Pallets in a 20ft Container
How many pallets fit in a 20ft container, by pallet standard, with single-tier floor count and floor-area utilisation.
How the 20ft fit is calculated
A standard 20ft dry container has a usable interior of 5898 x 2352 x 2393 mm and a payload limit of about 28,200 kg. The floor is what decides pallet count: this tool divides the floor into a grid of pallet footprints, tries both orientations (pallet long side along the length, then rotated 90 degrees), and keeps whichever orientation seats the most.
The formula for one orientation is:
floor(containerLength / palletLength) x floor(containerWidth / palletWidth)
Floor-area utilisation is then (pallets x palletArea) / containerFloorArea. The container floor is 5.898 m x 2.352 m = 13.87 m2.
Worked example (page defaults)
The default footprint here is 120 x 100 cm (a common 1200 x 1000 mm industrial pallet). Along the 5898 mm length you fit floor(5898 / 1200) = 4 rows; across the 2352 mm width you fit floor(2352 / 1000) = 2 columns. That gives 4 x 2 = 8 pallets on the floor in a single tier. Rotating to 1000 mm along the length yields floor(5898/1000) x floor(2352/1200) = 5 x 1 = 5, so the program keeps 8.
Floor utilisation is (8 x 1.20 x 1.00) / 13.87 = 69.2%. The default stack height is 115 cm; since 115 x 2 = 230 cm clears the 239 cm interior, two even tiers are possible for 16 pallet positions if the goods are stackable.
Pallets per 20ft by standard (single tier, ground floor)
| Pallet | Footprint (mm) | Single-orientation | Mixed-orientation (real-world) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMA 48x40 | 1219 x 1016 | 8 | 9-10 |
| Euro / EPAL 1 | 1200 x 800 | 8 | 10-11 |
| Industrial (EUR 2) | 1200 x 1000 | 8 | 8-9 |
| ISO / Asian | 1100 x 1100 | 10 | 10 |
Euro pallets gain the most from mixing orientations: turning some lengthwise and some crosswise lifts the floor count from 8 to 10 or 11 and pushes utilisation past 76%. This tool reports the dependable single-orientation grid; a loader can usually beat it by a pallet or two by hand-fitting.
Limits
This is a single-orientation, single-pallet-size floor packing. It does not model load bracing, weight distribution across the axle, or pallet overhang. For a 3D stacked view across containers and trucks, use the container load calculator; to compare the 20ft against the 40ft, see pallets in a 40ft container; for any container plus pallet combination, the pallets per container calculator is the general tool.