How many Standard pallets fit on a 48ft Dry Van Trailer?
28 Standard pallets (1,200 × 1,000 mm) fit on a 48ft Dry Van Trailer in a single floor layer, turned to their best orientation — up to 56 if the load is under 1,346 mm tall and stackable.
Floor (one layer)
28
Best mixed orientation, pallets touching.
Double-stacked
56
Only if each loaded pallet is under 1346 mm.
Payload allows
30
At 700 kg per loaded pallet.
Binding limit
Space
The floor fills before the payload does.
Space runs out first
28 loaded pallets at 700 kg each is about 19,600 kg, inside the 21,000 kg payload — so space is the limit here. Above roughly 750 kg per pallet that flips, and weight becomes the constraint instead.
The floor layout
28 pallets on the 14.63 m × 2.49 m (48′0″ × 8′2″) interior floor, seen from above.
The assumptions
- Pallet Standard pallet (1200 × 1000 mm), deck 150 mm.
- Interior 14.63 m × 2.49 m × 2.69 m, payload 21,000 kg (46,297 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 48ft Dry Van Trailer — with the 3D layout, the weight distribution and an exportable loading plan.
Pack a 48ft Dry Van TrailerRelated
- 48ft Dry Van Trailer dimensions, capacity and payload
- The full guide to pallet counts in standard containers and trailers
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