Glossary
Pallet accounting glossary
The terms behind pallet accounting and returnable transport items. Checked against GS1 and EPAL documentation on 16 October 2026.
- Load unit
- A physical carrier used to group and move goods, typically a pallet, CC-wagon, roll container or display shelf. Also called a returnable transport item (RTI) or load carrier.
- Returnable transport item (RTI)
- A reusable carrier that moves with goods and must return to its owner or pool for reuse rather than being sold or discarded. Pallets, CC-wagons, roll cages, display shelves and plastic crates are all RTIs.
- Chain of custody
- The continuous, documented transfer of responsibility for a load unit from party to party. The foundation for loss prevention and dispute resolution in any pallet accounting system.
- Ownership, possession and carriage
- Three different responsibilities for the same pallet: who owns it, who physically holds it, and who is moving it between two parties. Most disputes come from mixing them up.
- Pallet pool
- A system in which pallets circulate between many companies under shared rules. In a rental pool such as CHEP, the operator owns the pallets and rents them to participants. In an exchange pool such as EPAL, pallets are owned by whoever holds them and are swapped like for like. The reconciliation problem differs in each model.
- EPCIS event
- An Electronic Product Code Information Services event: a GS1-standardised record of a supply chain action. Every movement in Ledgeron is stored as an EPCIS event: who did what, with what, where, and when.
- GLN
- Global Location Number. A 13-digit GS1 identifier for a physical location or legal entity, such as a warehouse, store, carrier or other party.
- SSCC
- Serial Shipping Container Code. An 18-digit GS1 code that identifies a logistic unit, the loaded pallet or shipment as it moves, usually in a GS1-128 barcode. It identifies the shipment, not the carrier.
- GRAI
- Global Returnable Asset Identifier. The GS1 identifier for the returnable carrier itself, such as a numbered CC-wagon or a serialised pallet. It stays with the asset regardless of what it carries.
- EPAL QR code
- The QR code printed on newer EPAL pallets. It carries the pallet’s own serial number and a link, and identifies the individual pallet as an asset. It is not an SSCC.
- CC-wagon
- A wheeled roll container used in retail and wholesale distribution, and a primary load unit in Nordic grocery and garden retail. Typically owned by the distributor and loaned to stores.
- Dwell time
- The number of days a load unit has stayed at a location since its last movement event. Long dwell time signals accumulation and future loss. See the cost of pallet losses.
- Event sourcing
- An architecture in which every state change is stored as an immutable event. In Ledgeron, every balance is derived from the event record, and corrections are new events that reference the original.
See Ledgeron on your own pallet flows.
A walkthrough with Edgeon AS, based on your load unit types, parties and systems.