
Skid is particularly useful when referring to a base that is closely associated with a piece of machinery or equipment rather than a conventional stack of cartons.
Skid vs Pallet for Shipping
For ordinary freight shipping, pallet is generally the clearest word unless the shipping base is specifically a skid.
FedEx describes pallets as portable platforms for handling, storing, and shipping products and says they provide a sturdy base for stacking items. Its guidance also recognizes skid but distinguishes it by the absence of bottom deck boards.
UPS likewise uses separate glossary entries for pallet and skid.
If you are preparing an actual freight shipment, use the terminology required by the carrier, warehouse, vendor, or specification involved rather than assuming every organization defines the words identically.
Skid vs Pallet for Warehouse Use
In warehouses, pallet is the standard general term for platforms that move through material-handling systems.
OSHA regularly uses pallet in its guidance involving forklifts and pallet jacks. For example, its powered-industrial-truck guidance describes forklifts as equipment used to move objects placed on pallets and other containers.
That does not make skid incorrect. It simply means that pallet is usually the more useful general word when talking about routine warehouse operations.
Are All Pallets the Same?
No. Pallet describes a broad class of load-supporting platforms rather than one exact design.
Wood pallets can be classified by their entry method and base configuration. Virginia Tech identifies designs including two-way, partial four-way, and four-way entry pallets, as well as several base configurations.
Wood is also not the only pallet material. Pallets may be made from:
- wood
- plastic
- metal
- composite materials
- paper-based materials
Virginia Tech discusses all of these as pallet materials, while UPS similarly notes that shipping pallets can be made from wood, plastic, or other materials.
Therefore, the difference between skid and pallet should not be reduced to “wood versus another material.” Structure and intended use matter more than material alone.
Common Mistakes With Skid and Pallet
Mistake: Saying every platform without a bottom deck cannot be a pallet
That is too absolute.
Technical U.S. literature recognizes single-face pallets that have only a top deck and notes that these may also be called skids.
A better explanation is:
A skid typically lacks a bottom deck, while many conventional pallets have one. Terminology can overlap.
Mistake: Assuming skid means a damaged pallet
A skid is not simply a pallet that has broken or lost boards. It can be an intentionally designed load-supporting base.
Mistake: Thinking pallet refers only to wood
Pallets can be manufactured from several materials, including wood and plastic.
Mistake: Treating the words as completely interchangeable in technical writing
They may be interchangeable in casual workplace speech, but the distinction can matter when describing construction, equipment compatibility, or shipping specifications. FedEx, for example, explicitly distinguishes them according to the presence of bottom deck boards.
Grammar and Usage of “Skid” and “Pallet”
When discussing shipping platforms, both skid and pallet are countable nouns.
Singular:
- a skid
- a pallet
Plural:
- skids
- pallets
Natural combinations include:
- on a pallet
- on a skid
- wooden pallet
- plastic pallet
- shipping skid
- storage skid
- pallet load
- pallet jack
- palletized freight
Be careful with skid because it has unrelated meanings in English. As a verb, to skid can mean to slide uncontrollably:
The car skidded on the wet road.
That meaning is separate from the logistics noun:
The generator was mounted on a skid.
Context normally makes the intended meaning obvious.
Natural Examples of Skid vs Pallet
Pallet: The driver moved the pallet with a forklift.
Skid: The industrial pump was delivered on a wooden skid.
Pallet: We stacked the cartons neatly before wrapping the pallet.
Skid: Keep the machine attached to its skid until installation.
Pallet: Three pallets of supplies arrived this morning.
Skid: The crew built a custom skid for the oversized equipment.
Pallet: Check the pallet for damaged boards before loading it.
Skid: The shipping skid was designed specifically for the motor.
An Easy Memory Tip
Remember:
Pallet = platform built for palletized handling.
Skid = simpler sliding or supporting base.
For the structural distinction, look at the bottom:
Bottom deck present? Think pallet.
Bottom deck absent? Think skid.
This shortcut matches the distinction used by FedEx, although technical classifications can sometimes overlap.
FAQs
Is a skid the same thing as a pallet?
Not exactly, although the terms are often used interchangeably. In common freight terminology, a pallet has bottom deck boards while a skid does not. However, some technical classifications treat a skid as a single-face type of pallet, so terminology varies between industries and organizations.
What is the main difference between a skid and a pallet?
The main practical difference is the bottom structure. A conventional pallet generally includes a bottom deck, while a skid normally has only the upper load-supporting surface resting on runners or other supports. This is the distinction FedEx gives customers in its freight-packing guidance.
Which is better, a skid or a pallet?
Neither is automatically better. The right choice depends on the load, handling equipment, storage method, and shipping requirements. Pallet design itself varies according to factors such as load capacity, accessibility, stiffness, size, and intended support conditions.
Can you use a forklift with a skid?
Many skids can be handled with forklifts, but compatibility depends on their construction. Do not assume every platform has the same fork openings, clearance, or load capacity. The design of the base and the handling equipment must work together safely.
Why do people call pallets skids?
The terms overlap in workplace and freight vocabulary. FedEx says they are often used interchangeably, while U.S. Forest Service material-handling literature notes that certain single-face pallets are sometimes called skids in the industry.
Should I write “skid” or “pallet” on shipping documents?
Use the term required or recognized by your carrier, warehouse, supplier, or shipping specification. When no special terminology applies, pallet is usually the clearer general term for standard palletized freight, while skid is more precise when the load is actually supported by a skid-style base.
Conclusion
In the skid vs pallet comparison, both words are correct, but they are not perfect synonyms. A pallet typically has a top deck and bottom deck boards and is widely used for shipping, warehousing, and material handling. A skid usually lacks the bottom deck and uses runners or supports beneath the load.
For everyday American English, use pallet for a standard freight platform and skid when the specific skid-style construction matters. Just remember that industry terminology can overlap, so the exact design—not the label alone—is the best way to tell them apart.
