Pallet Calculator 2026
Boxes Per Pallet, 3D Load & Container Fit
Plan your whole consignment in one screen: cartons per layer with the best mixed pattern, pallets needed for your full quantity, stack weight checks, container loading with double-stack logic, with an interactive 3D view you can drag, zoom and export as an image. No wizard, no signup.
How This Pallet Calculator Works
Enter your carton dimensions, weight and total quantity, then choose a pallet. The calculator tests every allowed carton orientation and mixed row arrangement to find the layout that fits the most cartons per layer with zero overhang, stacks layers up to your height limit, draws the load in top view and full drag-to-rotate 3D with heatmap shading, checks the gross weight against your pallet limit, and then plans the entire consignment: how many full pallets, what goes on the final partial pallet, and how many container floor positions the shipment needs.
Overhang is deliberately not allowed. Cartons extending past the pallet edge lose stacking strength and are the most common cause of transit damage on palletised freight, so this planner keeps every carton inside the deck.
Standard Pallet Sizes
| Pallet | Footprint | Typical Region | Typical Max Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Euro Pallet (EPAL) | 120 x 80 cm | Europe and UK | 1,000 to 1,500 kg |
| UK / Industrial Pallet | 120 x 100 cm | UK and international | 1,000 to 1,500 kg |
| GMA Pallet | 48 x 40 in (121.9 x 101.6 cm) | North America | Approx 1,130 kg (2,500 lb) |
| Asia Pallet | 110 x 110 cm | Japan, Korea, Australia | 1,000 kg |
These footprints are not arbitrary. The international standard ISO 6780:2003, Flat pallets for intercontinental materials handling, published by the International Organization for Standardization, sets the principal dimensions and tolerances for flat pallets moved between continents and recognises six standard footprints, including the 1200 x 800 mm Euro pallet, the 1200 x 1000 mm industrial pallet, the 1219 x 1016 mm North American GMA pallet and the 1100 x 1100 mm Asian pallet used in this calculator. Checking your pallet against the standard before booking avoids handling problems at destination.
Height and Weight Limits That Actually Apply
Most road and sea carriers accept palletised freight up to around 220 cm total height including the pallet. Air freight is stricter: lower deck containers on passenger aircraft typically limit pallets to roughly 160 cm, which is why this calculator offers an air freight safe preset. Warehouse racking commonly caps at 180 cm. On weight, a wooden pallet can physically carry more than a tonne, but carriers and forklifts impose practical per-pallet limits, and air freight often prices oversize or overweight pallets differently. The calculator flags your load the moment it breaches the height or weight limit you set.
Column Stacking Versus Interlocked Stacking
This planner arranges each layer in straight columns, which preserves the full compression strength of carton corners and is the right default for heavier boxes. Interlocked stacking, where alternate layers rotate like brickwork, trades some vertical strength for better load stability on the road. If your cartons are light and the stack is tall, ask your packer to interlock the top layers; the carton counts from this calculator still apply because interlocking changes arrangement, not capacity per layer in most cases.
Load Stability Score: What It Measures
Carton counts alone do not tell you whether a pallet will survive the journey. The stability score rates each plan from 0 to 100 using the ratio of stack height to the narrowest pallet dimension, the height of the centre of gravity, how much of the deck the cartons actually cover, and how close the gross weight sits to your pallet limit. A tall, narrow stack on a partly covered deck scores badly even when the carton count looks efficient, because that is the load that leans, shifts and gets refused at the dock. The score comes with plain instructions: when to strap and wrap down to the deck boards, when to interlock the top layers, and when to add void fill because the cartons do not reach the pallet edge.
Choosing the Right Pallet Type
The same carton can need a different number of pallets depending on the deck it sits on, and the cheapest footprint is not always the one that ships cheapest. The comparison table runs your exact carton against the Euro, UK, US GMA and Asia pallets at the same time and shows cartons per pallet, total pallets for your consignment, deck coverage, stack height, gross weight and floor positions per 40ft container. A Euro pallet often gives perfect deck coverage and fits 23 to a 40ft floor, while a UK pallet may cut your pallet count but only fit 20 per container, so the winner depends on whether your shipment is volume limited or pallet limited. Tap any row to rebuild the whole plan on that pallet.
Sharing and Printing a Load Plan
Every plan has its own link. Copy the link and the exact carton dimensions, weight, quantity, pallet type and height and weight limits travel with it, so a colleague, packer or forwarder opens the identical plan rather than a screenshot. The print option produces a clean one-page load sheet with the figures, the diagram, the stability score and the container summary, and saves to PDF from any browser print dialogue for attaching to a packing instruction or a booking.
From Pallet Plan to Freight Cost
Once cargo is palletised, carriers charge on the pallet dimensions, not the cartons inside. A pallet stacked to 160 cm has a fixed volumetric weight regardless of how cleverly the cartons fill it, which is why a tight pallet plan directly cuts your freight bill: fewer pallets means fewer chargeable units. After building your plan here, run the pallet dimensions through our Volumetric Weight Calculator to get the exact chargeable weight.