You don't ship it with the bottom of the pin on the pallet - you stand it up on the back and strap it down. That way they can't stack shit on top of it.

There is less chance for damage when using a pallet. Lift truck drivers are used to adjusting the forks for a pallet. When adjusting the forks for a machine on legs it is a difference to their routine. They also use a minimum lift to where the leg levelers just clear the floor. Damage occurs when a leg hits the edge of a pallet, flooring curb or some other object during moving the game via lift truck.

To me you risk having forks run into the side of the machine as a more likely event than if the machine is on a pallet. There is no risk of bent legs nor cabinet stress/damage when a leg hits something when being moved on a pallet.

Damage occurs at the distribution centers, not generally during transport.

The circuit boards, backglass and top glass are in optimum position when a game is transported upright on a pallet. With the head folded down the boards, cabling, back glass are top glass are in the most vulnerable position. Things such as heavy heat sinks on a circuit board can cause problems if the machine is jolted when the head is down.

Nice there are options when shipping. Upright on a pallet is my preference.