How many pallets fit in a 53-foot trailer?

A 53' dry van holds about 26 standard 48x40 pallets straight-loaded, or up to 30 pinwheeled (alternating orientation to optimize floor space). Double-stacking can roughly double that to 52 to 60 when product height and weight limits allow.

How many pallets fit in a 48-foot trailer?

A 48' dry van holds about 24 to 26 standard 48x40 pallets on the floor, and up to roughly double that double-stacked.

How many pallets fit on a 28-foot pup trailer?

A 28' pup trailer holds about 14 to 15 standard 48x40 pallets on the floor.

Why is my real pallet capacity lower than the calculated maximum?

Floor calculations show the physical maximum. Real loads are limited by product height, trailer weight limits (typically 42,000 to 45,000 lbs of freight), non-stackable or fragile goods, and load balancing, so usable capacity is often lower.

Trailer Pallet Calculator

Configure

Trailer & pallet setup

Equipment

Pallet length (in)

Pallet width (in)

Defaults to a standard 48×40 GMA pallet. Change for custom footprints.

Stacking

How many pallets are you shipping?

"I have 200 pallets, how many trucks is that?" Enter a count to find out, plus utilization.

Standard capacities

53' Dry Van26–30 floor

48' Dry Van24–26 floor

28' Pup14–15 floor

26' Box Truck12–14 floor

Floor positions for 48×40 pallets. Double-stacking roughly doubles capacity when freight and height allow.

How to read it

Floor positions vs. real-world capacity

This calculator counts how many pallets physically fit on the floor in the best orientation, then doubles it if you double-stack. Real loads are often less: product height, weight limits (a dry van tops out near 42,000–45,000 lbs of freight), fragile or non-stackable goods, and load balancing all reduce usable space.

If you are filling only part of a trailer, you may be a candidate for partial truckload or volume LTL rather than paying for a full truck. Check the LTL vs Truckload tool to see.

Loading trailers below capacity?

FreightPlus engineers loads, modes, and consolidation so you pay for trucks you actually fill.

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