How many pallets fit in a shipping container?
20 ft container: 10 CHEP or 11 Euro pallets.
40 ft container: 20 CHEP or 25 Euro pallets.
Those are single-stacked floor counts. High-cube containers have the same floor, so they take the same number unless the freight can be stacked.
Why a container takes fewer pallets than a trailer
A container is about 235 cm wide inside, five centimetres narrower than a curtain-sider. Two CHEP pallets (233 cm side by side) still fit, but with almost nothing to spare, so freight that hangs over the pallet's edges can cost a whole row.
20 ft container
About 590 cm long inside: 5 rows of 2 CHEP pallets.
Euro pallets fit 11 when some go in lengthways and some across, as below.
40 ft container
About 1203 cm long inside: 10 rows of 2 CHEP pallets, or 25 Euro pallets with mixed directions.
Weight
The planner uses 28,000 kg of payload for a 20 ft container and 26,700 kg for a 40 ft, close to what the boxes themselves are rated for. On Australian roads the truck's mass limits often allow less, especially for a heavy 20 ft box, so check the road leg before you fill one.
The catches that cost a pallet
- Freight overhanging the pallet. Two CHEP pallets leave about 2 cm in a container's width.
- Door seals and corner castings take a little off the usable opening, so the last row can be hard to get in with a forklift.
- Fragile or crushable freight that can't take a pallet on top.
The planner lets you set exact sizes, turn rotation on or off per item and mark items fragile, then shows what fits.
| Vehicle | Inside length × width × height | Payload | CHEP pallets | Euro pallets | Tail-lift | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft Container | 5.9 m × 2.35 × 2.39 m | 28 t | 10 | 11 | Plan it | |
| 40ft Container | 12.03 m × 2.35 × 2.39 m | 26.7 t | 20 | 25 | Plan it |