Truckload Capacity Calculator
How many pallets fit in a trailer — floor positions, double-stacking where it fits, and whether your load runs out of floor space or payload weight first.
Interior dimensions vary by make — these are typical usable figures. Adjust them or pick “Custom” for your exact equipment.
Pallet
Enter a loaded pallet weight to see whether the trailer runs out of floor or hits its payload cap first. Legal payload is often around 45,000 lb.
Pallets per trailer
How many pallets fit in a 53-foot trailer?
A 53-foot dry van holds about 26 standard 48×40 pallets loaded straight — two across, thirteen rows deep — or up to 30 with the pallets turned so the 48-inch side runs across. Which way they face changes how many fit, so this tool checks both orientations and keeps the better one.
A trailer is rented by the foot and the pound at once. Whichever runs out first is your real capacity.
Floor space vs. payload weight
Two ceilings cap a truckload. Floor space is the obvious one — only so many pallet footprints fit. But a trailer also has a legal payload cap, often near 45,000 lb. Light, bulky freight fills the floor long before it’s heavy; dense freight hits the weight limit with floor to spare. Enter a loaded pallet weight and the calculator tells you which limit binds and how many pallets that leaves you.
When can you double-stack?
Stacking two high roughly doubles a load, but only when two pallets fit under the trailer’s inside height and the bottom freight can carry the top. Set the load as stackable and the tool checks the height for you — if two stacks won’t clear the ceiling, it keeps the load single-high instead of promising space that isn’t there.