The Pallet Calculator works out cartons per layer, layers per pallet and the total pallets your order needs — for Euro (120×80), Standard (120×100) and US (122×102) pallets. It tests both carton orientations on the pallet base and keeps the orientation that fits more.
When to use a pallet calculator
Pallet maths matters any time freight moves on a truck, in an LCL consolidation or through a warehouse with rack heights. Underestimating layers wastes truck deck space and overestimating leads to crushed cartons on the bottom. Combine this with the CBM Calculator for the shipment-level volume and the Single Product Container tool to see how the palletised load fits in a sea container.
3PL warehouses, FBA prep centres and inbound docks all price by pallet position rather than by carton, so getting the count right has direct cost impact. A 100-carton PO that fits on 4 pallets is 25% cheaper to store and move than the same 100 cartons spread across 5 pallets because of a poor stacking plan.
Standard pallet footprints
- Euro EUR1 / EPAL — 120 × 80 cm. Dominant in Europe; designed for narrow-aisle racking and the EUR cage system.
- Standard / ISO — 120 × 100 cm. Common in Asia for export, and inside 20ft / 40ft ocean containers (10 / 21 fit per layer).
- US GMA — 122 × 102 cm (48 × 40 in). Standard in North America for grocery, FMCG and Amazon FBA.
Euro pallets are the most space-efficient inside 40HC containers (24 per floor on the long axis). US GMA pallets are slightly oversize for metric containers and typically leave 50 mm gaps — important to know if you ship US-spec pallets on Asian carriers.
Max stack height in practice
Default max stack height is set to 160 cm, which fits double-stacking under a 40HC roof. Air freight pallets cap around 160 cm too (PMC / PAG main-deck contoured stacks go higher but the rectangular core is 162 cm). For trucking with rack clearance, 220 cm is common; for floor-loaded sea containers you can push to 240 cm. Always check carton stack rating (e.g. ECT 32) before going past 4 layers.
Pallet plus cargo height matters for the trailer too. A standard EU box trailer has 270 cm internal clearance, leaving 250–255 cm of usable stack after the pallet itself; a US dry van offers about 274 cm. Going higher than that triggers a swap to a high-cube trailer or a low-deck megatrailer, with predictable cost impact.
Stacking patterns that protect cargo
- Column stack — cartons stacked directly on top of each other. Keeps 100% of the carton's compression strength; the right choice for heavy or fragile cargo.
- Interlocked / pinwheel — cartons rotated 90° between layers. Pallet is far more stable in transit but the cartons lose up to 50% of their ECT rating.
- Brick stack — a compromise: half-row offsets that interlock without rotating cartons. Good balance for medium-weight FMCG.
- Hand-stretch-wrap — 3 turns at the base, spiral up, 2 turns at the top, lock the load to the pallet. Machine wrap is 50% more material-efficient on volume programmes.
From pallet count to truck and container
Once you have the pallet count, the next step is fitting them into transport. A standard EU box trailer holds 33 Euro pallets in a single layer (or 66 double-stacked). A US dry van holds 30 GMA pallets. A 20ft container holds 10 Euro or 9–10 GMA pallets per layer; a 40ft holds 21 Euro or 20 GMA per layer; a 40HC fits the same pallet count but stacks taller. Cross-check with the Container Capacity Calculator before you confirm a booking — sometimes a 5% carton-size tweak saves a whole pallet position.