Reinforced plastic pallets and methods of fabrication

A method for assembling a reinforced plastic pallet comprising:

• providing a molded plastic pallet body having at least one channel formed in a surface thereof;
• placing at least one reinforcing bar within the at least one channel formed in the molded plastic pallet body, said at least one reinforcing bar being sized and positioned in said at least one channel in a manner such that a surface of the reinforcing bar is exposed at said surface of said molded plastic pallet body;
• and
• applying a retainer to secure said at least one reinforcing bar within said at least one channel.

A reinforced plastic pallet comprising:

• a molded plastic pallet body having multiple channels formed therein;
• and
• multiple reinforcing bars comprising composite structural members of fiberglass reinforced plastic fabricated from a pultrusion process, each reinforcing bar being sized to reside within a different channel of said multiple channels formed in the molded plastic pallet body;
• wherein at least one reinforcing bar of said multiple reinforcing bars is retained within at least one of said multiple channels, said at least one reinforcing bar being positioned in said at least one channel in a manner such that a planar surface of the reinforcing bar is exposed, the exposed planar surface being substantially parallel with an upper surface or a lower surface of the molded plastic body.