Pallet & loading metre calculator

How many pallets fit in a truck?

A standard trailer (curtain-sider or box) is 13.6 m long, 2.45 m wide and about 2.7 m high, with a payload of up to 24 tonnes. The floor takes 33–34 euro pallets (120 × 80 cm) or 26 industrial pallets (120 × 100 cm). A mega trailer has the same floor but 3 m of height – for bulky, light goods. A reefer trailer has thicker walls and takes 1–2 pallets fewer. A 3.5 t van takes 8 euro pallets and up to about 1,200 kg.

What loading metres (LDM) are and why groupage is priced by them

One loading metre is one linear metre of trailer length across its full width – 2.45 m², regardless of how high it is loaded. Groupage carriers price by the space you occupy in the truck, so LDM is the key measure: one euro pallet = 0.4 LDM (two pallets side by side take 0.8 m of length), an industrial pallet = 0.5 LDM. Ten non-stackable euro pallets are 4 LDM.

Chargeable weight

The groupage price is calculated on the greatest of three numbers: actual weight, volumetric weight and weight by loading metres. The standard road-freight factors are 1 m³ ≈ 333 kg and 1 LDM ≈ 1,750 kg. A light but bulky shipment (say 10 pallets of packaging at 100 kg each) is charged not at 1,000 kg but at 4 LDM × 1,750 = 7,000 kg. The calculator shows exactly that number – the basis on which the carrier prices.

Stacking

If pallets can be stacked (flat, sturdy load, stretch film or strapping) they take half the loading metres and the price drops accordingly. Tick “stackable” only if the goods really bear the weight of the pallet on top – otherwise the damage is on you. State it on the CMR consignment note too.

Groupage or a full truck

As a rule of thumb groupage is cheaper up to 10–12 euro pallets (4–5 LDM); above 6–7 LDM, for goods that must not be transhipped, or with a fixed delivery date, a partial or full truck is the better option. Transit times by country are on the route pages, and how our groupage works on the service page.

Send a request with the pallet count and the loading metres from the calculator – we reply with a firm offer for groupage, partial and full truck.