Loading metres explained, pallet by pallet

A loading metre is one metre of trailer length at the full floor width, so a 13.6 m trailer holds 13.6. A EUR1 pallet costs 0.4 of them either way round, a 1200×1000 pallet 0.5 and an Australian 1165×1165 square 0.583; seven EUR1 pallets add up to 2.8 loading metres but block 3.2 m of floor in whole rows.

By Oliver Bennett · Published 29 October 2026 · Data as of 27 October 2026, from spec sheets retrieved that day

Part loads on European roads are usually measured in loading metres. One loading metre is one metre of the trailer's load length, used across the full width of the floor. A trailer that is 13.6 m long inside therefore holds 13.6 loading metres, whatever goes on it. The width is assumed to be roughly 2.4 to 2.48 m; the 13.6 m curtainsider in our data is 2,480 mm wide and 13,620 mm long on its smallest published figures.

The figure for a single pallet is simply the floor length it takes up when pallets of its kind stand side by side across the trailer. Three EUR1 pallets with their long side along the trailer use 2,400 mm of the width and 1.2 m of length, so each one costs 1.2 ÷ 3 = 0.4 loading metres. Turned across, two of them use 0.8 m of length, again 0.4 each. Both patterns give the same answer, which is why a EUR1 is reckoned at 0.4 whichever way it is loaded.

Loading metres per pallet

The table works the same arithmetic out for every footprint on PalletSpec, for both directions, using the 2,480 mm floor width. The last column is the count for a full 13,620 mm floor in the better of the two uniform patterns.

Every figure in the last column matches the best count from PalletSpec's full layout search: on this floor, mixing directions does not add a single pallet for any of the 10 footprints. That is the practical reason loading metres work so well on European trailers. On a narrow container floor the same shortcut breaks down, as the guide to wasted floor space shows.

Where the familiar figures come from

The 1200×1000 pallet costs 0.5 loading metres, not 0.4. It cannot stand three abreast, because three 1,000 mm sides need 3,000 mm, more than any trailer is wide. Two abreast with the 1,200 mm side across the floor use 1 m of length for two pallets. That is how a full trailer ends up with 26 of them against 34 EUR1. The UK pallet guide follows that difference through containers as well.

Smaller pallets go more than three abreast, and the usual three-abreast figures then overstate what they cost. A EUR6 half pallet stands four abreast on its 600 mm side (2,400 mm of width) and costs 0.20 loading metres, not 0.267. The 600×400 quarter pallet fits six across on its 400 mm side and costs 0.10. The 48×20 half pallet, turned so that its 1,220 mm side runs across, takes 0.254.

The square pallets are the expensive ones. Only two fit across, so the full side length is paid for every pair: the Australian 1165×1165 costs 0.583 loading metres per pallet, almost half as much again as a EUR1.

Part loads: count against rows

Multiplying the pallet count by the figure per pallet gives the loading metres a forwarder will usually charge for. It is not always the floor the load actually blocks. Pallets are loaded in rows, and a row that is not full still uses its whole length.

Seven EUR1 pallets show the gap. By the per-pallet figure they take 2.8 loading metres. In rows they need 3.2 m turned across (four rows of two, one space empty) or 3.6 m lengthwise (three rows of three, two spaces empty). Even numbers of EUR1 pallets fill the turned rows exactly, so ten pallets take 4.0 m both ways of counting.

Stacking and loading metres

A loading metre measures floor, not volume. Two EUR1 pallets stacked on each other still use 0.4 loading metres between them, so a stackable part load needs half the floor of the same pallets standing singly. The double-stacking guide shows which trailers and containers have the height for a second layer at different unit heights.

Trailers that are not 13.6 m

Not every European body has the full length. The EU reefer trailer is 13,310 mm long inside on its smallest published figure, 310 mm less than the curtainsider, because insulated walls and the refrigeration unit take some of the length. That costs one row of EUR1 pallets turned across: 16 rows instead of 17. The EU box trailer keeps the length but is 2,460 mm wide, which still takes three EUR1 pallets across with 60 mm to spare.

When a quote is given in loading metres, it pays to check the pallet direction behind it. For EUR1 and square pallets the two directions cost the same; for the 1200×1000 and the 48×40 they do not, and the cheaper direction is the one with the long side across the trailer. You can check any footprint on a trailer floor in the load planner.

More guides: Why some pallet and container pairs waste floor space · How to use the pallet load planner · Double stacking pallets: which containers and trailers have the height · Square pallets in containers and trailers · How many pallets fit: every pallet in every container and trailer · All guides