GMA vs Euro Pallets
GMA 48 x 40 in versus Euro 1200 x 800 mm: the footprint, deck area, regional use and container-fit differences that decide which pallet to ship on.
The two pallets that move most of the world's freight are the North American GMA 48 x 40 in and the European Euro / EPAL 1200 x 800 mm. They are close in size but not interchangeable: they differ in footprint, deck area, weight, handling convention and, most importantly for planning, how they tile into a container. Choosing the wrong one for your destination usually means wasted floor space or pallets that do not fit the local racking.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GMA (North American) | Euro / EPAL 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Footprint | 1219 x 1016 mm (48 x 40 in) | 1200 x 800 mm (47.24 x 31.5 in) |
| Deck area | 1.24 m2 | 0.96 m2 |
| Own weight | ~37 lb (17 kg) | ~25 kg |
| Dynamic load | ~2,800 lb (1,270 kg) | ~1,500 kg |
| Home region | North America | Europe |
| Pool / exchange | Mostly one-way or rental | EPAL exchange pool |
The headline difference is deck area: the GMA pallet is about 29% larger than a Euro (1.24 m2 vs 0.96 m2), equivalently, a Euro is about 22% smaller than a GMA. That extra area means a GMA carries more per pallet, but it also means fewer GMA pallets fit a given floor.
Regional fit: ship on what the destination uses
The single most useful rule is to ship on the pallet your destination is built around.
- GMA is the grocery and retail standard across the US, Canada and Mexico. North American trailers, racking and dock equipment are dimensioned around 48 x 40.
- Euro dominates Europe, where EPAL pallets circulate in an exchange pool, you hand over EPAL pallets and receive equivalents back, so a non-standard footprint breaks the exchange and can be refused.
Send GMA pallets into a Euro racking system and they may overhang the beams; send Euro pallets into a North American dry van and you waste width. Match the footprint to the destination first.
Container fit: where the footprints diverge
This is where the two pallets behave very differently, because the footprint determines how many tile across a container floor. Take a standard 20 ft dry container with a usable floor of 5898 x 2352 mm:
- Euro 1200 x 800: placed 1200 mm along the length, four fit end-to-end (5898 / 1200 = 4) and two fit across the 2352 mm width (2352 / 800 = 2), a clean 8 per floor block, and Euro pallets are specifically dimensioned to ground-load a 20 ft efficiently.
- GMA 1219 x 1016: four fit along the length (5898 / 1219 = 4) and two across the width (2352 / 1016 = 2) at first pass, but the larger footprint leaves less usable margin and GMA pallets ground-load a sea container less tidily than they fill a 53 ft road trailer.
In practice the Euro pallet was engineered around European trucks and ISO containers, while the GMA pallet was engineered around the North American 53 ft trailer. Each is efficient in its home equipment and slightly wasteful in the other's.
Because the exact count depends on whether you rotate pallets, leave a working aisle, or double-stack, do not eyeball it. Run the real numbers:
- For the carton-per-pallet side, use the GMA 48x40 pallet calculator or the Euro 1200x800 pallet calculator to see how your boxes tile on each deck.
- For the full dimensional picture and weights, the pallet calculator lets you switch footprints and compare directly.
- For the complete list of footprints, weights and load ratings, see the standard pallet sizes reference.
How to choose
- Destination decides the default. North America -> GMA. Europe -> Euro / EPAL.
- Check the exchange. If your European partner is in the EPAL pool, a non-EPAL pallet can be rejected.
- Then optimise the load. Once the footprint is fixed, tune cartons-per-layer and layers to fill it, and confirm the container floor count for your chosen pallet rather than assuming it transfers from the other standard.