Custom Industrial Crates & Export Crates in Houston TX | MGM Pallets

Some freight doesn't fit on a pallet. It's too heavy, too fragile, too oddly shaped, or too valuable to trust to a standard 48x40 with stretch wrap. That's when you need a crate — and not the flat-pack stuff from a big-box store. You need something built to your specs, to your weight rating, and to the requirements of wherever it's going.

MGM Pallets builds custom wooden crates and industrial crates in Houston TX. We build to your dimensions, your load spec, and your destination — whether that's across town, across the country, or out of the country through the Port of Houston.

What We Build

Fully enclosed plywood crates are the most common request. They protect high-value equipment, sensitive machinery, electronics, and anything that can't be exposed to weather, handling damage, or theft during transit. We build them with interior blocking and bracing to prevent the load from shifting, and we can add foam or padding if your spec requires it.

Open slat crates are a lighter-weight option for loads that need ventilation or don't require full enclosure. They're faster to build and cost less than a fully enclosed crate while still providing structure and stackability that a bare pallet can't offer. Common for industrial equipment, pipe, and oversized parts.

Skidded crates combine the crate structure with an integrated forklift-compatible base. The entire unit — crate and skid — lifts as one piece, which matters when your freight needs to be moved multiple times between manufacturing, staging, and loading. No fumbling with separate pallet positioning under a built crate.

ISPM-15 heat-treated export crates are built from treated lumber, kiln-dried and stamped to meet international phytosanitary standards. If your freight is going to any country that requires ISPM-15 compliance — and most do — you need a certified HT stamp on every piece of wood in the crate. We build these regularly for Port of Houston export shipments.

Why Industrial Crating Is Different From Standard Packaging

A crate built for industrial freight has to do things that a standard shipping box or pallet can't. It has to take the weight of the load without deflecting. It has to survive forklift entry from multiple directions. It has to hold up to being stacked in a container or on a flatbed. And if it's going international, it has to meet documentation requirements that a standard pallet just ignores.

The most common mistake we see from Houston businesses that don't regularly ship heavy equipment is underbuilding the crate. They build something that looks solid but isn't engineered for the actual load weight and handling stress. The crate fails in transit, the equipment gets damaged, and the insurance claim fight starts. We've heard this story enough times to know it's worth building it right the first time.

We build custom crates from actual specs — your dimensions, your weight, your handling requirements, your destination. We don't guess and we don't template. If you're not sure what you need, call us and describe the load. We'll tell you what makes sense.

Houston Export Crating Through the Port

The Port of Houston is one of the busiest ports in the United States. A significant portion of Texas's industrial and energy sector exports moves through it — oilfield equipment, manufactured parts, chemical containers, energy infrastructure components. Most of those exports need ISPM-15 certified wooden packaging.

We build ISPM-15 compliant export crates regularly for Houston businesses shipping through the Port. The process is straightforward: you give us your dimensions and load weight, we build the crate from certified heat-treated lumber, stamp it with the ISPM-15 mark, and deliver it ready to load. Documentation is included for your customs paperwork.

Turnaround on most custom export crates is 3–7 business days depending on size and complexity. If you have a tight freight window, call us early — we can often accommodate faster turnaround for straightforward builds.

Getting a Quote

Custom crate quotes are fast. We need your interior dimensions (length × width × height), the weight of the load, how it will be handled (forklift, crane, hand truck), and where it's going. From that we can give you a price and a build timeline on the call.

Call 832-903-6042 or email mgmpallets@gmail.com. We're based in Houston and we deliver custom crates across the metro area and to Port of Houston staging facilities. Family-owned, built to spec, no guesswork.