Nestable Polymer Pallet with Conflagration Control Features

A pallet comprising:

• (a) a peripheral structure comprising an outer deck and a plurality of legs extending downwards from said outer deck, said peripheral structure being integrally formed from polymer materials;
• (b) an inner deck surrounded by and cooperating with said outer deck to provide a total deck area for supporting a load;
• and
• (c) at least one fire-venting structure extending along an edge of said inner deck adjacent to said outer deck, said at least one fire-venting structure having a contiguous area of at least 80 square centimeters that is at least 80 percent open area for vertical airflow while a majority of said inner deck has a proportion of open area for vertical airflow less than 50 percent.

A pallet comprising:

• (a) a peripheral structure comprising an outer deck and a plurality of legs extending downwards from said outer deck;
• and
• (b) an inner deck surrounded by and cooperating with said outer deck to provide a total deck area for supporting a load,
• wherein said peripheral structure and said inner deck are integrally formed from polymer materials, at least said outer deck being implemented as a rib-supported structure with a proportion of open area for vertical airflow less than 50 percent and with a minimum deck-layer thickness of 2 millimeters,
• and wherein at least a sub-area of said inner deck corresponding to at least 5 percent of the total deck area is implemented as a fire-venting structure having at least 80 percent area that is covered by a membrane layer of thickness less than 1 millimeter so as to be opened for vertical airflow on exposure to fire while said outer deck remains intact.