The billing models, side by side
| Model | How it bills | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Per pallet / month | Each occupied position, monthly | The Canadian default for third-party storage; variable counts welcome |
| Per pallet / week | Each position, weekly | Short-term, overflow, and seasonal surge programs |
| In / out handling | Per pallet moved, each direction | Always there — receiving and outbound labour, billed on turns |
| Per square foot | Leased footprint, monthly or annual | Large, stable, long-duration volume that behaves like dedicated space |
| Accessorials | Per service: wrap, restack, documents, pick fees | The menu's tail — small lines that matter at volume |
The fee most budgets miss
Storage pays for a position; handling pays for touching the pallet — once inbound, once outbound, per pallet. The two scale differently: storage with how long inventory sits, handling with how often it turns. A high-turn program can owe more in handling than in storage, which is why two facilities with identical storage rates can produce very different invoices. When you model a quote, multiply the in/out line by your real monthly turns before you look at anything else.
What moves the monthly number
- Environment. Ambient, temperature-controlled, and frozen are different cost tiers, not small adjustments — cooling capacity is the facility's biggest operating cost. A keep-from-freezing requirement already moves you up a tier. See temperature-controlled and cold & frozen space.
- Turn frequency. As above — handling on every turn. Slow-turn inventory negotiates differently than weekly-turn inventory.
- Market and submarket. GTA positions price differently than secondary markets, and tightness moves quarter to quarter. This is exactly the data the exchange publishes when it's real — see the board.
- Pallet spec. Overheight or unstackable pallets consume more cube per position; some facilities price them as multiple positions.
- Commitment. Longer terms trade flexibility for rate; month-to-month overflow pays for the option value. The overflow desk is built on that trade.
Per-pallet vs per-square-foot: the crossover
Per-pallet pricing means you pay only for positions used — it absorbs seasonality and forecast error, which is why it dominates third-party storage. Per-square-foot leasing wins when your volume is big enough, stable enough, and long enough to keep dedicated space full. The crossover is your own math: take your pallet-count curve over twelve months, price the peaks-and-valleys against a per-pallet program, and compare it to a lease at your average footprint plus the empty-space months. Most businesses under a year of horizon, or with real seasonality, land per-pallet.
How to read a menu quote
Real quotes arrive grouped: storage · handling in/out · materials (pallets, wrap) · processing (documents, orders) · accessorials. That format is the honest one — it's auditable line by line. Compare competing quotes on the same lines, not the headline number; the cheapest storage line with an expensive handling line routinely loses to the reverse at your turn rate. A single flat number bundles assumptions you can't see, and gets corrected after your freight is already inside.
Get a number for your program
The storage cost estimator walks your inputs — pallet count, duration, environment, postal code — and returns an indicative range on screen; published rate bands ship the day our exchange's rate data is real and verified, never before. For a matched quote against live capacity, the quote wizard takes the same six facts and puts them in front of the floor.
Frequently asked
How is pallet storage billed in Canada?
Most commonly per pallet per month, with per-pallet-per-week pricing for short-term and overflow programs. Storage covers the position only — getting pallets in and out bills separately as handling, and services like wrap, restack, or document processing are their own line items.
What are in and out fees, and why aren't they in the storage rate?
In/out handling is the labour of receiving a pallet into a position and pulling it for outbound. It bills per pallet, separately from storage, because it scales with how often inventory turns rather than how long it sits. High-turn inventory can owe more in handling than in storage — the most common budgeting miss.
When does per-square-foot beat per-pallet pricing?
When volume is large, stable, and long-duration enough to behave like dedicated space. Per-pallet wins for variable counts, seasonality, and anything under roughly a year, because you pay only for positions used. The crossover is a math problem on your own turn rate and volume curve — not a rule of thumb.
What makes one facility's pallet rate higher than another's?
Environment is the biggest step: ambient, temperature-controlled, and frozen are different cost tiers. After that: market tightness in the submarket, racking vs floor stacking, pallet height and stackability, certifications such as food-grade or bonded, and how long you commit.
Why do storage quotes arrive as a menu instead of one number?
Because the real cost is storage plus handling plus accessorials, and they scale differently. A menu quote is the honest format — a single flat number either bundles assumptions you can't audit or gets corrected after your freight arrives. Compare quotes line by line: storage, in/out, materials, processing.