Pallets per container and per trailer calculator
Pick a container and a pallet and the tool works out the floor pattern, whether a second tier fits under the roof, and whether you run out of weight before you run out of room. The last one decides the answer more often than not.
How the floor pattern is worked out
The tool tests aligned and mixed two-block patterns for the pallet footprint against the container's internal floor, and keeps the best. That matters more than it sounds. A 20-foot container is 5.90 m long and 2.35 m wide; a Euro pallet is 1.20 by 0.80 m. Loaded all one way you get four rows of two — eight pallets, with 1.1 m of length wasted. Turn some of them and you get eleven. Three extra positions, a third more product, from the loading pattern alone.
Internal dimensions and payloads
| Unit | Internal L × W × H | Typical payload | Euro pallets, floor tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ft dry | 5.90 × 2.35 × 2.39 m | ≈ 28,200 kg | 11 |
| 40 ft dry | 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.39 m | ≈ 26,700 kg | 24–25 |
| 40 ft high cube | 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.69 m | ≈ 26,500 kg | 24–25 |
| 45 ft high cube | 13.55 × 2.35 × 2.69 m | ≈ 27,700 kg | 27–28 |
| EU curtainsider | 13.60 × 2.45 × 2.70 m | ≈ 24,000 kg | 33 |
| EU mega trailer | 13.60 × 2.48 × 3.00 m | ≈ 24,000 kg | 33 |
Payload is the container's maximum gross weight minus its tare, and both are stencilled on the door of the actual box you are given. The figures above are typical, not universal: tare varies by a few hundred kilograms between manufacturers and ages, and an old container quietly costs you payload. Road limits at destination often bite before the container's own rating does, which is why a container that is legal to load can still be illegal to drive away.
Why a trailer beats a container on pallets
A standard European curtainsider takes 33 Euro pallets on the floor against a 40-foot container's 24 or 25, despite being only about a metre and a half longer. The reason is width: 2.45 m accommodates three Euro pallets across their 80 cm side, where 2.35 m does not. Ten centimetres of internal width is the entire difference, and it is the single most consequential number in European road freight.
A 40-foot container holds about 25 Euro pallet positions on the floor but only around 26.7 tonnes of payload — just over a tonne per position. Anything denser than that (tinned goods, liquids, fasteners, tiles) hits the weight ceiling with the container visibly half empty, and «how many pallets fit» stops being a geometry question and becomes a weighbridge one.
Pure geometry says 34 Euro pallets fit on a 13.6 m trailer floor: two bands of seventeen loaded broadside, using 1,360 cm of a 1,360 cm floor. Nobody loads that trailer, because it leaves not one millimetre to work in. Take off 2 cm of working clearance and the answer drops to the 33 the industry quotes. Set the field to zero for the theoretical maximum, but do not plan a load with it.
A 40 ft high cube has exactly the same floor as a standard 40 ft — 12.03 by 2.35 metres. The extra 30 cm of internal height only helps if it lets you add a second tier or a taller single load. For dense freight already at its weight limit, the high-cube premium buys nothing at all.
A worked example
Euro pallets loaded to 160 cm and 600 kg each, into a 40 ft high cube.
- Floor: 12.03 × 2.35 m against a 1.20 × 0.80 m pallet. The best mixed pattern gives 25 positions.
- Height: 2.69 m internal against a 1.60 m pallet. Two tiers would need 3.20 m, so one tier only.
- Weight: 25 × 600 = 15,000 kg against roughly 26,500 payload. Comfortably inside.
- Answer: 25 pallets, limited by floor space, with about 11.5 tonnes of payload unused.
Now make the same pallets 1,200 kg. Floor space still allows 25, but 25 × 1,200 = 30,000 kg exceeds the payload. The container tops out at 22 pallets, and three floor positions travel empty. That gap between what fits and what you are allowed to carry is where most container planning actually happens.
Where this calculator stops being accurate
- Real containers are not perfect rectangles. Corner posts, lashing rings, door recesses and any dunnage all take space. A pattern that fits to the last millimetre on paper will not go in.
- Weight distribution is not modelled. Loading to the payload limit with all the weight at one end can breach axle limits on the road even when total weight is legal. Keep the centre of gravity near the middle of the floor and low.
- Double stacking needs the bottom pallet to take it. The tool checks whether two tiers fit under the roof. It has no idea whether the lower load can carry the upper one without crushing, which is a question about the goods and their packaging.
- Tare and payload vary by unit. The figures used are typical. The plate on the container door is the authority, and on an older box it can differ by several hundred kilograms.
- Destination road limits may be lower. Many countries cap gross combination weight below what the container can legally hold, and the effective payload is then set by the road, not the box.
Questions people actually ask
How many pallets fit in a 40ft container?
Twenty-four or twenty-five Euro pallets on the floor, or about twenty-one GMA pallets, depending on how tightly the pattern is loaded and how much working clearance the crew leaves. Twenty-five is achievable with a mixed orientation pattern and a disciplined loading crew; twenty-four is the figure most forwarders quote because it survives contact with reality. Double stacking can double it if the pallets are low enough and the bottom load can carry the top.
Is a high cube worth the extra cost?
Only if the extra 30 cm changes the answer. It buys no floor space at all. For light bulky goods loaded to 1.30 m or less it can enable a second tier and nearly double the load, which is transformative. For dense goods already at the payload ceiling it does nothing, and you are paying a premium for headroom you cannot use.
Why does a European trailer hold more pallets than a 40ft container?
Width. A European curtainsider is 2.45 m inside, which takes three Euro pallets across on their short side. A container is 2.35 m and takes two. That single difference gives the trailer 33 floor positions against the container's 24 or 25, despite a similar length. It is also why goods that move efficiently by road in Europe can be surprisingly awkward to containerise.
What loaded pallet height should I plan for?
For single-tier container loading, up to about 2.20 m in a standard box and 2.50 m in a high cube, leaving clearance. For double stacking you need both tiers plus clearance inside the internal height: roughly 1.15 m per tier in a standard 40 ft and 1.30 m in a high cube. Those ceilings are why 1.20 m is such a common target height in export packing specifications.
Do I need to leave a gap at the door?
Some clearance, yes — enough to close the doors without forcing them and to fit any load securing at the tail. Practices vary, but the last row is the one that most often has to come out, so plan the pattern with a little slack at that end rather than discovering the problem with a full container and a waiting driver.
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