Pallet calculator: pallets in a trailer, truck, van or container

What it calculates

The calculator finds how many pallets or load units fit on the floor of a load space, how many layers stacking gives, and, when a payload is entered, where the weight cuts the count. With the number of units to ship, it also gives the vehicles needed and how full the last one is. Curtainsider, mega, reefer and box semi-trailers, swap bodies, containers and vans come as presets; any other body is entered as “My own load space”.

Formula

• On the floor: the pallet is tried both ways round, and so are two-block layouts with some rows lengthways and the rest across; the highest count is kept.
• Layers: the stacking chosen. When the heights of the load space and of the unit are entered, the layers are at most the inside height ÷ the unit height (rounded down).
• By space = on the floor × layers.
• Weight cap = payload ÷ unit weight (rounded down).
• Result = the smaller of the two. Vehicles needed = units to ship ÷ result (rounded up).

Example: a 13.6 m curtainsider and Euro pallets

Krone publishes a 13,620 × 2,480 mm load space for its Profi Liner curtainsider. Euro pallets of 120 × 80 cm fit it at most 34 times: the 80 cm side along the trailer in 17 rows, the 120 cm side across in 2 rows, leaving 20 mm of length. With the 120 cm side along the trailer it is 11 rows × 3 = 33 pallets. Tırsan states 34 Euro pallets for its Maxima Plus curtainsider, 13,610 × 2,474 mm inside. Industrial pallets of 120 × 100 cm fit the same floor 26 times. The site’s pallet page tabulates these layouts.

With Hapag-Lloyd’s inside dimensions, 11 Euro pallets fit a 20 ft container (5,900 × 2,352 mm) and 25 a 40 ft container (12,032 × 2,352 mm); the 25th fits only in a two-block layout with one row turned. Seaco’s 45 ft pallet-wide container, 2,420 mm wide inside, takes 33 Euro pallets, the number Seaco shows. Ford’s Transit 350L van, with 3,494 mm of load length and 1,392 mm between the wheel arches, takes 4.

Stacking and weight

Stacking applies only to units that can be placed on top of one another. When the heights of the load space and the unit are entered, the layers cannot exceed the inside height. With heavy loads such as concrete blocks or bricks the weight, not the floor, can set the count: with a unit weight and a payload entered, the calculator gives the smaller of the two limits and says which one applies.

For the preset load spaces the payload is the maker’s technical figure; Krone gives about 33,060 kg for the Profi Liner. The legal limit depends on the country: the payload calculator takes the country’s maximum weight less the vehicle’s tare.

Assumptions and limits

• Layouts are limited to two blocks: pallets go at most two ways round, in two groups. Layouts with three or more blocks are not tried.
• Dimensions are used without any clearance; in the 34-pallet example 20 mm of length is left.
• The presets are examples one maker publishes; another trailer of the same type may differ inside. Where a maker gives a height range, the lowest figure is used. For vans the width is the distance between the wheel arches.
• Turkish rigid bodies known as “kırkayak” and “10 teker” have no inside dimensions in maker data sheets, so they are not presets; their inside size goes in “My own load space”.
• The legal weight limit depends on the country; the calculator uses only the payload entered.

Source notes

The inside dimensions of the load spaces come from data sheets and pages by Krone, Schmitz Cargobull, Tırsan, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, Seaco, Ford Otosan and Nissan; the source of the preset chosen is linked under the selection. The Euro, industrial, half and display pallet sizes are the list in Gebrüder Weiss’s loading-metre calculator, the other pallet sizes come from EPAL’s CP pallet sheets and ISO 6780. The loading metre calculator gives the same load in loading metres.