Pallets per Truck Calculator

The famous "33 or 34" is not a contradiction: it is two loading patterns. A 1.20 m × 0.80 m EUR pallet can be placed with its long side along the trailer or across it, and the floor takes a different number each way.

Three EUR pallets side by side need 2.40 m of clear width, so they fit a 2.45 m tautliner but not a 2.35 m container — which is exactly why containers switch to the two-across pattern. Stacking a second level doubles these numbers when the freight, the roof height and the carrier all allow it. Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers, and pallet counts like these are what its pallet rate grids price directly.

For a pallet measuring L × W and a vehicle measuring Lc × Wc:

• Orientation A: across = floor(Wc ÷ W), rows = floor(Lc ÷ L), spots = across × rows
• Orientation B: across = floor(Wc ÷ L), rows = floor(Lc ÷ W), spots = across × rows
• Floor spots = the best of the two, or of the best mixed block pattern
• Levels = min(levels allowed, floor(inside height ÷ loaded height))
• Total = min(floor spots × levels, floor(payload ÷ weight per pallet))

Worked example on a 13.60 × 2.45 m trailer with EUR pallets:

• Orientation A: floor(2.45 ÷ 0.80) = 3 across, floor(13.60 ÷ 1.20) = 11 rows → 33 pallets, using 13.20 m of floor
• Orientation B: floor(2.45 ÷ 1.20) = 2 across, floor(13.60 ÷ 0.80) = 17 rows → 34 pallets, using the full 13.60 m
• At 700 kg per pallet and a 24 000 kg payload, the weight ceiling is floor(24 000 ÷ 700) = 34 pallets — exactly at the limit
• At 900 kg per pallet, the ceiling drops to 26 and payload becomes the limiting factor, not floor space

The loading metres consumed follow directly: 33 EUR pallets × 0.40 LDM = 13.20 LDM, which is why a full trailer is quoted at 13.60 LDM and not at "34 LDM".

The number this calculator returns is a ceiling, not a plan. Five things eat into it in the real world:

Stacking deserves its own warning: two levels are a commercial agreement about the goods, not just a question of roof height. Freight declared stackable and refused at the dock is re-measured flat, which doubles the floor it occupies — and doubles what you are billed. Cargavo, a TMS for freight brokers, keeps the stackability assumption attached to the quote so the number your customer accepted is the number your operations team sees.

Palletized networks often price by the pallet rather than by the kilogram: 1 pallet to zone 3 costs X, 2 pallets cost Y, and so on. That is exactly the pallet grid type in Cargavo, a TMS for freight brokers and forwarders. The other three types are weight_zone (weight brackets × zones, with paying-for logic), mpl_bracket (loading-metre brackets) and hybrid_weight (flat fee below a threshold, rate above it) — because a real carrier portfolio mixes all four.

Cargavo compares the grids you built yourself from your own Excel or CSV rate sheets, with no carrier API and no EDI. It applies the fuel surcharge and the options (tail lift, ADR, ad valorem insurance, delivery appointment), then your margin — percent using p/(1-m) or a fixed amount per bracket — on the server, so the customer portal shows a sell price and never a buy price or a margin. Quotes are referenced Q-YYYY-NNNN, shipments S-YYYY-NNNN, in EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, CAD, MAD or PLN and in English, French, Spanish or German. Plans are €49, €149 and €399 per month with a 14-day trial and no card required.