Truck Load Calculator
Fit pallets or boxes into a 53ft trailer, box truck or sprinter van, with floor utilisation and a 3D load view.
How the truck load calculator works
The calculator models the trailer or van as a fixed box and tiles your pallet or carton into it one orientation at a time, rounding down to whole units on each axis:
per floor = floor(L÷l) × floor(W÷w), total = per floor × floor(H÷h)
It tries both footprint rotations and keeps the larger floor count, then reports floor utilisation as packed area ÷ deck area.
Worked example, 53ft dry van, 48×40 GMA pallet
The page default is a 53ft dry van trailer with a usable interior of 630 × 102 × 110 in loaded with a 48 × 40 in GMA pallet stacked to a 45 in load height.
- Straight load, 48 in along the length: floor(630÷48) = 13 long × floor(102÷40) = 2 across = 26 pallets.
- Turned load, 40 in along the length: floor(630÷40) = 15 × floor(102÷48) = 2 = 30 pallets, the higher single-orientation figure.
- Height: floor(110÷45) = 2 tiers are possible if the freight stacks.
Floor utilisation for the 26-pallet straight pattern: 26 × (48 × 40 = 1920 in²) = 49,920 in² against a 630 × 102 = 64,260 in² deck, or 77.7%. The classic "26 straight, up to 30 turned or pinwheeled" range is exactly what these two orientations show.
Vehicle interiors used here
| Vehicle | Usable L × W × H (mm) | Max payload |
|---|---|---|
| 53ft dry van trailer | 16002 × 2591 × 2794 | ~20,000 kg |
| 26ft box truck | 7925 × 2438 × 2438 | - |
| Sprinter van (170" EXT) | 4410 × 1780 × 1940 | - |
This is a single-orientation geometric estimate: it does not pinwheel mixed footprints, model load bars or nose gaps, or check axle weight distribution. To build the pallet itself first, use the pallet load calculator; for sea and intermodal equipment, switch to the container load calculator.