Carton loading and unloading method with adjustable pallet

A method for transferring cartons filled with produce from a field to a loading dock and loading said cartons into the cargo space of a transport vehicle comprising the steps of

• filling a plurality of erected cartons with produce harvested at a field site and closing said cartons, each of said cartons having a standard height, width and length,
• stacking and filled cartons in layers to a predetermined composite height and in fully supported relationship on a pallet to form a palletized carton stack, the width of said pallet being preadjusted to fully support said cartons thereon and said pallet disposed on a longitudinal axis thereof,
• first moving said palletized carton stack to a cooling facility to maintain said produce at a predetermined low temperature for preservation purposes,
• second moving said palletized carton stack to said loading dock,
• squeezing the cartons of an adjacent pair of palletized carton stacks simultaneously to reduce the composite width of said cartons to fit the width of said cargo space, and
• loading said palletized carton stacks into the cargo space of said transport vehicle, including simultaneously loading said adjacent pair of palletized carton stacks into the cargo space of said transport vehicle by a single lift truck.