What a carrier bills on is the footprint and the weight, not which word you used to describe it.
The one real difference, and why nobody uses it
FedEx Freight publishes a page comparing the two terms directly, read on 2026-08-18, and its own wording settles the construction question in one line: “A pallet has bottom deck boards, and a skid doesn't.” A deck board is one of the boards that forms the surface a load actually rests on. A pallet has that surface on the underside as well as the top; a skid, by FedEx Freight's own account, does not. That single line is the entire technical distinction the page draws, and it is not one a shipper needs to act on.
Old Dominion Freight Line's own glossary, also read 2026-08-18, does not draw that line at all. It defines a pallet as “a wooden or plastic platform on which cargo is stored for ease of loading or unloading” and a skid as “platform used to brace freight or load freight for shipping.” Neither definition mentions a deck board. Two national LTL carriers, two different levels of precision, for the same object sitting on the same dock.
| Term | FedEx Freight | Old Dominion |
|---|---|---|
| Pallet | Has bottom deck boards | A wooden or plastic platform on which cargo is stored for ease of loading or unloading |
| Skid | No bottom deck boards | Platform used to brace freight or load freight for shipping |
What that means for anybody actually booking a shipment: the construction distinction is real if you are standing in a warehouse holding one, and it disappears the moment you are on the phone with a carrier. Say “two pallets” or “two skids” and the dispatcher writes down the same thing either way.
How big a skid actually is
FedEx Freight's packing guide, read 2026-08-18, gives 40 by 48 inches as the footprint of a standard wood pallet — the same size this site's own pallet size guide lists as 48 by 40, the more common order the figure is quoted in around a dock. Either way it is the same rectangle, and it is the number a carrier's rate engine is actually working from, not the word you used for it.
A standard footprint does not mean a standard weight limit or a standard stack height. Those vary by carrier and by lane, and are worked out in full, with figures pulled from FedEx Freight's and Estes' own published limits, on the pallet size guide linked above.
When a skid enters the shipment at all
Plenty of people search this term while holding a single box, not a loaded platform. A skid or pallet only becomes part of the job once a shipment needs a forklift to move it — that is the point where it stops being a parcel and starts being freight. A box that a person can lift and that fits inside UPS or FedEx Ground's size limits never touches a skid; it prices straight through the calculator, no pallet involved.
SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments. Once a load is built on a skid, a freight carrier prices it by handling units and freight class rather than by a single parcel rate. Building and booking one skid covers that process end to end.
Where these figures come from
- FedEx Freight, Pallets vs. Skids — the bottom-deck-board distinction between the two terms. Read 2026-08-18.
- FedEx Freight, Freight Packing Guides — the 40 by 48 inch standard wood pallet footprint. Read 2026-08-18.
- Old Dominion Freight Line, Freight Knowledge Glossary — the pallet and skid definitions quoted above. Read 2026-08-18.
- FedEx, FedEx Ground — the 150 lb single-package ceiling that marks where parcel ends. Read 2026-08-18.
Carriers revise their own glossaries and guides without notice. Treat the wording above as what each carrier published on the date shown.
Common questions
What is a skid in shipping?
A platform that freight is loaded onto so a forklift or pallet jack can move the whole stack as one unit, built from wood, plastic or occasionally metal. Old Dominion's glossary, read 2026-08-18, defines it as a platform used to brace freight or load freight for shipping.
Is a skid the same thing as a pallet?
In practice, yes. FedEx Freight's own comparison page states the one real difference: a pallet has bottom deck boards and a skid does not, read 2026-08-18. That construction detail rarely survives the trip from the warehouse to the rate quote, and most carriers, tariffs and bills of lading use the two words for the same platform.
Does it matter which word I use when I book a freight pickup?
No. A carrier prices a shipment on its footprint, weight and how many handling units it counts as, not on whether you called the platform a skid or a pallet. Say either one and the person booking the truck knows exactly what you mean.
How big is a standard skid?
40 by 48 inches, per FedEx Freight's own packing guide, read 2026-08-18, the same footprint this site's pallet size guide lists as 48 by 40. Stacking height and per-carrier weight limits vary and are worked out there in full.
Do I need a skid to ship something myself?
Only once a shipment is too big for parcel carriers. FedEx Ground takes single packages up to 150 lb, per fedex.com read 2026-08-18, and a box inside that ceiling prices in the parcel calculator with no pallet involved. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments.