Pallets come in many dimensions and form of construction according to territory, type of load, transport system, standards setting body and the machinery with which they are handled. They may be made of both treated and untreated hard and soft wood as well as of plastics and metals.  Deriving from US Navy Logistics technologies in WWII they are fundamental to the global modularisation of transport and handling. Due to their construction materials wooden pallets are also able to carry pathogens such as e.coli or to release the chemicals used to cleanse them into the goods, such as foodstuffs, that they may be carrying, suggesting that in order for something to act predictably as a standard object it requires constant work of stabilization.