How many pallets fit in a 20', 40' and 40 HC container?

Guide figures per container type

The ranges are not uncertainty about the dimensions - they come from the layout. An internal width of about 2.35 m will not take three euro pallets short-side-on (3 × 800 mm = 2400 mm), so rows have to be mixed: some pallets long side along, some across. That mix is what decides whether a 40' holds 23, 24 or 25. Exact internal dimensions are in shipping container dimensions.

Before booking freight, compare pallet layouts in the container loading calculator. For further worked examples, see the guide How to optimally load a trailer and container.

What actually decides the result

Don't start from the container - start from the load. Pallet dimensions are the entry point, not the only parameter.

The same pallets can work in one variant and cause trouble in another if they exceed the height limit or block handling at the entrance. What counts operationally is not just whether the pallets go in, but whether they go in a pattern that can be worked safely.

Euro and 1200 × 1000 are two different planning cases

A lot of errors come from carrying the euro-pallet result over to the larger format.

The second row applies to a pallet bearing the EPAL 2 mark, not to every carrier with a 1200 × 1000 mm footprint - see the industrial pallet. An 800 × 600 mm half-pallet changes the plan too: it alters not only the count but how the gaps between larger units get filled.

What to compare before you count

• Treat the 20' as the reference for a short layout - 11 euro pallets is full floor use.
• The 40' gives more freedom in row distribution but still needs unit heights and a placing order fixed.
• Analyse the 40 HC separately: the floor is identical to a 40', and the extra height only helps if the load can safely be built higher or double-stacked.

Compare the same assumptions in every variant. If you count a straight layout in one case and a mixed one in another, the results stop being comparable.

Double-stacking - the second dimension of the calculation

Floor count is one half of the answer. Where the goods and the height allow pallets to be stacked two high, the number of pallet spaces doubles - subject to the bottom pallet carrying the weight of the top one and the layout staying flat. In a standard 40' the internal height of about 2.39 m makes that realistic only for low units; the 40 HC, at roughly 2.70 m, is where double-stacking usually becomes possible.

The most common mistakes

Carrying a euro-pallet figure onto a 1200 × 1000 mm base. Counting floor space while ignoring unit height and the door opening. Assuming a 40 HC holds more pallets on the floor than a 40' - it does not. And forgetting that the last row has to remain workable at unloading.