Industry / Equipment
Pallets for HVAC and equipment
Heavy equipment breaks ordinary pallets, so HVAC and equipment plants buy new or combo builds with extra deck coverage and clear out the broken ones. Norman and Moore on I-35 South are the metro's center for it.
The context
Johnson Controls' plant in Norman covers 900,000 square feet and makes and tests rooftop HVAC units; a roughly 400,000-square-foot expansion opened in April 2019. The Chamber lists Johnson Controls (1,400) and The Climate Control Group (1,200) among manufacturers with more than 1,000 employees.
What the pile looks like
A unit that weighs hundreds of pounds and overhangs a standard footprint wants a custom pallet or a 48x45. Plates, repaired joints and block builds help; see plugs, plates and repairs and block versus stringer.
The leftover is broken skids, cut lumber and crating. A pile like that is a clear or a recycling request, not a sale. Describe the count and say whether forklifts can reach it.
Where it sits
The corridor is the I-35 South leg; the main town is Norman.
What breaks a pallet
Concentrated weight is the enemy. A compressor or a coil set pressing on a few boards will crack them when a forklift tilts the load, and uneven surfaces cause point loading. The common failures are split top boards, loosened stringers and nail pop. Plates and extra boards cut the risk, which is why equipment plants prefer new or remanufactured builds with doubled decks.
A plant that finds a heap of broken skids in the back lot has a straightforward problem. The stack is mostly scrap, with a few sound ones worth separating. Describe the proportion that still passes a bounce test on a forklift and the rest as scrap.
Custom footprints
Rooftop units and large coils rarely match a standard footprint. If you need a different size, say the dimensions of the product and its weight, and mention whether it will be stored outdoors before it ships. The common departures from 48x40 are custom pallets and the 48 x 48.
Foreign matter
Plant back lots collect sheet metal scrap, packing foam and strapping. Say if the pile has such debris woven into it, as that changes handling.
Seasonal swings
Cooling equipment ships heavily ahead of summer, which means plants clear out broken skids in spring. Mention the season when you describe a regular pile.
Documenting weight and size
Bring the shipping weight of the heaviest unit and the dimensions of its base. With those two facts a supplier can recommend a deck pattern, a board thickness and whether to add a third stringer.