LDM is the unit a carrier prices groupage in: one metre of the loading space taken across its full width. Pallet3D shows that figure on the results bar - worked out from the actual pallet layout, not from a plain sum of their footprints.
On groupage shipments the carrier does not ask about weight or the number of cartons - it asks how many metres of floor the load will take. That figure goes onto the order and it is the one multiplied by the rate, so being one loading metre out is an error on the invoice, not on a drawing.
The Pallet3D LDM calculator answers that from the layout side: you arrange the pallets or cartons and the program reports the loading metres taken, alongside a 3D view that shows where the figure came from. You send the enquiry with a number you can defend.
The loading metre converts floor area into vehicle length. One LDM is a strip of floor one metre long and as wide as the whole loading space, conventionally taken as 2.40 m. Hence the formula:
LDM = occupied floor area (m²) ÷ 2.4
The divisor is fixed and does not follow the actual width of the trailer. That is deliberate: dividing by 2.48 m would make the same euro pallet 0.387 instead of 0.4, and the carrier will still write 0.4 on the order. Across thirty-three pallets the gap would grow to half a loading metre on the invoice.
| Load | Area | LDM |
|---|---|---|
| Euro pallet 1200 × 800 mm | 0.96 m² | 0.4 LDM |
| Industrial pallet 1200 × 1000 mm | 1.20 m² | 0.5 LDM |
| Half pallet 800 × 600 mm | 0.48 m² | 0.2 LDM |
| 33 euro pallets | 31.68 m² | 13.2 LDM |
| Full trailer 13.6 × 2.4 m | 32.64 m² | 13.6 LDM |
Stack height does not change the result, because LDM describes the floor taken, not the volume. Two pallets stacked one on top of the other occupy the same number of loading metres as one - provided the carrier allows stacking.
Multiplying the number of pallets by a conversion factor only works when everything fits neatly. In practice the last row is often incomplete, some pallets have to be turned, and gaps are left between them that nobody will use - and those gaps are paid for too, because the vehicle can no longer take somebody else's freight in that space.
That is why the program derives loading metres from the area the arrangement actually occupies, not from a sum of footprints. If the layout leaves a hole in the middle of the trailer, the result says so instead of rounding the problem away.
LDM shows up in two places. On the pallet results bar it is worked out from the pallet footprint, because that is how a pallet space is billed in groupage - a euro pallet is 0.4 LDM however high it is stacked. On the trailer tab it comes from the whole floor area taken, so it reports the figure for the complete load that will actually travel.
Hovering over the figure brings up a tooltip with the full formula and the divisor, because LDM is a unit many users meet for the first time and the bare number says nothing on its own. The figure also refreshes when you move pallets by hand.
The loading metre is a road-freight unit. Sea freight is priced in cubic metres - CBM - or at a flat rate per container, so LDM on that tab would be a number you could not quote to anyone. The container calculator shows the volume the cargo occupies instead: exactly what a forwarder asks for on an LCL shipment.
So the calculator runs the whole chain, one unit at a time: an item goes into a carton, the carton onto a pallet, the pallet into a trailer billed in LDM or into a container billed in cubic metres.
Where the formula comes from and how to convert loading metres by hand is explained step by step in our guide 1 LDM - how many pallets is that?.
LDM (loading metre) is the billing unit of road freight. One LDM means one metre of the loading space taken across its full width, conventionally counted as 2.40 m. It is how a carrier prices groupage - a shipment that does not fill the whole vehicle.
The formula is LDM = occupied floor area in square metres ÷ 2.4. For a single euro pallet of 1.2 m × 0.8 m that gives 0.96 ÷ 2.4 = 0.4 LDM. The calculator works out the same figure from the actual arrangement, so it also accounts for rotated pallets and space that could not be filled.
A euro pallet of 1200 × 800 mm takes 0.4 LDM and an industrial pallet of 1200 × 1000 mm takes 0.5 LDM. Stack height makes no difference, because LDM describes the floor taken, not the volume. Thirty-three euro pallets come to 13.2 LDM.
A standard trailer with a 13.6 m loading space has 13.6 LDM, because the number of loading metres matches the length of the floor. A Mega trailer has the same LDM as a standard one - they differ in height, not in floor area.
No. The loading metre belongs to road freight, while sea freight is priced in cubic metres (CBM) or at a flat rate per container. That is why the container tab shows the volume the cargo occupies instead of LDM.
Arrange the pallets in the Pallet3D demo and read the loading metres off the results bar - no installation, no sign-up.
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