Pallet Calculator

Pallet Standards: EUR, Industrial, and US Pallet Sizes

A pallet is the standard load-carrying unit that boxes or products are stacked on so they can be moved easily with a forklift or pallet jack. Different regions and industries use different standard pallet sizes, and choosing the wrong pallet type wastes both warehouse space and vehicle capacity.

The most common type in Europe is the EUR (Euro) pallet: it has an 80×120 cm base and is standardized under EPAL certification, with a typical maximum load capacity around 1,500 kg. The industrial pallet (sometimes called an "ISO pallet") has a larger 100×120 cm base and is often preferred for heavy industrial goods or large cartons. In North America, the standard is the US pallet, measuring 40×48 inches — roughly 102×122 cm.

Base size isn't the only thing that matters when choosing a pallet — maximum stack height matters just as much, constrained by both the vehicle's interior height and the warehouse's racking system. For most road freight, a safe stack height falls in the 180-220 cm range, including the pallet base itself. Exceeding that limit increases tip-over risk and can make loading impossible for some vehicles.

To calculate how many boxes fit on a pallet, you first determine "boxes per layer" — found by fitting the box footprint onto the pallet base as efficiently as possible, rotating boxes 90° where it helps. That count is then multiplied by however many layers fit under the maximum stack height to get boxes per pallet. Dividing your total order quantity by that number and rounding up gives the number of pallets you'll need. In North American warehousing these two numbers have their own names: TI is the number of cases in one layer (the tier) and HI is how many layers high the pallet is stacked. TI × HI is the case count per pallet, and retailers often put it in their vendor routing guides as a fixed spec.

The calculator above automates this whole process: pick a pallet type (or enter a custom size), add your box list, and set the maximum stack height — the system instantly calculates boxes per layer, total layer count, and how many pallets you'll need.

How many boxes fit on a pallet: the steps

Trying the boxes turned is essential: 40×30 boxes laid straight on a 120×80 pallet give 6 per layer, but turned 90° they give 8 and tile the pallet with no waste at all. The calculator above goes one step further and can mix both orientations inside a single layer — for 60×40 boxes on a 120×100 industrial pallet the grid says 4, while the calculator finds 5. “Max stack height” is the height of the load itself; it does not include the pallet base.

Worked example: 40×30×30 cm box on a Euro pallet

Say you are loading 60 boxes of 40×30×30 cm weighing 8 kg each onto a 120×80 cm EUR pallet, with a maximum stack height of 180 cm.

1. Boxes per layer: laid straight, 120 ÷ 40 = 3 and 80 ÷ 30 = 2, so 6 boxes. Turned 90°, 120 ÷ 30 = 4 and 80 ÷ 40 = 2, so 8 boxes — the turned layout wins and leaves no gap on the pallet at all.
2. Layers: 180 ÷ 30 = 6 layers.
3. Boxes per pallet: TI × HI = 8 × 6 = 48 boxes — a TI-HI of 8×6.
4. Pallets needed: 60 ÷ 48 = 1.25 → rounded up, 2 pallets.
5. Weight per pallet: 48 × 8 = 384 kg, about 26% of the Euro pallet's 1,500 kg limit.

Result: 60 boxes fit on 2 pallets — the first is completely full at 48 boxes, with 12 left on the second. Volume is the constraint here, not weight.

What the calculator optimises, and what it does not guarantee

A pallet calculation is a planning estimate; it does not replace the real stack built in the warehouse.

Frequently asked questions

What are the dimensions of a Euro pallet?

A EUR/EPAL pallet has a 120×80 cm footprint, a base height of about 14.4 cm, and an empty weight of roughly 25 kg. The industrial pallet is 120×100 cm, and the US pallet common in North America is about 122×102 cm (48×40 inches).

How many boxes fit on a Euro pallet?

It depends on the box size. A 40×30×30 cm box gives 8 per layer and 48 in total at a 180 cm stack height. A larger 60×40×40 cm box gives 4 per layer and 16 in total at the same height. Enter your own dimensions in the calculator above for an exact figure.

What is TI-HI on a pallet?

TI-HI describes how cases are stacked on a pallet. TI is the number of cases in one layer (the tier) and HI is the number of layers. Multiply them for cases per pallet: a 40×30×30 cm box on a Euro pallet at 180 cm has a TI-HI of 8×6, or 48 cases. In the calculator above, "Boxes per Layer" is the TI and "Layers" is the HI.

How high can you stack a pallet?

Palletised road freight is usually stacked to between 180 and 220 cm including the pallet base; the real limit comes from the vehicle's internal height and your warehouse racking. Enter only the height of the load in the calculator: if your total limit is 200 cm, subtract the Euro pallet's 14.4 cm base and enter about 185 cm.

How much weight can a pallet carry?

An EPAL-certified Euro pallet carries around 1,500 kg of evenly distributed load; the safe limit is noticeably lower when the pallet is racked and unsupported underneath. The calculator shows weight per pallet as a share of that limit.

How much does a pallet weigh?

A dry wooden Euro pallet (120×80 cm) weighs about 25 kg, an industrial 120×100 pallet about 30 kg and a US 48×40 pallet about 17 kg (37 lb). Wet or repaired pallets weigh more, plastic ones differ. The calculator adds the pallet to the load to give the gross weight per pallet — the figure the truck, the forklift and the freight bill care about. The 1,500 kg limit applies to the load alone.

Does rotating the boxes change how many fit?

It changes a lot. A 40×30 cm box laid straight on a 120×80 pallet gives 6 per layer; turned, it gives 8 — a third more. The calculator tries both orientations for every box and mixes them within a layer where that helps, so it can beat the single-orientation sum you would do by hand.

Can I put boxes of different sizes on the same pallet?

You can — add several items to the list and the calculator will try to place them all on the same pallet footprint. In practice mixed sizes stack less securely: put the heavy, large boxes at the bottom and the light, small ones on top.