Plastic pallet with single layer top deck having inserts therein and related methods

A method for making a pallet comprising:

• forming a cargo layer comprising a pair of horizontally positioned outer plastic deck boards and at least one horizontally positioned intermediate plastic deck board therebetween,
• the at least one horizontally positioned intermediate plastic deck board having opposing sidewalls and opposing upper and lower surfaces extending between the opposing sidewalls, with a thickness of the opposing sidewalls being less than a width of the opposing upper and lower surfaces, and a plurality of spaced apart openings at least partially extending through the opposing sidewalls between the opposing upper and lower surfaces,
• the pair of horizontally positioned outer plastic deck boards having opposing sidewalls and opposing upper and lower surfaces extending between the opposing sidewalls, with a thickness of the opposing sidewalls being less than a width of the opposing upper and lower surfaces, and a plurality of spaced apart openings extending through at least one of the sidewalls between the opposing upper and lower surfaces of each outer plastic deck board, and
• the plurality of spaced apart openings in the sidewalls of each horizontally positioned outer plastic deck board is aligned with the plurality of spaced apart openings in an adjacent sidewall of the at least one horizontally positioned intermediate plastic deck board;
• inserting a plurality of inserts in the plurality of spaced apart sets of aligned insert openings, with each insert extending between and being enclosed by the opposing upper and lower surfaces of at least one horizontally positioned outer plastic deck board and at least one horizontally positioned intermediate plastic deck board, and between each plastic outer deck board and an immediately adjacent intermediate plastic deck board there is a gap exposing said plurality of inserts extending therebetween;
• forming a base layer comprising a plurality of horizontally positioned plastic deck boards orthogonal to the pair of horizontally positioned outer plastic deck boards and the at least one horizontally positioned intermediate plastic deck board in the cargo layer;
• and
• coupling a plurality of spaced apart support structures between the base and cargo layers and forming gaps therebetween for receiving a lifting member, the plurality of spaced apart support structures comprising at least six, with each support structure having a C-shape with top and bottom flanges where each of the top flanges directly contact the outer or intermediate deck boards in the cargo layer.