Quick Answer: A container load calculator shows how many pallets or boxes fit before you book. With standard US 48x40 in pallets you fit 10 in a 20ft, 21 in a 40ft or 40ft High Cube, 24 in a 45ft High Cube and 30 in a 53ft trailer. The calculator above draws every load in 3D.
- The calculator above has three views: Pallets, Boxes and Container sizes, and draws your exact load in 3D before you book.
- US 48x40 in pallets, one high, 5 cm clear at the doors: 10 in a 20ft, 21 in a 40ft and 40ft HC, 24 in a 45ft HC, 30 in a 53ft trailer.
- Inside volume: 33.2 m³ for a 20ft, 67.7 m³ for a 40ft, 76.3 m³ for a 40ft High Cube, 86 m³ for a 45ft High Cube.
- Below about 13-15 m³, a shared container (LCL) is usually cheaper than a full 20ft; the Price button carries your result into the rate calculator.
- Heavy pallets hit the payload limit long before the space runs out: US road rules cap a standard chassis at about 36,000 lb in a 20ft and 44,000 lb in a 40ft.
Two numbers decide every stuffing plan: cubic metres and kilograms. The calculator on this page runs both at once, so you learn whether your load cubes out or weights out before the truck arrives at the warehouse.
Reference prices: container shipping from Miami
| Destination | 20 ft container | 40 ft HC container | Transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| El SalvadorAcajutla | $2,249 | $2,591 | 26 days |
| HondurasPuerto Cortes | $1,674 | $2,081 | 21 days |
| GuatemalaSanto Tomas de Castilla | $1,700 | $2,065 | 4 days |
| Dominican RepublicCaucedo | $1,431 | $1,728 | 12 days |
| ColombiaCartagena | $756 | $972 | 4 days |
| PanamaRodman | $1,080 | $1,296 | 21 days |
| PeruCallao | $1,080 | $1,296 | 19 days |
| EcuadorGuayaquil | $1,080 | $1,296 | 17 days |
Port-to-port rates in USD from Port Everglades, calculated with our quoting system (current since September 28, 2026). 20 ft container: general cargo. 40 ft HC container: general cargo. They include freight and US export charges; they do not include import taxes or local charges at destination. The calculator on this page gives your exact price, with pickup and delivery.
What Is a Container Load Calculator?
Quick Answer: A container load calculator is a tool that takes your pallet or box dimensions, weight and quantity, then shows how many fit in each container or trailer. It answers two questions at once: how many units per box, and whether weight or space decides the load.
It is a planning tool, not a guess. You feed it a footprint, a height, a weight per unit and a quantity. It applies volume limits, payload limits and stacking rules at the same time. The output is a fit per container size, drawn in 3D.
The calculator above has three views. Pallets covers US 48×40 in, Euro 120×80 cm, 120×100 cm, 48×48 in or any custom size, with height, weight, quantity and a "stackable two high" switch. Boxes takes length, width, height and weight, plus "this side up" and "can be stacked". Container sizes shows the inside dimensions, door opening, capacity and payload of each box.
Which inputs actually change the answer?
Small input changes move the result by whole pallets. These are the ones that matter most:
- Footprint — a 1.2 m pallet and a 1.0 m pallet pack a 2.35 m inside width very differently.
- Height per unit — this decides whether a second tier is possible at all.
- Weight per unit — dense freight reaches the payload cap before the floor is full.
- Rotation — allowing some pallets to turn unlocks the pinwheel patterns that add four to six pallets.
- "This side up" — blocks rotation on the vertical axis and usually costs you cube.
The output goes further than a single number. It tells you how many containers a given quantity needs, and which constraint stopped the load. That second answer is what saves money.
Pro Tip
Run the same cargo through a 20ft, a 40ft and a 40ft High Cube before you commit. Two 20ft containers often cost more than one 40ft on the same lane, and the 3D view shows instantly whether your cargo really needs the second box.
When the fit looks right, press Price. That carries the volume and weight straight into the rate calculator further down this page at #quote-calc.
How Many Pallets Fit in a 40ft Container?
Quick Answer: Twenty-one US 48x40 in pallets fit in a 40ft container or a 40ft High Cube, one high, leaving 5 cm clear at the doors. Euro 120x80 pallets give 24, and 120x100 pallets give 21. A 45ft High Cube takes 24 US pallets.
Here is the full set of one-high counts the calculator above produces, with 5 cm left clear at the doors.
US 48×40 in (GMA): 10 in a 20ft, 21 in a 40ft and a 40ft High Cube, 24 in a 45ft High Cube, 30 in a 53ft trailer.
Euro 120×80 cm: 11 in a 20ft, 24 in a 40ft, and 39 in a 53ft trailer. You only reach 25 in a 40ft if you leave nothing clear at the doors.
Industrial 120×100 cm: 10 in a 20ft, 21 in a 40ft (22 with nothing clear at the doors), 30 in a 53ft trailer.
Why the loading pattern changes the count
Those headline numbers assume a pinwheel pattern, with some pallets turned 90 degrees. Load every pallet the same way round and the counts drop hard: 8 in a 20ft instead of 10, and 18 in a 40ft instead of 21.
Straight-loading a 40ft container instead of pinwheeling costs you three US pallets — roughly 14% of the floor. On a 53ft trailer the penalty is worse: 26 pallets straight versus 30 pinwheeled, a full four-pallet gap.
Tell the warehouse which pattern you quoted. A loading crew that defaults to straight rows will leave your last three pallets on the dock, and the reload is on your clock.
How Many Pallets Fit in a 20ft Container, and Can You Stack Them?
Quick Answer: A 20ft container holds 10 US 48x40 in pallets or 11 Euro pallets, one high. Stacking two high doubles the count, but only if each pallet stays under about 1.19 m in a standard 40ft or 1.35 m in a 40ft High Cube — which is why cube matters more than floor space.
Inside height drives everything about stacking. A standard 20ft and 40ft give you 2.39 m. A 40ft and 45ft High Cube give you 2.70 m. That 31 cm difference is often the whole second tier.
The two-high math
In a 40ft High Cube, each pallet can run up to about 1.35 m (53 in) including the deck. Two tiers of those gives you 42 US pallets in one box.
In a standard 40ft, each pallet must stay under about 1.19 m (47 in). Build your pallets to 1.30 m and the second tier is impossible. You pay for 67.7 m³ and ship 21 pallets.
Only tick "stackable two high" if it is true
The switch assumes the bottom pallet carries the top one for the whole voyage, through heave, roll and a 0.8 g braking event. Crushed cartons are a cargo claim, not a saving. Check the compression rating of your case board before you double-stack glass, canned goods or anything on a slip sheet.
Do not forget the door opening
The door is narrower and lower than the box. A standard 20ft and 40ft open to 2.34 × 2.29 m. A High Cube opens to 2.34 × 2.60 m. A 2.50 m tall machine fits inside a High Cube and still will not pass through a standard 40ft door frame. The Container sizes view on the calculator above shows the door dimension next to the internal one for exactly this reason.
How Do I Calculate CBM for a Shipping Container?
Quick Answer: CBM is cubic metres: multiply length x width x height in metres. A 1.2 x 1.0 x 1.4 m pallet is 1.68 CBM. From inches, divide each side by 39.37 first, or divide the product of the three inches by 61,024. Carriers bill LCL on CBM or metric tonne, whichever is greater.
CBM means cubic metre — the volume your cargo occupies. The conversions you need:
- Convert each dimension to metres: inches ÷ 39.37, feet ÷ 3.281, centimetres ÷ 100.
- Multiply length × width × height for one unit.
- Multiply by the quantity to get total CBM.
- Compare against the container capacity before you book.
Shortcut from inches: multiply the three inch dimensions together, then divide by 61,024. A 48 × 40 × 55 in pallet is 105,600 ÷ 61,024 = 1.73 CBM.
A worked example that fails
Forty pallets at 1.2 × 1.0 × 1.4 m = 1.68 CBM each, or 67.2 CBM total. A 40ft container holds 67.7 m³. On paper it fits. In reality it does not — once you allow for load gaps, the pinwheel voids and the 5 cm at the doors, you are over. That load needs a 40ft High Cube at 76.3 m³, or two tiers in a box tall enough to take them.
Your reference capacities: 33.2 m³ for a 20ft, 67.7 m³ for a 40ft, 76.3 m³ for a 40ft High Cube and 86 m³ for a 45ft High Cube.
Measure the pallet, not the product
The pallet deck adds about 15 cm of height and the shrink wrap adds overhang on every side. Carriers measure the outer footprint at the CFS, including anything that sticks out. Measure what the forklift picks up — that is what you will be billed for.
For a lane-specific worked example with real FCL numbers, see Container Calculator Ecuador: FCL Rates 2026.
Volumetric vs Chargeable Weight: Why the Carrier Bills More Than You Weigh
The volumetric weight calculator works out the billed weight of the same boxes by air cargo and by courier.
Quick Answer: Chargeable weight is the higher of actual gross weight and volumetric weight. LCL ocean uses the W/M rule — one CBM or one metric tonne, whichever is greater. Air freight divides cubic centimetres by 6,000, courier by 5,000. Light, bulky cargo always pays on volume.
Carriers sell space, not mass. So they bill the greater of what you weigh and what you occupy. Each mode converts volume to weight differently.
Chargeable weight by mode — one 1.2 × 1.0 × 1.4 m pallet weighing 400 kg
| Mode | Conversion rule | This pallet bills as |
|---|---|---|
| LCL ocean | W/M: 1 CBM or 1,000 kg, whichever is greater | 1.68 revenue tonnes |
| Air freight | cm³ ÷ 6,000 | 400 kg (actual weight wins) |
| Courier | cm³ ÷ 5,000 | 400 kg (actual weight wins) |
| FCL ocean | Flat per container, within payload | No volumetric charge |
Source: standard W/M and IATA volumetric divisors · 2026
Note what happens by air: 1,680,000 cm³ ÷ 6,000 = 280 kg volumetric versus 400 kg actual. The scale wins. The same pallet on LCL pays on cube. Mode changes the answer.
Rule of thumb: below about 167 kg/m³, ocean LCL bills you on volume every time. Furniture, plastic housewares, empty packaging and apparel all sit under that line.
Dense cargo (payload-limited)
Tile, stone, canned food, machine parts, liquids in drums. You reach 28,000 kg before the floor is covered. FCL is almost always correct, and the real planning question is axle weight, not cube. Expect to half-load the container by volume.
Light cargo (volume-limited)
Furniture, textiles, toys, packaging, e-commerce goods. You run out of cubic metres with tonnes of payload to spare. Here a High Cube pays for itself, double-stacking matters, and LCL quotes track CBM almost exactly.
What Is the Maximum Weight I Can Load in a 20ft Container?
Quick Answer: A 20ft container is rated for about 28,130 kg of payload and a 40ft for about 28,750 kg, but US road rules cap a standard chassis at roughly 36,000 lb of cargo in a 20ft and 44,000 lb in a 40ft. Exceeding that needs a tri-axle chassis at extra cost.
Rated payloads on the Hapag-Lloyd fleet run about 28,130 kg in a 20ft, 28,750 kg in a 40ft and 28,600 kg in a 40ft High Cube. Tare and payload vary slightly by fleet and build year, so always read the plate on the door.
The road is the real limit, not the box. In the USA, a standard chassis carries about 36,000 lb of cargo in a 20ft and 44,000 lb in a 40ft. Go heavier and you need a tri-axle chassis, arranged before stuffing and priced separately.
Heavy commodities hit payload at half the cube. Tile, granite, machinery and canned goods all do this. The calculator above flags which constraint stopped the load, so you do not order a High Cube for freight that was never going to fill a standard 40ft.
VGM is a hard gate, not paperwork
Under SOLAS Chapter VI, the shipper named on the Bill of Lading must declare the Verified Gross Mass — cargo plus tare — before the terminal VGM cut-off. No VGM, no load. The box rolls to the next sailing and you pay storage at the terminal while it waits.
Weight distribution inside the box
Place heavy pallets over the centre of the container floor. Never load them all in the nose or all at the doors. A nose-heavy 40ft overloads the tractor drive axles; a door-heavy one overloads the chassis tandems. Port scales catch both, and the fine lands after the container has already left your warehouse.
When Is LCL Cheaper Than a Full Container Load?
Quick Answer: Below about 13-15 m3, a shared container (LCL) is usually cheaper than a full 20ft. Above that range the per-CBM rate of LCL, plus destination CFS deconsolidation fees, overtakes a 20ft FCL. A few pallets moving domestically usually ship LTL instead.
A 20ft holds 33.2 m³. You do not need to fill it to justify it. The crossover sits around 13-15 m³, and it moves with the trade lane and the week.
| Volume | Pricing basis | Handling touches | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2 m³ | Per kg or per CBM, courier/air competitive | High | Air or courier |
| 2-13 m³ | W/M: per CBM or per tonne, greater applies | High | LCL |
| 13-15 m³ | Break-even zone — quote both | Medium | Compare LCL vs 20ft FCL |
| 15-33 m³ | Flat per container | Low (one seal) | 20ft FCL |
| Over 33 m³ | Flat per container | Low | 40ft or 40ft High Cube |
The LCL costs that move the break-even down
- Destination CFS handling and deconsolidation — charged per CBM at the destination warehouse, and often not shown in the origin quote.
- Extra handling touches — origin CFS, stuffing, destination stripping, each one a damage opportunity.
- Longer clocks — the box must fill before it sails, and it must be fully stripped before your cargo releases.
- Co-loader delays — one consignee's customs hold can slow the whole deconsolidation.
Past the threshold, FCL wins on more than price. One seal, one set of handling, lower damage risk and faster release at Cartagena, Callao, Caucedo or Puerto Cortés. Your cargo is not waiting on someone else's DIAN inspection.
Domestically, the math is different again. Two to six pallets moving inside the USA usually price better as LTL than as a full truck, and an LTL rate depends on the pallets' freight class. From about ten pallets, price a full truck as well.
Run both before you decide
Use the Price button on the calculator above to carry your exact CBM and gross weight into the rate calculator at #quote-calc. At 14 m³ on a Houston→Puerto Cortés lane, the LCL and 20ft FCL numbers are often within a few hundred dollars — and FCL buys you a week of transit time.
Why Can't I Fill a Container to 100 Percent Capacity?
Quick Answer: No container ever loads at 100 percent. Pallet footprints do not divide evenly into a 2.35 m width, the door frame is narrower than the box, dunnage and lashing eat space, and the top tier is limited by stack strength. Planning for 80-90 percent cube utilization is realistic.
Start with geometry. The inside width is 2.35 m. Two Euro pallets at 1.2 m each is 2.40 m — it does not go. Two 1.0 m sides plus a 1.2 m side is 3.2 m — also no. Every pattern leaves a strip of dead floor somewhere.
The calculator above leaves 5 cm clear at the doors on purpose. That margin is what lets the doors actually close on a real load with real shrink wrap and real pallet overhang.
Uniform cartons, floor-loaded, reach 85-92 percent. Mixed palletized cargo runs 70-85 percent. Dunnage, airbags, strapping and corner protection alone consume 2-5 percent of usable cube before a single carton moves.
Securing is not optional space
The CTU Code and IMO/ILO guidance set the standard: secure cargo against 0.8 g longitudinal and 0.5 g transverse forces. Block the voids, keep the centre of gravity low and centred, and lash anything that can shift. Those airbags and that dunnage are the difference between a clean delivery and a general average claim.
A tightly packed box also takes longer to strip at the other end — see How Long to Unload a 40ft Container: 2-8 Hours and plan your free time accordingly.
Special Equipment: Reefers, Open Tops, Flat Racks and 53ft Trailers
Quick Answer: Reefers lose cube to insulation and the air circulation line: a 20ft reefer runs 5.45 x 2.28 m with only 2.16 m to the load line, and a 40ft High Cube reefer 11.60 x 2.29 m with 2.43 m. Open tops, flat racks and out-of-gauge cargo need a custom quote.
The reefer load line is a hard limit, not a suggestion. Stack above it and chilled air cannot return to the evaporator. The set point reads correctly on the data logger while the cargo arrives warm. That is a rejected shipment at Cartagena or Veracruz, not a discussion.
US road equipment for the domestic leg
A 53ft dry van measures about 630 × 101 × 110 in with roughly 45,000 lb of legal cargo. A 48ft runs about 568 in long. Pallet counts: 30 US pallets pinwheeled, 26 straight-loaded, 39 Euro pallets.
Out-of-gauge machinery, flat rack cargo, breakbulk and dangerous goods fall outside automatic pricing. Use the custom quote form at #quote-calc and send dimensions, weight and the UN number if applicable.
Vehicles follow different math
Cars are not pallets. Wheelbase, ramp angle and racking decide the count, not footprint. Start with Cars Per Container Calculator: 1-4 Cars, 2026 Rates and Two Cars in a 40ft Container Calculator: Rates 2026. For one vehicle, compare equipment first in RoRo vs Container Car Calculator: 2026 Rates.
How Do I Price My Load Plan and Share It With the Warehouse?
Quick Answer: Once the calculator above shows your fit, the Price button carries that volume and weight into the rate calculator on this page. Price depends on gateway, container size, commodity and sailing week. Export the 3D plan as your packing instruction so the warehouse loads what you quoted.
Your gateway sets both the rate and the transit time. Florida ships through PortMiami. Texas and the central states go via Port Houston. California and the Southwest use Los Angeles/Long Beach. The Northeast routes through New York/New Jersey, the Southeast through Savannah, the Midwest by rail via Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest through Seattle. In Canada: Ontario via Toronto, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces via Montreal, Western Canada via Vancouver.
Send the plan to three people
- The warehouse that stuffs — so the pinwheel pattern you quoted is the pattern they load.
- The forwarder filing the Bill of Lading — piece count and CBM must match.
- The trucker — the gross weight decides standard chassis versus tri-axle.
Match the plan to the documents. The piece count and CBM on your packing list must equal the B/L and the Factura Comercial. A mismatch invites a query from DIAN, SUNAT or SAT, and queries cost days at the port.
Vessel ETD is not your deadline
VGM and documentation cut-offs usually fall 2-3 working days before the ship sails. A load plan finalized on ETD minus one does not miss the ship — it misses the cut-off, which is worse, because the box sits on the terminal clock until the next sailing.
With thousands of shipments moved across the USA–Latin America corridor, the pattern is consistent: the plans that sail on time were finalized before the pallets were built, not after.
Run your pallet or box dimensions through the container load calculator on this page, see the 3D fit, then press Price to get real FCL and LCL numbers for your exact origin ZIP code and destination port. The fit first, then the rate.
Twenty-one US 48x40 in pallets fit in a 40ft container or 40ft High Cube, one high, with 5 cm clear at the doors. Euro 120x80 cm pallets give 24, and 120x100 cm pallets give 21. Reaching 21 US pallets requires a pinwheel pattern — loading every pallet the same way round drops you to 18.
Multiply length by width by height in metres: a pallet measuring 1.2 x 1.0 x 1.4 m is 1.68 CBM. From inches, divide the product of the three dimensions by 61,024. Compare the total against 33.2 m³ for a 20ft, 67.7 m³ for a 40ft, 76.3 m³ for a 40ft High Cube and 86 m³ for a 45ft High Cube.
A 20ft container is rated for about 28,130 kg of payload, but US road rules are stricter: roughly 36,000 lb of cargo on a standard chassis, or about 44,000 lb in a 40ft. Going heavier needs a tri-axle chassis, which costs more and must be arranged before the container is stuffed.
Below about 13-15 cubic metres, a shared container (LCL) is usually cheaper than booking a full 20ft. Above that range, the per-CBM rate plus destination CFS deconsolidation fees overtake an FCL. Price depends on your gateway, destination port and sailing week — run both options in the calculator on this page.
A 53ft dry van holds 30 US 48x40 in pallets using a pinwheel pattern, or 26 if every pallet is loaded straight. Euro 120x80 cm pallets give 39. The legal cargo weight is about 45,000 lb, so dense freight usually hits the scale before the trailer is full.