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How many GMA pallets fit in a 40ft High Cube?

20 GMA pallets (1,219 × 1,016 mm) fit in a 40ft High Cube in a single floor layer, turned to their best orientation — up to 40 if the load is under 1,349 mm tall and stackable.

Floor (one layer)
20
Best mixed orientation, pallets touching.
Double-stacked
40
Only if each loaded pallet is under 1349 mm.
Payload allows
37
At 700 kg per loaded pallet.
Binding limit
Space
The floor fills before the payload does.

Space runs out first

20 loaded pallets at 700 kg each is about 14,000 kg, inside the 26,500 kg payload — so space is the limit here. Above roughly 1,325 kg per pallet that flips, and weight becomes the constraint instead.

The floor layout

20 pallets on the 12.03 m × 2.35 m (39′6″ × 7′9″) interior floor, seen from above. Shaded pallets are turned 90° — that mix is what gets the count above a plain row-by-row fit.

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The assumptions

  • Pallet US GMA pallet (48 × 40 in), deck 150 mm.
  • Interior 12.03 m × 2.35 m × 2.70 m, payload 26,500 kg (58,422 lb).
  • Loaded pallet assumed at 700 kg gross — the one figure that can't be derived from the vessel, so it is stated rather than buried.
  • Maximum floor fit with pallets turned to their best orientation — the same basis as the widely quoted 11-in-a-20ft and 25-in-a-40ft figures. It is a geometric maximum: it assumes pallets touch, so allow a pallet or two fewer where a crew needs handling clearance, and check the door opening for the last row.

Your pallets aren't all 700 kg

Put in your real dimensions and weights and the engine packs them into a 40ft High Cube — with the 3D layout, the weight distribution and an exportable loading plan.

Pack a 40ft High Cube

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