How the layer is calculated
Cartons are laid out as a grid in both orientations and the better one is used:
option A = floor(pallet length / carton length)
× floor(pallet width / carton width)
option B = floor(pallet length / carton width)
× floor(pallet width / carton length)Real loading crews sometimes beat this by a carton or two using a pinwheel pattern that mixes orientations within a layer. The estimate here is therefore slightly conservative, which is the right direction to be wrong in when you are booking freight.
Worked example
A carton of 40 × 30 × 25 cm weighing 8 kg, on euro pallets, loaded to 180 cm, in a 40 ft container:
- Best layer: 4 × 2 = 8 cartons
- Usable height 180 − 14.4 = 165.6 cm → 6 layers
- 48 cartons per pallet, gross weight 409 kg
- 24 euro pallets in a 40 ft → 1,152 cartons
- Total 9,816 kg against a 26 t payload — volume binds, not weight
Loaded pallet height is 164.4 cm, so two will not stack inside a standard 40 ft (239 cm). Drop the load height to about 115 cm and double-stacking becomes possible — which is worth testing in the calculator, because it can nearly double what the container carries.
Why pallets per container is a table, not a division
Dividing container length by pallet length gives 8 euro pallets in a 20 ft. The real figure is 11.
The difference is mixed orientation: pallets are turned within the load so that rows interlock, which no simple grid describes. Because of that, this calculator uses established loading figures for the container-level count and only computes the carton-level packing itself.
Any tool that derives pallets from container dimensions by division will understate your capacity by roughly a quarter, and you will pay for a container you did not need.
Read the fill percentage carefully
A single layer of pallets in a 40 ft container typically fills only 50 to 60 per cent of its volume, because the space above the pallets goes unused. That is not a mistake in the calculation — it is the actual cost of shipping goods that cannot be stacked.
If your fill percentage is low and the goods can take the weight, the question to ask your supplier is about carton strength, not about freight rates.
Take 10 to 15 per cent off before quoting
The result assumes clean pallets and perfect placement. In practice, wrapping and corner protection add width, goods overhang the pallet edge, the forklift needs room for the last positions, and gaps get filled with dunnage for stability.
Plan on filling 85 to 90 per cent of the theoretical figure. If a shipment only works at 100 per cent, it does not work.
Frequently asked questions
24 in a single layer as a planning figure; 23 to 25 in practice depending on wrapping and loading pattern. Double-stacked, twice that if the goods allow it.
For single-layer loading, whatever your goods safely take — 180 to 200 cm is common. For double-stacking in a standard container you need loaded pallets under about 119 cm, which usually means fewer layers.
Yes. A euro pallet is counted at 25 kg and an industrial pallet at 30 kg, added to the cartons for the gross pallet weight and the total.
Because your goods are dense. A 40 ft container carries twice the volume of a 20 ft but not more weight, so for heavy goods two 20 ft containers can be the better answer.
It depends on two numbers and nothing else: how many cartons fit in one layer, and how many layers your height allows. The layer is worked out by trying the carton both ways round and keeping the better fit; the number of layers is the load height minus the pallet’s own 14.4 cm, divided by the carton height.
A common 40 × 30 × 25 cm carton gives 8 per layer on a euro pallet and 6 layers at 180 cm — 48 cartons. Change any dimension by two centimetres and that number moves, which is why it is worth calculating rather than remembering.
Not in this calculator: it carries the equipment used for European freight — 20 ft and 40 ft containers and a 13.6 m trailer. Anything else is the same arithmetic on different numbers: usable floor length divided by the pallet length, times how many fit across the width, and then check the payload before the volume.
The payload check is the one people skip. A vehicle that takes 12 pallets by floor space may only carry 8 of them loaded, and the ticket for overloading is issued to the driver.