Pallet Calculator
Enter your carton size and we’ll show you how many fit on a pallet, how the layer should be laid out, how high it stacks and what the finished pallet weighs. Defaults to the 48″ × 40″ GMA pallet we ship on. You can also switch to a 30″ × 36″ pick rack location, or enter your own size.
Your carton
Measure the outside of the box at its widest points.
Or start from a common size
Pallet or pick location
We ship on 48″ × 40″ GMA pallets and pick from 30″ × 36″ rack locations. Or enter your own size.
GMA standard, what we ship on
Floor to top of load, pallet included.
A 40" × 48" pallet position is rated to 2,500 lbs.
Cartons per pallet
60
10 per layer, 6 layers high, stacked upright.
Cartons per layer
10
Layers high
6
Load height
65.5" of 72"
Loaded weight
520 lbs
Deck covered
100%
Cube used
90%
Height is your ceiling, with 6.5" of unused space above the top layer. Not enough for another layer.
The finished pallet
6 identical layers of 10 cartons.
One layer, from above
Orange cartons are turned 90° from the blue ones.
The stack, from the side
Dashed line is your height limit.
What this costs to store
Pallet up to 72", at our published starting rate.
Per pallet / month
$25.00
Per carton / month
$0.42
Cartons held
60
You are one layer over a price break
Building 5 layers instead of 6 brings the pallet to 55.5" and moves it to the $18.50 tier. You hold 50 cartons instead of 60, but each one costs $0.37 a month to store instead of $0.42. You need more pallets and still pay less per carton.
Starting rates, pulled live from our quote calculator. Volume brings them down, and storage is only one line of a fulfillment bill.
Cartons are placed square to the deck with no overhang, and every layer uses the same pattern. Real loads vary with product weight distribution, crush strength and how the load is wrapped, so treat this as a planning figure rather than a guarantee.
How pallet loading actually works
A pallet load is three numbers multiplied together: how many cartons fit in one layer, how many layers you can stack, and whether weight stops you before height does. Getting the first number right is where most of the money is, because a layer pattern that wastes four inches of deck wastes it on every layer, on every pallet, on every shipment.
The math
cartons per layer × layers = cartons per pallet
Layers are capped by whichever runs out first: usable height, which is your stack limit minus the 5.5″ the pallet itself takes up, or your maximum load weight. The calculator above reports which one is binding so you know what to change.
Why the layer pattern matters
Most people lay cartons out in a straight grid, all facing the same way. That is often not the best answer. A 48″ × 40″ deck with a 15″ × 11″ carton fits 9 in a plain grid, but 11 if you split the deck into two blocks running at right angles to each other. That is a 22% gain from nothing but the way the packer sets the boxes down. This tool searches block, split and pinwheel patterns and shows you the winner, with the rotated cartons shaded so your team can copy the layout on the floor.
Four things that quietly cost you pallets
Overhang. Cartons hanging past the deck edge lose up to a third of their stacking strength, because the corners carrying the load have nothing under them. They also get crushed against racking. Never plan for it.
Underhang. The opposite problem: cartons set well inside the edge leave the load with no support at the corners and make it easy to topple. Aim to cover as much of the deck as the carton size allows.
Carton dimensions chosen for the product, not the pallet. Shaving half an inch off a carton sometimes adds a whole column per layer. Run your candidate sizes through this calculator before you order a print run of boxes.
Ignoring the height limit you actually ship under. Building 84 inch pallets when your LTL carrier prices on 72 means paying to reconfigure at the dock.
Once you know your cartons per pallet, you can work out storage cost per unit, how many pallets a container yields and what your inbound receiving looks like. To model the full per-order cost of fulfillment, use our fulfillment cost calculator. If you ship parcel as well as freight, our dimensional weight calculator shows what carriers will actually bill you for the same cartons.
Pallet loading FAQ
What is the standard pallet size in the US?
The GMA pallet, 48 inches by 40 inches, is the US standard and accounts for roughly a third of all pallets in circulation. It is what 3PL Center ships on, what most warehouse racking is built around, and what carriers quote LTL against. A standard GMA pallet is about 5.5 inches tall empty and weighs 35 to 45 lbs.
How many boxes fit on a pallet?
It depends entirely on carton size. A 16 x 12 x 10 inch carton fits 10 per layer on a 48 x 40 pallet and stacks 6 layers high inside a 72 inch limit, so 60 cartons. Change the carton to 18 x 12 x 12 and you get 8 per layer and 5 layers, so 40. Small changes in carton dimensions move the total more than most people expect, which is what this calculator is for.
How tall can a pallet be stacked?
Common limits are 48, 60, 72, 84 and 96 inches measured floor to top of load, pallet included. 72 inches is a typical ceiling for LTL freight and for standard racking. Some warehouses go to 96 inches for floor-stacked storage. Your carrier, your racking and the crush strength of your bottom cartons all set the real limit.
How much weight can a pallet hold?
A new GMA pallet is rated for around 4,600 lbs of static load, but the practical limit for a shipped pallet is much lower. Most shippers cap loads at 2,000 to 2,500 lbs, both for forklift safety and because LTL carriers apply handling charges above that. The bottom layer of cartons usually gives out before the pallet does.
How many cartons fit in a pick rack location?
A 3PL Center pick location is 30 inches by 36 inches with 24 inches of clear height. Switch the calculator to the pick rack option to see how many of your cartons fit in one. The pick rack is also the one place we combine more than one SKU in a single location, which shipping pallets never do, so this is where knowing your exact carton footprint pays off twice: it sets how often a location needs replenishing and how many of your SKUs we can hold in the fast-pick zone.
What is a pinwheel pallet pattern?
A pinwheel is a layer pattern where cartons are rotated 90 degrees in groups around the pallet, leaving a small square in the middle. It interlocks better than a plain block stack, which makes the load more stable, and on some carton sizes it fits more cartons per layer than a straight grid. This calculator tests pinwheel and split block patterns automatically and shows you whichever holds the most.
Should cartons overhang the pallet?
No. Overhanging cartons lose up to a third of their stacking strength because the corners, which carry the load, are unsupported. They also snag on racking and get crushed in transit. This calculator never places a carton past the deck edge. If your product only fits with overhang, the answer is a different pallet size or a different carton.
Shipping in, or shipping out?
We receive, store and ship on 48″ × 40″ pallets out of our New Jersey warehouse, and we bill storage by the pallet, so the number above is the number that matters to your monthly bill. Send us your carton size and volume and we’ll price it out.