Square pallets in containers and trailers

Square pallets cannot be turned to fit, so the inside width decides everything. The Australian 1165×1165 goes two across in a dry container (10 in a 20ft, covering 97.9% of the floor) but only one across in a reefer, and two CP3 pallets fill the 2,280 mm width of a 40ft high cube reefer with no millimetre to spare.

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

Square pallets turn up wherever a regional standard grew around them: the 1165×1165 (AU) in Australia and New Zealand, the 1100×1100 across much of Asia, the 1067×1067 (42×42 in) in North America and the chemical industry's CP3 at 1140×1140 mm. A square pallet has no long side to turn, so the layout is always the same grid, and the count depends on how many sides fit along each wall.

That makes them easy to plan and unforgiving. If two sides do not fit across the floor, nothing can be done by turning the pallet, and the second lane is lost for the full length of the box. No unit in the data is wide enough for three of even the smallest square across.

Across the width

For every inside width in the data, the table shows how many of each square fit across and how much is left over.

Standard containers are 2,350 mm wide, and all four squares go two across. Reefers are the trap. The 20ft reefer container is 2,288 mm wide inside and the 40ft high cube reefer 2,280 mm, while two Australian pallets need 2,330 mm. In both reefers the 1165×1165 goes single file: 4 pallets in the 20ft reefer and 9 in the 40ft high cube reefer, which leaves it covering only 46.3% of the floor. In the dry 40ft high cube the same pallet fits 20 times.

The CP3 is the closest call in the whole data set. Two of them need exactly 2,280 mm, the planning width of the 40ft high cube reefer, so they fit with no clearance at all: 20 pallets covering 98.4% of the floor. Add 20 mm of handling room per pallet and the pair no longer fits across, so the count drops to 9, a single file. In the 20ft reefer the margin is 8 mm.

Along the length: why three squares give 20

A 40ft container is 12,030 mm long on its smallest published figure. That takes 10 rows of 1165, 10 of 1140 and 10 of 1100, so the three larger squares all reach 20 pallets, two across and 10 deep. The difference is only in how much floor stays empty: 96.0% covered by the Australian pallet, 85.6% by the 1100×1100. The 1067×1067 is short enough for one more row: 11 rows use 11,737 mm of the length, and it reaches 22 pallets.

Square pallets in the main units

The 20ft container is close to made-to-measure for the Australian pallet: 10 of them cover 97.9% of the floor, the best share for any square in a dry container. Only the zero-clearance CP3 fit in the reefer beats it. The 45ft pallet-wide container adds nothing for any square pallet: its extra width is enough for a third EUR1 across, not a third square, so every count matches the ordinary 45ft high cube.

The European trailers and the North American vans are all wide enough for two squares across and too narrow for three. Their counts follow the length alone, and the smaller squares gain a row here and there. On the 53 ft dry van the three smaller squares all reach 28, against 26 for the Australian pallet.

What this means for shippers

For square pallets the inside width is the first thing to check, and the reefer widths are the ones that catch people out. Where the width works, the count is the number of rows times two, and the length gives it directly. How these sizes sit among the other regional standards is covered in pallet sizes by region; every count can be rerun with handling room in the load planner.

More guides: EUR1 vs 48×40 pallets: which fits more? · Pallet sizes by region · Half and quarter pallets: how many fit, and why they beat full pallets · UK pallet vs Euro pallet: 1200×1000 against 1200×800 · How many pallets fit: every pallet in every container and trailer · Why some pallet and container pairs waste floor space · European vs North American trailers · All guides