LDM to kg: how much does one loading metre weigh?
For most carriers one loading metre means 1750 kg. Not because a metre of floor weighs that, but because that is how a vehicle’s payload spreads along its length. If your shipment weighs more, the carrier bills it by weight rather than by the space it takes - and the invoice comes out higher than the LDM calculator suggested.
That single figure explains most of the surprises in groupage billing. Below: where it comes from, how to tell which of the two limits will bite in your case, and why loading metres alone are only half the answer.
Where 1750 kg per loading metre comes from
The ratio describes nothing about your goods. It comes from dividing what the vehicle may carry by how much length it has. A standard trailer offers 13.6 m of loading space, that is 13.6 LDM, and a 40-tonne combination usually carries around 24 tonnes of cargo. Which gives:
24,000 kg / 13.6 LDM = about 1765 kg per loading metre.
Carriers round that down to 1750 kg to leave a margin for pallet weight, securing and differences in tractor tare. There is no regulation or standard behind it - it is a commercial convention that caught on widely enough that most groupage tariffs quietly rely on it.
The consequence is simple: 1 LDM = 1750 kg is a statement about a price list, not about physics. The same shipment can be billed differently by two carriers even though it takes exactly the same floor.
The carrier bills the greater of two figures
In groupage two limits apply at once - space and weight - and you pay for whichever comes out higher. The sum looks like this:
Chargeable LDM = the greater of: loading metres occupied, or gross weight / 1750.
The first figure describes how much floor you block. The second, how much payload you take away from everyone else. The carrier loses on both, so it invoices the limit you exhaust first. Two examples on the same two euro pallets:
- Light load. 2 euro pallets at 300 kg gross. Space: 2 × 0.4 = 0.8 LDM. Weight: 600 / 1750 = 0.34 LDM. Billed: 0.8 LDM - the floor decides.
- Heavy load. 2 euro pallets at 1200 kg gross. Space: still 0.8 LDM. Weight: 2400 / 1750 = 1.37 LDM. Billed: 1.37 LDM - the weight decides, even though you take up the same floor.
The gap between those two shipments is almost 0.6 of a loading metre on the invoice, though in a photo from the ramp they look identical. Which is why "how much do I take up" is never enough for a quotation.
How heavy the load can be before weight takes over
The threshold is the loading metres occupied multiplied by the ratio. Below are the figures for the common formats at 1750 kg per LDM, with weight given gross - carrier and securing included.
| Load unit | LDM occupied | Threshold weight |
|---|---|---|
| Euro pallet 1200 × 800 mm | 0.4 LDM | 700 kg |
| Industrial pallet 1200 × 1000 mm | 0.5 LDM | 875 kg |
| Half pallet 800 × 600 mm | 0.2 LDM | 350 kg |
| 33 euro pallets | 13.2 LDM | 23,100 kg |
| Full 13.6 m trailer | 13.6 LDM | 23,800 kg |
Read it like this: as long as a euro pallet weighs less than 700 kg gross, you pay for 0.4 LDM. Above 700 kg you pay for weight, and every further 1750 kg is one more loading metre - regardless of the pallet still standing on the same 0.96 m² of floor.
The last row shows why the ratio sits where it does: a full trailer loaded to the weight limit lands at 23,800 kg, which fits inside a typical payload with a small margin.
When the ratio is not 1750 kg
Since the number comes from the vehicle’s payload, it moves with it. Tariffs use at least three variants and it is worth checking which one applies before you calculate anything yourself:
- 1500 kg per LDM - the cautious variant, used where the carrier runs lighter combinations or serves routes with a lower weight limit.
- 1750 kg per LDM - the default in international groupage and the one used in the examples here.
- 1850-2000 kg per LDM - met in heavy-goods transport, where the vehicle is picked for mass rather than for volume.
A Mega trailer changes nothing here. It is taller, so it holds more volume, but the floor stays the same 13.6 m and the payload can even be slightly lower because of the heavier build. Neither the loading metres nor the ratio move.
Gross weight, not the weight of the goods
What counts is the mass of the whole load unit: goods, packaging, carrier and securing. An empty euro pallet is about 25 kg and an EPAL 2 industrial pallet around 35 kg. Across thirty-three euro pallets the carriers alone add 825 kg - almost half a loading metre before you pack anything. The figures per format are collected in our article on how much a euro pallet weighs.
If you take the weight off a packing list, make sure the lines are gross and not net. With light goods in heavy packaging the difference can push a whole shipment from space-based billing to weight-based billing.
How to check this before you send the enquiry
The order is always the same and it takes a few minutes:
- Work out the loading metres occupied from the actual arrangement, not from a sum of pallet footprints - an incomplete last row and rotated pallets change the result.
- Add up the gross weight of every unit including the carriers.
- Divide the weight by the ratio from the tariff, most often 1750 kg.
- Take the greater of the two - that is the figure that goes on the order.
The first step is the one that goes wrong most easily, because it needs the load arranged rather than merely added up. Pallet3D shows the loading metres straight on the pallet and trailer results bars, worked out from the area the layout actually occupies; there is a short walkthrough on the LDM calculator page. The formula itself and a conversion table for the different pallet formats are in the guide 1 LDM - how many pallets is that?.
The rest is a conversation with the carrier. The ratio, the minimum charge and the way loading metres are rounded are all contract terms, so two offers with the same price per LDM can produce different amounts for the same shipment. Worth asking about before you compare anything.
Frequently asked questions
How many kilograms is one loading metre?
Usually 1750 kg. It is not a standard but a commercial convention taken from dividing a trailer’s payload by its length: 24 tonnes over 13.6 loading metres works out at roughly 1765 kg, and carriers round that down. Some tariffs use 1500 kg, and for heavy goods you meet 1850 or 2000 kg - the ratio comes from the contract, not from a regulation.
Do I pay for the space or for the weight?
For whichever costs more. The carrier takes the greater of two figures: the loading metres your goods actually occupy, and the gross weight divided by the ratio. Two euro pallets at 300 kg each take 0.8 LDM while the weight gives 0.34 - you pay for 0.8. The same two pallets at 1200 kg each give 1.37 LDM from weight, and that is the number on the invoice.
How heavy can a euro pallet be and still fit its LDM?
A euro pallet takes 0.4 LDM, so at 1750 kg per metre it stays inside that up to 700 kg gross. An industrial pallet of 1200 × 1000 mm is 0.5 LDM, which is 875 kg. Above those figures billing switches to weight and the floor space stops mattering.
Work out the loading metres of your shipment
Arrange the pallets in 3D and read the occupied LDM off the results bar - then all that is left is comparing it with the gross weight. The demo runs in the browser, no account needed.
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